Is there a way to use multi-window or some other sort of split screen method to run two applications side by side? I know this a native feature for Android Nougat but I can't seem to find a way to do so on the Shield.
Afaik, the only way to get that feature is to run full Android nougat on the shield.
Not true at all. Works on android tv, all depends if apps support it. There is a floating widget bar that has browser, media player etc & it allows you to have multiple windows open
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The Wear SDK doesn't appear to have anything similar to the Pebblekit JS Framework. Does this mean that any watch app that wants to access the internet (such as a simple weather app) will need a dedicated companion phone app? Or am I missing something?
The Wear emulator technically looks like Android, but on a small screen, and with a different "launcher".
You can run many existing Android apps on it. I tried one of mine, and it worked, more or less, but the UI was squished as would be expected.
This is why it's called "Android Wear". It's just an Android variant. There may be some "normal" Android APIs it won't support, and there will be watch specific APIs I'm sure.
IMO, it makes sense and is smart of Google to do this. I don't want to deal with 10 different smartwatch OS's.
NOW is the time for a bigger, richer smartwatch OS, because it's now possible to put enough ARM compute power in a watch sized device.
I presume that Google Play will support watch apps at some point. And I'm looking forward to seeing custom watch ROMs. I hope there won't be too much locking down of devices, or at least a Nexus watch or 2 that can be unlocked.
I agree with all of your comments, but I also think the cool thing about pebble is that I can write a watch app that will, for example, get weather from a JSON source on the internet without requiring the user to install another phone app. I don't think you can do that with Wear.
Is there a solution to this? Maybe remapping a button on the controller? I know there is a pretty simple way to do this in Kodi, but I need to make this work in other apps, such as emulators. How will I be able to manage settings and options without it?
This has been discussed at http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-player/help/3-dots-menu-t3067105. If you're running Android 5.1 or higher, most sideloaded apps won't have accessible menus. You'll need to email the developers of the apps you use to request that they restore menus for their apps on Android TV devices running Android 5.1 or higher. Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) won't restore the missing menus so the only other possibility is that an Xposed module such as the one at http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/app-force-3-dots-menu-t3181622 may serve that purpose in the future.
Thanks for clarifying. Why did they remove it? So dumb...
I don't know why they made that change (and I agree that it's a lame decision) but it seems that Google started enforcing stricter material design requirements on apps as of Android 5.1 and higher on Android TV. That's why I suggest emailing the developers of the apps you use to see if they can update their apps to properly support Android TV. As I discovered with DroidMote Server months ago, this problem can be worked around with app updates. It's not a sure thing that developers will agree to do so for the Android TV platform that they may not officially support but it's worth a try. Which emulators are you planning to use? I don't think that Robert Broglia's excellent .emu apps are affected by this problem.
I have used yongzh's emus until now. But I found replacements so I'm fine for the moment.
What launchers are available out there which offer more than the leanback launcher? I noticed I cannot change wallpaper, live or static, display non-TV apps or change many other settings with it. Do you have any suggestions for others to try?
Unfortunately all which I have tried seem underdeveloped atm. Before Android TV there were already a bunch of mediocre 10-foot launchers for older Android-based boxes. It would be really nice to see somebody develop an improved version of the Leanback Launcher with added customization (like Nova Launcher vs AOSP's launcher), but I heard somewhere that the Leanback launcher isn't open source. It would also be nice for such a launcher to be made compatible with all Android TV and normal Android devices so that you could have the Leanback interface on things like like MiniX devices, Fire TV devices or even an old Android smartphone strapped to the back of your TV. @dhacker29 ported CyanogenMod 12.1 and later AOSP 6.0.1 to the Nexus Player where he included the Leanback Launcher with modifications to the UI and an option to change the background image, though I doubt that you can just extract the app and run it on the Shield.
Ive tried HALauncher on my shield tv (not rooted / stock firmware), that's pretty good. It allows you to choose wallpaper, change font colours, and arrange your own quick launch items. Only problem is that it wont show the Nvidia Shield hub items (game stream etc) except the store place. Its free so worth looking at.
If you like the style of Leanback but would prefer more control and ability to customise, HALauncher is the best option. It also supports mouse control too, unlike the truly awful and crippled Leanback.
If you prefer something a bit different there are numerous launchers out there. You have SquareHome.Tablet launcher. It's very good and allows a metro-like setup and can create some fantastic looking home pages if you put the effort in. Another is Launcher Lab, which has some fantastic effects. Although the downside of this is that you can't use a direction pad, which means it's mouse only. Total Launcher is worth a look too.
See the Minix Forum thread below for examples of what you can do. They're all on Minix devices of course, but there is nothing stopping identical home pages being set up on the Shield.
http://www.minixforum.com/threads/lets-see-a-shot-of-your-launcher-customizations.441/
Currently it's kinda hard to navigate because it's not possible to type with joycons. Apps like YouTube are also impossible to use in docked mode. Does anyone already experimented a bit and got a better experience?
You could try to remote control your switch with your smartphone.
Something like DroidMote should work. I might try DroidMote myself but the Server app is paid and I don't really want to add my Google account to the switch (I am not using GAPPS on switch). Maybe buying it on my phone, backing up with Titanium Backup and restoring it on the switch will do the trick.
You *may* be able to get an android tv bluetooth remote and connect it. I have not tried.
Kodi can give you a great dashboard for an htpc setup with a custom theme. You can even have it auto launch when you boot into android so you never see the android interface just a nice tv setup. That's how I have my Android tv boxes. I use one of these style remotes as well for the keyboard:
https://www.amazon.com/ILEBYGO-Back...e+tv+keyboard&qid=1564503866&s=gateway&sr=8-4
You will want to use Android TV apps for landscape apps like youtube etc.
I use one of these when it's in docked mode. Just have the dongle plugged into the dock and you have an easy to use mouse and keyboard.
https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Rii-Wireless-Keyboard-Raspberry/dp/B00Z81U3YY
Try hal launcher and the leakback keyboard.
sorry for kidnapping your thread, but when you use docked mode, does it go to fullscreen? Mine stays with black bars up and down... would say that it's not outputting the correct resolution...
Just want to recommend airscreen so you can use it as a Chromecast.
Replace the default launcher with TV Launcher or HALauncher. Use a blue tooth or wireless keyboard until the soft keyboard get fix. The current Amazon Fire TV remote can be paired using blue tooth and works with this android build.
I think would be great if someone with more experience could port this solution https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByIKEmoQi-hpYXBpbV9Sb3JFeVk
It is way to convert Shield Tablet into Android TV Shield. I've found this pdf with guide and files in zips folder. It obviously doesn't flash because Lineage has different file structure, but maybe it doesn't require much tweaking. It would be great, because it comes with Chromecast support and there are plenty Android TV apps which require full Android TV structure.
The scripts itself seems compatable, the only thing that needs proper porting would be TV Gapps. If anyone can port these successfully let me know.
Think it shouldn't be to hard to transform the OS into a Android TV. Just don't have a Switch to play with it, but i really like the Idea... Think i will grab a Switch around Christmas and make it happen...
is it technically possible to implement framerate switching and widevine level 1 support for drm protected content playback in hd in the switch android port?
see my questions here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ni...wers/to-change-tv-refreshrate-docked-t3992615
i'm really curious about that.
would be awesome to watch stuff with the proper refreshrate for smooth playback and the drm protected content in hd in docked mode
I'm quite familiar with sideloading regular Android apps that don't have an Android TV version, but is there any way to force an app that supports both to use it's mobile version for the Shield TV? I have a VPN through SurfShark that only provides a single apk, and the UI changes depending on if you install it on a phone or Android TV. Problem is on the Shield I'm missing a few features that the app has on my phone, namely the reverse whitelist (selecting only a few apps that use the VPN, everything else is left alone). Also in the SurfShark whitelist options it shows all the installed apps on my phone, but on the Shield many apps aren't listed (Prime TV, NHL, etc).
Apart from waiting for their dev team to fix the Android TV UI, the easiest fix would be to just install the mobile version on the Shield but I can't figure out a way to do that since it's just a single apk, and Google isn't helping either.
Hemi-Cuda said:
I'm quite familiar with sideloading regular Android apps that don't have an Android TV version, but is there any way to force an app that supports both to use it's mobile version for the Shield TV? I have a VPN through SurfShark that only provides a single apk, and the UI changes depending on if you install it on a phone or Android TV. Problem is on the Shield I'm missing a few features that the app has on my phone, namely the reverse whitelist (selecting only a few apps that use the VPN, everything else is left alone). Also in the SurfShark whitelist options it shows all the installed apps on my phone, but on the Shield many apps aren't listed (Prime TV, NHL, etc).
Apart from waiting for their dev team to fix the Android TV UI, the easiest fix would be to just install the mobile version on the Shield but I can't figure out a way to do that since it's just a single apk, and Google isn't helping either.
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Soome app with that allinone package usually changed with how you launch it. Try launch it through sideload launcher usually load mobile one.