Can I buy a cheapo ($49 or less) Android 7" tablet to use as a remote for my Chromecast?
It will be a slow low-res tablet, but if it is KitKat 4.4 or higher will it do the job?
Remote control You mean? Installing apps to send to chromecast? It depend of the cores of the tablet and the tablet ram
As long as the Chromecast SDK continues to support the Android version mostly yes.
You'll be able to tell the chromecast to launch youtube, netflix, etc. You won't be able most likely to stream videos from the tablet to the Chromecast.
This all depends on the software you're using continuing to work with your version of Android however. Most applications all they do is tell the Chromecast what method to play a video and request status updates for where they are in the video. If Netflix, for example, decides that KitKat has a severe vulnerability in it and they are risking breaking their movie streaming contracts, they may bump up the minimum required Android version which would mean it would no longer be useful as a remote for you.
If Google stops supporting the older OSes for Chromecast, it would no longer be useful for you.
Right now, yes, it'll most likely work for you. Two years down the line, who knows.
Im non rooted running google play. I downloaded the OS now
Clash of clans
YT
Google play and google play games
Band
All get stuck on loading. Did the update mess with functionality with non Amazon apps? And is there anyway to safely run these apps? I've there is currently a root method that doesn't have a high chance of bricking im willing to do that.
I would like to upgrade my GT-P7300 to a newer version of firmware but so far I've had no success.
I've tried a number of ROMs from the Galaxy Tab 8.9 Compilation thread but with each one there were problems with the Google Play Store.
Are there any ROMs for later versions that are free of problems?
There's a problem lately with Google pushing Play Services software that doesn't work with CPUs that lack Neon instructions. This includes the Tegra 2 in the Tab 8.9. If you stay on 4.0.4, you don't get updated to a Play Services version with this problem.
swaaye said:
There's a problem lately with Google pushing Play Services software that doesn't work with CPUs that lack Neon instructions. This includes the Tegra 2 in the Tab 8.9. If you stay on 4.0.4, you don't get updated to a Play Services version with this problem.
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That does sound ominous.
Thanks for the info.
1. Why doesn't Asphalt 8 run smoothly on lollipop , whereas it ran effortlessly on older versions such as jelly bean? Is the problem due to O.S. update or due to app update?
2. Some apps and games like D.A.2: Mini Militia aren't rendered properly. There are black patches in the game, although this doesn't happen every time.
use customised rom 5.1.1 you be able to put gpu 320 so you can run games very smoothly
Hello everybody.
For some time now I have the new Chromecast with Google TV and I would like to share my feelings on certain aspects that disappointed me and which scare me for the future of Android TV.
Android TV has always been a more closed system than Android but I have the impression with this new device that it is even more the case and that Google is trying to lock its system even more.
On the new device, if you want to install applications that are not on the play store, you must activate the options for developers, then start again several times to install these applications (it does not necessarily work the first time ).
I also noticed that a lot of Android apps didn't do image rotation or stretching and displayed vertically like a smartphone but with parts of the image cut off. Some Android apps are therefore not even usable now on the new Chromecast. I searched this new Chromecast for a setting that would help me display its Android apps properly but couldn't find anything.
Is there a setting to properly display its applications there? Are these only corrections that will be made in the next updates or is it, as I think, a desire by Google to limit Android TV more and more to Android TV applications?
Thank you for your many responses.
The orientation issue may have something to do with how the Android TV device is identifying itself. That could get fixed in a new release. Haven't dug in enough to know that yet. I haven't had any trouble installing stuff via side loading.
As for being locked down, Android TV certified devices are way more locked down than AOSP or even phones. I wish they'd put the Android TV portions (or even just the casting stack) into AOSP, but that ship has long sailed.
Averix said:
The orientation issue may have something to do with how the Android TV device is identifying itself. That could get fixed in a new release. Haven't dug in enough to know that yet. I haven't had any trouble installing stuff via side loading.
As for being locked down, Android TV certified devices are way more locked down than AOSP or even phones. I wish they'd put the Android TV portions (or even just the casting stack) into AOSP, but that ship has long sailed.
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ok so you had no problem with Android applications. I may have had no luck with apps that started badly. Perhaps it is not Google's desire to prevent or complicate the use of applications that are not from the Android TV Play Store.
We will see if other users have this problem.
I too would have loved to have the cast on Android box.
Do you know of an application that allows you to rotate the image like you can find in the Ugoos box system?
From what I can tell, it is just as open** as my Nvidia Shield. Installing sideloaded apps is just as simple. Apps that do not have manual rotation options can be tricky, or those coded to be used in portrait mode only. Other than that, sideloading works identically. PS, you still need something like Sideload Launcher to launch these sideloaded apps.
Android TV/Google TV has always been very limited when it comes to customizability. Probably has a lot to do with the fact that Google assumed, and rightly so that, most consumers just want to plug it in and watch stuff, not mess around with it. Do I agree with that? No, I love making devices do things they weren't designed to, but even I have no reason or motivation to root these devices.
** = Equally as locked down.
Have you tried using a sceen rotation app? I use to use a modded spectrum tv app on fire tv and to fix rotation issue you had to use a screen rotation app.
jkbee26 said:
Android TV has always been a more closed system than Android but I have the impression with this new device that it is even more the case and that Google is trying to lock its system even more.
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I feel your pain.
That's Google 2020 for you, get ready for Google 2021 and 2022
I am thinking of replacing a fire tv stick 4k with the new Chromecast, hoping to gain bitstreaming audio from 3d party apps. It won't work for me on the amazon device.
I want to continue using wolf launcher and some sideloaded apps, which are not all available on the play store.
How much of free storage is available on the Cromecast?
Hey folks
I bought a Chromecast with Google TV and I am experiencing this same issue. I am trying to use an app which I know it wasn't developed for this device, but I know it works because have it installed on an Android TV. The difference is that on Google TV it opens as portrait and sits in the middle of the screen, where in the Android TV it expands and takes the whole screen. Same thing happens, for example, with Instagram. I've tried a dozen of apps that supposedly force the orientation, but it never worked.
Is there anything that can be done or am I am chasing ghosts?
(p.s. is it worth to post this as a new thread?)