I thought I finally had it figured out. If the smart TV is bad, and Android TV streaming boxes and sticks are bloated, then I’d just make my own streaming box. That’s what I did. I installed Android TV on a Raspberry Pi 4 and plugged it into my TV.
It was great. It was bliss to use my TV without ads and bloat from Google and other services. I even got Gigabit Ethernet as a bonus. I went ahead and installed all the apps I’d ever need. It was exciting to set up, and it was promising. But now that the setup and honeymoon period are over, and I’ve actually lived with the Raspberry Pi streaming box, it’s starting to break my heart.
Using a Raspberry Pi as a streamer
It works — if you stay in its world
I like making my own stuff. Given that a Raspberry Pi is cheaper than most streaming boxes, the more I set it up with proper software, the more it seemed like the best option out there. But I’ve been proven wrong.
The main reason I set up Android TV was to install the Jellyfin client and stream from my local Jellyfin server. For that purpose, it works great. I installed the Dune client (a fork of the official Jellyfin client), and streaming has been buttery smooth and reliable. The library looks great, everything is organized well, and it just works.
If this were the whole story, the Pi would be the best streaming box I’ve ever owned. But it’s not the whole story.
Had I kept it for this purpose only, I’d still be happy. If this were the whole story, the Pi would be the best streaming box I’ve ever owned. But it’s not the whole story. I wanted to turn it into a hub for all my streaming and never have to touch the handicapped TizenOS on the TV again. That’s where things started getting shaky.