Database Users

Slingbox vs Vulkano

For anyone who is interested, I have both a Slingbox Pro & a Hava/Monsoon/Vulkano Pro.
Both of these devices have Android players available to stream live TV to your phone although the Vulkano app is a free DL & the Sling app is $30 (it should be free)
These two devices are completely different & each has distinct advantages over the other. The Vulkano records to a 1 TB hard drive so it works as a DVR but only at 720p resolution & if you want to watch it on your phone you need to record at an even lower resolution.
The Slingbox has two tuners in it, which is really handy as I can hook my High Def cable box to one tuner & basic cable to the other. I can then watch a different channel on the phone than the home TV is set on. The Slingbox will work fine with no TV connection at all, which is a HUGE advantage over the Vulkano which has no internal tuner at all.
The Vulcano HAS to be hooked to a TV & then it only provides a 720p signal to the TV which is a noticeable downgrade in picture quality on my 50" LCD TV. It does provide really good quality streaming video quality however, better than the Slingbox on the phone.
So basically, the Vulkano gives a better image on your phone, but degrades the image on the TV it's hooked to. The Slingbox doesn't need a TV connection at all, but doesn't record & charges for the software app.

there is a way to get free app for sling, sorta if you subscribe to dish i believe their dish app connects to their sling adapter and you can sling for free as long as you are subscribed to their satellite service, one thing i am sure of they have an android app because i have seen it in the market and its free.

Which one will let you burn the show to a disc from your laptop? Or add items already on your dvr to the device to take and watch?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

'Taint bad, better than a dingbox pro
btucker2003 said:
Which one will let you burn the show to a disc from your laptop? Or add items already on your dvr to the device to take and watch?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do both with the Vulkano.
I also had the slingbox pro and it was giving me a jacked up pic on Win 7, tried everything (some posts said to change win themes, etc.- none of it worked, which is why I got a Vulkano).
The only real drawbacks to the Vulkano are that it doesn't record to your PC in HD and only passes 720p resolution to the TV (from what I've read- not a big deal if you have an HDMI cable running to your TV and component running to the Vulkano, which I do), and it only has capability for one video input at a time (so no hooking up your DVD player and TV at the same time).
One of the cool features of the Vulkano is that you can record whatever program you're watching directly onto the laptop you're watching it on, or you can record it to an external hard drive connected to the Vulkano- you choose. Plus you can program remote signals into the vulkano (I haven't done it yet, so I don't know how well it works). It also records into mp4 format (H.264).
I bought a component switch ($26) that works by remote and plan on hooking up my blue ray that does streaming netflix so I can get whatever I want streaming from netflix onto my HTC HD2 (with dual boot to android- vulkano doesn't have an ap for windows based phones as of yet, I know, it's supposed to- but they can still play the mp4s).
I can let you know how it works out once it arrives if you like.

TestTube / Havafun
This is for anyone stuck with an older tv-box like the Hava Player [myhava.com/havamobileplayer.html] (Monsoon's predecessor to it's Vulkano products) i have. Check out [sites.google.com/site/overvoltagesoft/home/testtube] Over Voltage Soft's TestTube (avail. in market). TestTube is an:
Application for Android powered devices that allows owners of Hava place-shifter devices to watch and control their TV.
TestTube doesn't work like the commercial Hava Software that you've probably downloaded directly from Moonson Media. Instead of requiring a Username and Password to connect to your Hava, TestTube requires only the IP address of the device. Since this is a homebrew project that is unaffiliated with Monsoon Media, TestTube does not have access to the login servers which normally redirect you to your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being that I run Ubuntu and there is no native client support I have to manually watch through the crappy RTSP stream and use just-barely-working scripts (see below) to channel change and all that. See: [sourceforge.net/projects/havafun] Havafun - A package of shell binaries that talk directly to the Hava video streaming device, control key features from the command line (particularly on linux), grab high quality "local" video stream (particularly on linux) for eventual inclusion into MythTV. I imagine almost the same thing could be done from an android box if anyone was interested and proficient enough.
Hope these links helped someone out heh look at me blatantly spamming some guy's app i'll be expecting my check in the mail, overvolatesoft developer guy.

Using Splashtop as a YouTube/VLC remote

I've been looking for ways to remote control my VLC and YouTube videos. There are apps out there, but it seems like most of them need to be completely reset every time I close and reopen the browser/viewer. So I figured I could just use a remote desktop app and control it remotely that way. I don't think I'm going to do much gaming remotely, but I do want smooth 1920x1080 play-back. Or will the N4's 1280x768 screen cause it to scale down to a lower resolution? And if so, I'm wondering which is the best app to do it. Does Splashtop THD simply not work on non-Tegra devices? And will the regular HD app be limited to 720p video playback?
I remember back when I used the app on my iPad it would re-scale the whole desktop UI when I synced it to the iPad. It was kind of annoying... And I'd like to know if it will do that again before I start buying any apps.

Wait so you're trying to watch 1080p videos on the n4? It's possible with this app
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529715
[MOD] YouTube 4.4.11 (v5b), *1080p* / 720p HD (over WiFi & 3G), screen off playback

Not exactly. I want to keep watching my videos on my monitor (which is 1920x1080), I just want to sit back and use my phone as a remote. By using splashtop I should be able to use all of the play/pause and other controls via remote desktop functions.
I want to make sure that running splashtop isn't going to rescale my entire desktop UI to 1280 x 768 in syncing up to my Nexus 4. Like it did the last time I tried it with an iPad. If it does do that then I probably just won't use the app, and then I'd be spending 10$ for nothing.

Oh gotcha, just tried and you can have it use your computer's native resolution :good:

Which one, the regular Splashtop HD, or Splashtop THD?

Philippe Lemay said:
Which one, the regular Splashtop HD, or Splashtop THD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just the regular version. the hd versions are only for tablets...
the hd versions show up for you in the play store? they don't for me.

I use Spashtop 2 and the only thing it does it change your Windows theme from Aero to classic. It can definitely be used as a remote.
Sent from my Nexus 4

have you tried the official youtube remote app? i haven't tried it personally, may be it has the reset problem you mentioned so you are looking for alternatives?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...xLDEsImNvbS5nb29nbGUuYW5kcm9pZC55dHJlbW90ZSJd

ceejay83 said:
...
the hd versions show up for you in the play store? they don't for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...
Now that you mention it. They do show up, but they say "none of your devices are compatible with this app." Good to know, I suppose. Well that settles it I guess. Thanks for the help.
EDIT:
Well, exactly what I was worried would happen happened. The screen automatically resized to 1024x768, with big black bars on my monitor. I can bring it back to full HD without too much trouble, but I have to do so every time I start splashtop on my phone. Is there a way to change the default way it handles being thrown into splashtop? So he doesn't do that resize thing?

Philippe Lemay said:
...
Well, exactly what I was worried would happen happened. The screen automatically resized to 1024x768, with big black bars on my monitor. I can bring it back to full HD without too much trouble, but I have to do so every time I start splashtop on my phone. Is there a way to change the default way it handles being thrown into splashtop? So he doesn't do that resize thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit the settings for the connection in the app, choose advanced, select "use computer's native display resolution"

Excellent!
There's only one little issue with it, but it's not a big deal. I just find that the connection drops too quickly. It seems like the link with my desktop breaks every time my phone goes to sleep. Also I'd like it if screen-rotation would lock... (poking at tiny icons while the screen flips about is not an easy task). But those are probably things I can fix by tweaking some settings.
Thanks again for all your help guys!

Wifi mouse will let you control your pc from afar. And with vlc it has all the stuff you need
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Unified Remote is my app of choice.
As you can see, you can use inputs like a touchpad or specific remotes for YouTube, Netflix, VLC, MPC, etc (I only use mouse and Netflix, which I find to be perfect). Using an RDP or VNC client seems like a rather heavyhanded method just to emulate HIDs from your bed/sofa.
Also, I've requested that this thread be moved to Q&A. Do not posts inquiries in any other subforum. Requests are accepted in themes/apps only.

List of Tested Sideloaded APKs for the Amazon Fire TV (Fire TV Stick)

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Thanks for compiling the list. I have a few more for you (my own testing)...
- Helium Boy (works perfectly)
- BeyondYnth HD (works perfectly)
- Cordy 2 (works perfectly)
- Pac-Man CE (works perfectly)
- Simple.TV (works, but keyboard/mouse needed)
- Wind-Up Knight (doesn't work, crashes when trying to launch)
- CSR Racing (doesn't work, crashes when trying to launch)
As I'm new to the forum, it isn't letting me post link to the above on Google Play.

Droid edit
Playon
Quadrant
Vplayer
All work for me.
Woody
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

Any Airplay app that work well?

underworld1234 said:
Any Airplay app that work well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have XBMC, then enabling AirPlay works when XBMC is open, but performance is spotty. YouTube are other Internet site videos AirPlay fine, but locally stored videos not so much (720p okay, 1080p sometimes). Photos work fine.
There's AirBuddy (via Amazon store), which also partially works like above. But, it limits streaming, unless you pay 99 cents.

hdmkv said:
If you have XBMC, then enabling AirPlay works when XBMC is open, but performance is spotty. YouTube are other Internet site videos AirPlay fine, but locally stored videos not so much (720p okay, 1080p sometimes). Photos work fine.
There's AirBuddy (via Amazon store), which also partially works like above. But, it limits streaming, unless you pay 99 cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Airbuddy is a lousy app. I had better luck with Airplay Receiver. It works for the most part. I did not spend $5 for the pro-version as I am hoping that there will be a Fire TV compatible app for airplay sooner than later.

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JJ-KwiK said:
What works/doesn't work?
I'd like to update the list in the O/P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will test it out when I get back home in the evening and do a more thorough test. However, as far as I remember, it works very well. I was able to stream both audio and video. The app itself is annoying due to the nags to upgrade, but other than that I had no complaints.

AirReceiver Basic/Pro - works with remote but seems to stutter and freeze a bit
Reicast Emulator - works per another thread
GenesisDroid Emulator - works per another thread here
NesLite - works perfectly
Spotify - Works with oreintation app or modified download
Candycrush - does not work / crashes

SPMC - Works great.
Microsoft Remote Desktop - Works. Requires mouse and only displays at 1080p.
WWE - Doesn't work. Requires a GPS check to access live stream/on demand.
Max Go - Doesn't work. Display is smushed. Rotation doesn't fix the issue.
Epix - Works. Requires mouse.
Starz Play - Works. Requires mouse.
Encore Play - Works. Requires mouse.

AirReceiver Basic/Pro - works with remote but seems to stutter and freeze a bit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Tested the Pro version, and it works no better than AirPlay via XBMC for me. So, Internet videos stream fine, as do local photos and 720p (and SD) vids. 1080p/30 videos (like those off iPhone's camera) freeze/stutter.

Thank you all your hard work.
Any send works. Send files between devices on same network.
Terminal emulator works but needed keyboard to work well.
I used terminal and adb on firetv to install apps downloaded using any send
Woody
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

If anyone else watches anime on here, I'd like to point out that crunchyrolls app works great. Funimation does not work.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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Question, which screen orientation program is being used to rotate an app? I cannot find one that works.

hang10z said:
Question, which screen orientation program is being used to rotate an app? I cannot find one that works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Orientation Manager. Works fine so far.

Is there any already tested torrent client?
And what about MX Player?

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Exclusive Fire TV apps on Nexus Player...Need some help experimenting.

Wondering if anyone else is experimenting with this...
I have a fire tv stick and i downloaded some apps that are exclusive to that platform. I did an ADB pull from the fire tv system and installed them on my Nexus Player.
Including the Slingplayer app and some other video apps.
Most of the apps start just fine but fail when trying to start the video. Has me thinking there is some kind of framework that the fire tv has that renders these apps useless on other android devices.
Also may have to do with the fact that it is an Intel chip inside of the Nexus player and Apps coded to work solely on the fire tv devices wont work right since they are coded from snapdragon chips
Anyone know of a way to circumvent these blocks? Any info would be helpful

I've actually been wanting to experiment with this but I don't have a FireTV stick.
I did try to pull some video apps (i.e.-History, A&E, Amazon Instant Video) from my phone. They all installed correctly but, like your issue, they crashed. Makes me think its a library thing or certain missing files as most of those apps work on Lollirock.

Hmm interesting. I don't really want to use lollirock because I really like the UI currently. I can post the Amazon apps here atleast the free ones to see what's different about them.
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

I agree with you. I actually like the ability to navigate with the remote only. The one app I wish we could find a way to make work in our factory rom is Amazon Instant. It's definitely possible because it works in lollirock.

Sorry folks, but Nexus Player is an intel atom x86 based architecture while the FireTV (and Stick) are ARM based. That means unless the .apk's ship the correct bits for both architectures, you're not going to get the Fire TV apps running on Nexus Player (for example in the case of Sling Player, there are libraries specific to ARM that are included in the .apk on the Fire TV store, but they don't include the x86 version).
I'd love this to work, but in most cases I highly doubt it will.

Redth said:
Sorry folks, but Nexus Player is an intel atom x86 based architecture while the FireTV (and Stick) are ARM based. That means unless the .apk's ship the correct bits for both architectures, you're not going to get the Fire TV apps running on Nexus Player (for example in the case of Sling Player, there are libraries specific to ARM that are included in the .apk on the Fire TV store, but they don't include the x86 version).
I'd love this to work, but in most cases I highly doubt it will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redth, although x86 can be a limiting factor, you have to keep in mind that we have "houdini" translator code built into our Nexus Player. Think of houdini as an arm translator to let us run most arm apps on our device. That is why we can successfully sideload so many apps (minus the fact we have to use a keyboard & mouse to operate it). For instance, I have successfully gotten new recently released apps like the Sling TV apk to work that was originally designed for the FireTV. I also have apps like WatchESPN, & USA Network working successfully.
Also, you have to keep in mind that Amazon instant Video is also working on Lollirock, so it definitely is possible & functioning on our device. It just looks like we are missing certain libraries.

@xaudiblex then perhaps the limiting factor is the required libs that the arm built executable uses. I don't remember the exact libs from the FireTV Slingplayer apk, but there were what looked like some .so files built with c/c++ that were linked in and accessed over JNI. I'm guessing the translator can't handle those, and that may be why Slingplayer in particular doesn't work.
It's a shame, I'd love to get slingplayer working!

Redth said:
@xaudiblex then perhaps the limiting factor is the required libs that the arm built executable uses. I don't remember the exact libs from the FireTV Slingplayer apk, but there were what looked like some .so files built with c/c++ that were linked in and accessed over JNI. I'm guessing the translator can't handle those, and that may be why Slingplayer in particular doesn't work.
It's a shame, I'd love to get slingplayer working!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I had to uninstall Lollirock. If I ever get a chance, I want to check out the differences in the files between stock rom & lollirock. Maybe if we can determine what extra libraries exist that allow those extra apps to work on Lollirock, maybe can transplant those files onto our nexus player.

Where can I find the sling TV .apk from the Fire Tv? I been trying to find it via Google with no luck and I cannot get from the Amazon store because none of my devices are compatible. Thanks!

matb321 said:
Where can I find the sling TV .apk from the Fire Tv? I been trying to find it via Google with no luck and I cannot get from the Amazon store because none of my devices are compatible. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://webapp.movetv.com/player/firetv/sling.apk
Works great on our nexus player too.

Great! Thank you so much! I hope it is better than the generic Android.apk I have side loaded!

matb321 said:
Great! Thank you so much! I hope it is better than the generic Android.apk I have side loaded!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It definitely does. That is the official APK from their website. The remote actually works on it too! If you know how to decompile apks, you can add leanback code to it as well.

Did you ever get the Fire TV Slingplayer app to work? If not does it load and just crash when you try to do something? That is seriously the only thing I need for the Nexus Player for it to be perfect. I have the tablet Slingplayer app but without a mouse it is pretty much good for turning on and turning off not able to change channels with it.

flixster
anybody know where to find the fire tv flixster apk? i cant seem to find it anywhere.

For me at least, the Amazon Fire Sling TV app has worked perfectly. I had it crash on me once several days back but that was it. I have been watching it all day today without any hiccups. The quality of the video has generally been solid.

nksetr said:
anybody know where to find the fire tv flixster apk? i cant seem to find it anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pulled the APK from my FireTV & installed it on the Nexus Player (also tried watch ESPN since it works with remotes). The app starts up fine but it crashes anytime you try to play a video.

xaudiblex said:
I pulled the APK from my FireTV & installed it on the Nexus Player (also tried watch ESPN since it works with remotes). The app starts up fine but it crashes anytime you try to play a video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the problem with most amazon fire only video apps. There is something in the code that causes them to crash or just simply fail to play video when used on anything else. Atleast the sling.tv app works fine
Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

jerflash said:
That's the problem with most amazon fire only video apps. There is something in the code that causes them to crash or just simply fail to play video when used on anything else. Atleast the sling.tv app works fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to compare the Fire TV APK & Google Play APK of WatchESPN (as an example) to see if there is much difference. The structure of the files are substantially different.

xaudiblex said:
For me at least, the Amazon Fire Sling TV app has worked perfectly. I had it crash on me once several days back but that was it. I have been watching it all day today without any hiccups. The quality of the video has generally been solid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you happen to have the apk that works for you?

whyteboyello said:
Do you happen to have the apk that works for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After the addition of the new channels (History, H2, & etc), the FireTV apk I was using from Amazon kept on crashing. I ended up downloading the apk (downloaded from Google Play store) from my phone & sideloaded it to my Nexus Player. Remote works perfectly fine with it.

New to XDA and the Shield!

Hi everyone, just got done setting up my new Shield TV with Kodi to stream media files from my unRaid NAS! I purchased the Shield because my old WDTV Live was dying and there did not appear to be many options for media boxes that could stream network content without transcoding with Plex or similar. My unRaid server uses a very old Atom CPU and doesn't have the horsepower to transcode 720p video or above.
Setting up Kodi was pretty easy, although it wasn't able to install it from the Play store. I had to go the route of loading the APK from a USB stick. All of my networked media seems to play flawlessly!
So now onto my question, what is everyone using their Shield for? I've got mine in the bedroom and I'm curious to see what else I can do with it. Out of all my Android games (I have a lot because I've gone through 3 android phones and 2 android tablets) only Wayward Souls was available for Android TV. I some experience with PS1 and SNES emulators from my tablet, but it seems the Shield is much more capable.
My general household includes 2 android phones, an android tablet, a gaming PC with an nvidia graphics card, the unraid server, and an HTPC in the living room. Solid AC Wifi connection between the Shield and the rest of the network.
Throw some ideas at me - what else should I do with the Shield?

Welcome.
I'm using my Shield as a main media center hooked up to my TV in the living room.
I do some android gaming sometimes, but there aren't enough titles i like (hoping this will change)
once nop releases the NTFS and samba kernel, i'm planning to use it as a NAS with a 2.5" usb 3.0 hdd connected to it.

RetroboxTV is pretty sweet for game emulation.
We use our Shield as our primary media device. It does everything we want minus native WatchESPN. We have an hdhomerun prime that we use with the Live Channels app for live TV.
We have a 2 TB external HDD hooked up with movies and TV shows that we watch through Kodi.
What else are you looking for?
Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk

Get sideload launcher, it will give you a wider range of apps you can run. You can also install amazon underground (first download and install the Chrome .apk to browse to it). IMO, ES file explorer provides a lot of the network search functions that I used to use Kodi for, so that removes some software layers. MXPLayer seems to be the most capable video player I've tested.

Mount as fileshare
xd4d3v said:
Welcome.
I'm using my Shield as a main media center hooked up to my TV in the living room.
I do some android gaming sometimes, but there aren't enough titles i like (hoping this will change)
once nop releases the NTFS and samba kernel, i'm planning to use it as a NAS with a 2.5" usb 3.0 hdd connected to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey can you help me out? I cannot figure out how to mount a network share into the filesystem.. ive tried using cifsmanager and tutorials but to no avail. can you please help?

just ordered my Shield TV
Relatively new here, roamed forums and maybe posted once or twice. Just ordered my NVidia shield tv and cant wait to get my hands on it! One question that I have yet to get a concrete answer to is can you run amazon prime video on it? Currently have an AFTV second gen and love it but always wanted more power out of it. Think im good with the shield tv but I do need to have prime video. Can someone give me a concrete answer? I've read through tons of threads out there and seems some people say you can while I've read others who say its a no go. HELP PLEASE!!!
P.S. thank you in advance!!!!

v-ince said:
Relatively new here, roamed forums and maybe posted once or twice. Just ordered my NVidia shield tv and cant wait to get my hands on it! One question that I have yet to get a concrete answer to is can you run amazon prime video on it? Currently have an AFTV second gen and love it but always wanted more power out of it. Think im good with the shield tv but I do need to have prime video. Can someone give me a concrete answer? I've read through tons of threads out there and seems some people say you can while I've read others who say its a no go. HELP PLEASE!!!
P.S. thank you in advance!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You CAN run prime video. However, the current workaround will not give you you 1080p (or 4K). You'll be limited to 720p. http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tv/development/amazon-prime-video-demand-android-tv-t3278778

OK everyone so I've been using my Shield for a bit now and here are my quick thoughts. I haven't rooted or installed ROMs or done anything else. The most complicated thing I've done is put APKs on a flash drive and clicked "OK" in ES File Explorer to install them. I've also had to use a computer with the Play store to install a few games/apps.
1) ES File Explorer is OK but the user interface is very difficult to navigate (not intuitive)
2) Getting a PS1 and SNES emulator up and running were easy
3) Netflix, PBS, and CBS Sports are the only native video streaming apps I can get to work because I have Comcast/Xfinity and they hate Android TV. However, CBS Sports is only clips, not full programming, I find that pretty useless.
4) HBO Go and Showtime Anytime work with built in app casting functionality from my Android phone
5) Fox Sports Go works by casting my phone through Android (not within the app)
6) There are very few games in the Play store that seem to support Shield TV. So far I've only got Wayward Souls and Reaper.
Questions:
1) I've got Retro Arch and Arc Browser installed because I read about them a lot. However, I can't figure out what to actually do with either of those apps.
2) What other Android/play store games?
3) What other video streaming services (I have Comcast/Xfinity)
4) What emulator next? I'm thinking PSP would be good... anything else?
5) Any other apps or cool uses I should look at?

u.of.ipod said:
OK everyone so I've been using my Shield for a bit now and here are my quick thoughts. I haven't rooted or installed ROMs or done anything else. The most complicated thing I've done is put APKs on a flash drive and clicked "OK" in ES File Explorer to install them. I've also had to use a computer with the Play store to install a few games/apps.
1) ES File Explorer is OK but the user interface is very difficult to navigate (not intuitive)
2) Getting a PS1 and SNES emulator up and running were easy
3) Netflix, PBS, and CBS Sports are the only native video streaming apps I can get to work because I have Comcast/Xfinity and they hate Android TV. However, CBS Sports is only clips, not full programming, I find that pretty useless.
4) HBO Go and Showtime Anytime work with built in app casting functionality from my Android phone
5) Fox Sports Go works by casting my phone through Android (not within the app)
6) There are very few games in the Play store that seem to support Shield TV. So far I've only got Wayward Souls and Reaper.
Questions:
1) I've got Retro Arch and Arc Browser installed because I read about them a lot. However, I can't figure out what to actually do with either of those apps.
2) What other Android/play store games?
3) What other video streaming services (I have Comcast/Xfinity)
4) What emulator next? I'm thinking PSP would be good... anything else?
5) Any other apps or cool uses I should look at?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) There is a touchpad on the bottom of the game controller. It's hidden, but if you run your finger over the gray area above the volume control it should respond as a mouse pointer. That should help you navigate some apps easier.
2) Implosion (play store), Sonic CD & Goat Simulator (Chrome.apk -> Amazon underground -> amazon Apps), and some of the more ambitious MMO like War Thunder and Vendetta should work well.
3) HBOGo should work from your phone by casting, as will a lot of other video apps. FoxNow, WatchESPN, NBC, xfinity TV Go are some others I've tested successfully.
4)
5) sideload launcher if you don't already have it. Kodi is good for live TV from external devices (i.e. HDHomeRun Connect), but I've always found its navigation to be more complicated than it needs to be.