• machinin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    So it could get the same update that makes the launcher an ad-riddled cesspit?

    How easy are these devices to root and install alternative roms? Are there alternative roms available to install?

    I really wish these devices were more like desktop computers. I want the freedom to install anything I want.

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      My solution last weekend when I saw this post was to downgrade both my sheilds to 8.2.3, I never liked the adds on the sheilds main homepage tbh but have gotten used to the as time passed.

      In this process though once I downgraded I noticed the adds displayed once again on both my sheilds. This was because the android tv launcher app downloads a update. To get around this I disabled auto upgrade of apps on my sheilds and denyed the upgrade of the Google tv launcher and removed the update. No more adds on the launcher.

      I have a feeling this is how google will push full screen adds through their launcher app in the play store.

      Here is a well written guide how to downgrade to 8.2.3 that I followed.

      https://florisse.nl/shield-downgrade/

      Took about 30min on my second sheilds once I figured out the first sheild after 2 hours.

      • machinin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Thanks - this makes me hate Google TV even more. You shouldn’t have to go through that much work to keep your devices useful.

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      What I posted is a generic Android TV box that you can switch launchers and stuff on. The Shield is so popular and is/was the only good STB that they pumped it full of ads, just like any other popular platform.

      IDK the modability of it, but it’s gotta be better than what I have currently.