Streaming device to replace Roku?

Hardware
1

Just saw the news Fox is trying to acquire Roku and starting to plan my exit.

What are the best home streaming devices for control through Home Assistant?

We're an Android household, so I've been considering the Shield for a while but it just keeps getting older and not updated.

I do have an old NUC attached to the TV as a media server so self hosted solutions are an option.

I've been a Roku customer since the beginning, loving that they were independent. Now I'm wondering what the next steps will be.

Suggestions appreciated!

2

Using Volumio here, love it. You can choose between ready to use devices or a software package for RPi / PC.

3

Had exact thought when I saw this.
Not specifically because fox but Roku is pretty “surveillancey” as is. Having a media company own it makes me think it’s time again to let this go.

If you use Apple devices an Apple TV device may be a good direction. Else maybe seek out an Android device as that’s the only open device that allows streaming apps outside of a PC.

4

Not sure why this matters?? We avoid politics here if that is your motivation...

I use Nvidia Shield Pro devices.

5

Yeah. I swapped from Kodi on a RasPi a few years ago because at the time Shield 2019 seemed to be the best dedicated media centre ... but no longer impressed with it. I live in a valley with no free-to-air TV reception, and our local free-to-air TV channels have crappy apps. Trying to automate turning the TV on 5 minutes before the 6pm news means having to simulate remote control keypresses. If I could get the Shield to boot into Kodi (and run the TV apps under Kodi) I think that would give a lot more control for HA automations.

6

You'd have to be more specific about your Kodi needs, but look into :down_arrow:

Shield can easily be controlled via HA's Android TV Remote integration as well as the Android Debug Bridge

What you are describing is possible!

Another good thread

Update: You can launch any app by its package name.

You can launch Kodi with market://launch?id=org.xbmc.kodi Starting with Home Assistant 2024.6 you don't need to add market://launch?id=

Try this :down_arrow: in Dev Tools and see if it opens your Kodi App on your Shield device.

action: media_player.play_media
data:
  media:
    media_content_type: app
    media_content_id: org.xbmc.kodi
target:
  entity_id: media_player.pc_shield

This is easily added to an Automation based on a specific time trigger. The remainder of the Kodi commands can be applied via the Kodi integration or consolidated to a single script/automation