I have a MiTV box with Android that runs apps for Jellyfin, Prime Video and Disney Plus. I would like to replace it with a mini PC, like some N100 box, to have more control over what runs on it. I tried a Pi with Kodi once, but I hate the UI so much. It’s just not my thing.

What other options do I have with self-hosted alternatives? I want a central UI like AndroidTV offers, I need Jellyfin, Disney Plus, Prime Video and some local TV station’s streaming offerings and some remote control.

I don’t think that’s possible, as you can only run Disney and Prime in a browser or their apps. And using a browser on the TV is not nice UX. But maybe some of the great people here have cracked that nut and can help me.

  • glizzyguzzlerEnglish
    2·
    6 months ago

    I am reasonably pleased with my TV UI approximation. It’s an old Skylake-era CPU running Windows 10 Enterprise IoT LTSC which lasts until 2032.

    I chose windows because Linux is often limited to 720p browser streaming. And I got tired of overcoming hurdles to make the thing work well, forget what they were but damn they sucked and took a lot of time. Burned through a ton of my self-allotted time fixing stuff till I just ripcorded Win 10 Ent IoT LTSC; Linux might go better for you!

    Anyway, it’s at 150% desktop scale and I have the task bar auto hide. I have icons for all streaming sites, Freetube, and Jellyfin on the desktop arranged in a grid. It looks reasonably good, they open in Firefox or in their apps. I close the whole window when I’m done (I don’t use the browser’s tabs), which helps with the “TV box” feel of usage.

    I have a remote that has some IR functions to turn the TV on and off and change inputs along with gyro mouse control. It’s hella China, just buy one on your relevant China source (Amazon, alibaba, etc.) - there are tons of clones. The light up feature on it makes an audible hum, so that sucks, but I don’t use it and don’t seem to miss it.

    Best bonus is it blocks ads on all the streaming services I have (uBlock origin mostly, also AdGuard but I think uBlock Origin does the heavy lifting). And can turn on WireGuard for modern account sharing, going to automate it soon for certain streaming services.