Any way to force an app to mobile mode? - Shield Android TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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.

Related

How to Get Xfinity TV (X1 app not TV to GO) to not close back to home screen

has anyone figured out why the Xfinity TV app closes or how to fix this I have the newest version installed on my nvidia shield and the app closes after about 10 minutes of watching a live or on demand show and goes back to the Home screen? On my fire stick the app doesn't close but I get other playback error on live channels. The TV to Go app works 100% on my correctly it never closes but it lacks a channel guide and DVR abilities so I would rather use the X1 TV app instead. any suggestions on how to get the app to stop closing back to the home screen?
I can't even get it to authorize my device. I put in my info and it just gives me a retry error.
davidreyes13 said:
I can't even get it to authorize my device. I put in my info and it just gives me a retry error.
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I think it did that for me too at first I had to call Comcast and tell them I to activate my account to use the X1 TV app they did something on their end and I was able to login and add my device to the system. . I wasn't able to use the app on any device though so that may have been something different
jlennonfan said:
has anyone figured out why the Xfinity TV app closes or how to fix this I have the newest version installed on my nvidia shield and the app closes after about 10 minutes of watching a live or on demand show and goes back to the Home screen? On my fire stick the app doesn't close but I get other playback error on live channels. The TV to Go app works 100% on my correctly it never closes but it lacks a channel guide and DVR abilities so I would rather use the X1 TV app instead. any suggestions on how to get the app to stop closing back to the home screen?
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Same issue, want to get it working on the Shield. any fixes?
Have you tried this modded apk? It's been floating around and hasn't given me any issues. It even opens right to the live tv channel selection. I also created a banner so it shows up in the Android TV leanback launcher.
http://www.filedropper.com/xfinitytvgopackage
disregard, i just realized your post said not TV GO...
The reason xfinity tv app was closing was due to the blue tooth keyboard turning off after not being used got a WiFi one solved the problem or now just using the game pad right control stick. New issue is the newest version won't play content I have to use the old version of the app. Anyone have any ideas?
BUMP, we really need to figure this out! I was really enjoying the TV GO app working on Shield, now that it is retired we really need to focus on getting the replacement Xfinity TV app working!
Yes, mine does the same and won't work. Now it looks like it is dead and they have stopped the server. I have tried all different solutions. Is there a modded apk or a fix yet? I used to use the Xfinity TV Go and now it won't work. Xfinity TV won't even open.
I can confirm that the Xfinity GO app no longer works on the Shield TV and that the current Xfinity TV app crashes/closes after launch. My guess is that the app checks the type of device that the app is installed on and if it detects that it's an Android TV OS it automatically closes. I wonder if there's a way to modify the APK to either trick the device into thinking it is running on stock Android or remove the check altogether?
Homestar9 said:
I can confirm that the Xfinity GO app no longer works on the Shield TV and that the current Xfinity TV app crashes/closes after launch. My guess is that the app checks the type of device that the app is installed on and if it detects that it's an Android TV OS it automatically closes. I wonder if there's a way to modify the APK to either trick the device into thinking it is running on stock Android or remove the check altogether?
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I rooted one of my shields so it is running full android OS 6.0 and in about devices it declares it's self as a Tablet thinking the same line of thought you are presenting. No dice. Downloaded the Tvgo app and it did just about the same thing. The app loaded and I got all excited then I selected some content I had recorded and live tv and both times it came up with something to the effect that your carrier does not support releasing DRM content to this device crap.. Ultimately they want you to rent one of their POS boxes. The silly thing is if that is what they are so worried about, losing that revenue stream, then why allow anything but their devices to run their content? Can still run on laptop or pc no problem. Apparently they are not aware of casting? It's all the same big corporation trying to hold onto market share by force instead of placing that energy into developing things people want along with the evolving tech. They will have to evolve or go the way of Block Buster video. LOL.
Hi Guys,
Been looking at this for a while. I have a Nexbox A95x Aml based Android box. The latest version of the Xfinity TV App (3.10.0.016) refuses to work . But... I have managed to find a earlier version that does. I can only presume after this version (3.2.1.028) they added the DRM type check , to check for either root or a "non approved" device.
I have tested this quite a bit and it does live TV and also you can even download (the holy grail lol) and watch shows offline. To do this,the app MUST be left on internal storage and not moved to the SD card.
The bad news is that at some point I bet Xfinity will force a update ie make this older version non working. But hopefully , someone here will be able to turn that off.
Dont forget to go to the Google apps store and disable Auto updates on this app ,otherwise your device wil just Auto install the newer version.
Hopefully , someone (much more skilled than me lol) may be able to compare this older version with the new one and disable DRM check for a newer version.
I have uploaded the version that works for me here:
h t t p://bit.ly/2gQn3eR
Sorry for the funny url , but XDA will not let me post urls until I have ten posts..
Any updates on making the official XFinity TV app work now that XFinity TV Go has been shut down?
I am also looking for someone who can mod the new Xfinity app (remove the HDMI check.......I think) to get it to work on the fire stick. The new version loads but will not open. The screen automatically goes blank and closes down.
I just wanted to let everyone here know that if you upgrade your shield to Nougat the Xfinity TV even older versions of the software that would work on prior to the new 7.0 firmware release now won't work at all so if this is something you want I would hold off on doing the 7.0 Nougat update to your shield I plan on reverting back my shield to regain the ability to use the Xfinity TV app.
jlennonfan said:
I just wanted to let everyone here know that if you upgrade your shield to Nougat the Xfinity TV even older versions of the software that would work on prior to the new 7.0 firmware release now won't work at all so if this is something you want I would hold off on doing the 7.0 Nougat update to your shield I plan on reverting back my shield to regain the ability to use the Xfinity TV app.
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Thanks for that information. Sucks for us Nougat upgraders though.
hey guys
I've got some pretty good news for those with the new Nvidia shield or have updated the old one to Nougat already and lost the ability to load the Xfinity TV app. I have found an alternative way to watch Xfinity on the shield Tv it is not an ideal way to watch and may not work for everyone's needs. I found that if I launch a game stream game on the Shield and Minimize the Game window before the game starts up or goes full screen, you will get a remote desktop like session which can be controlled with the the joystick on the gamepad. open a web browser and go to Xfinity and it works there is no lag or out of sync audio, it works pretty good, the Quality is better than casting a chrome browser tab from the PC, I also found controlling youtube from this remote desktop method is a far better interface than the Android TV app since you get the full website version of youtube instead of the slimmed down tv app. I should point out this nvidia Gamestream Remote environment is different than using a typical remote desktop client like the Microsoft Remote desktop client, most remote desktop clients don't offer the refresh rates needed to stream HD video without lags or audio syncing issues however the Nvidia Gamestream app does. I am sure there are other apps that can deliver a RDP session with the high refresh rates needed for viewing 1080p video over and RDP connection, I just haven't found one that works that will do this job. If anyone is aware of another app than can do this let me know I'd like to try it out.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hc652xc2bq8yrfa/AAAkahHih0lzdxbJN4uPL8Rla?dl=0&lst=
usmcnyc said:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hc652xc2bq8yrfa/AAAkahHih0lzdxbJN4uPL8Rla?dl=0&lst=
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Are these files modified?
OM619 said:
Are these files modified?
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We confirm these work

Sideloaded apps overscan issues

Greetings all
I've been sideloading fire OS that are not available for standard Android TV. After installing the Amazon app store I've been able to use MOST with hardly any problems. Except for one thing, many apps like NBC work. On playback however they don't fill my screen. Basically it's underscaning I'm aware that Amazon's developer guidelines are slightly different and that's the reason.
I'm curious if there's a way to fix this with a overscan correction in Android Studio or with a third-party app?

Spoofing/Modding - Device/apps Help

I am trying to get all4 on my shield, I've tried many things but failing to do it lol.
OK so I've tried installing the apk I got from someone who backed it up for me from a fire tv but it seems like the apk was just a wrapper so it didnt work.
I have the amazon appstore installed but it recognises my device is not a fire TV device and won't let me install.
Is there a way we could spoof the amazon appstore to see the device as a fire tv or maybe spoof the device so apps think its a fire TV (if that makes sense).
So spoofing the amazon appstore I have an idea -
Using "app cloner" it has a build prop option to where you can modify the apk to see the device as what you wish by filling in the right build prop details for the device you want to spoof to.
Only thing is - I don't have a fire TV device to get the details so I can't try this yet. (If anyone had the details please let me know so I can try - just need to install app cloner and it will show you the info)
Can anyone help with this?
I also have a second problem I've been trying to deal with for years now lol.
There is an app called "notifications for android TV", what it does, is it send notifications from apps on your phone and displays them on the TV in a way where when you install the app on android TV the app auto installs as a server, when you install the same app on phone it asks you if you want to set up this phone as a server or client.
I used to run full android custom ROM on my shield TV, when I did I used app cloner to install 2 versions of this app and installed one as server and one as client so all the notifications were handled by my shield TV and I did not need a phone connected to send notifications - this is ideal. I'm love look ing to try do the same thing on stock nvidia firmware but every time it detects the app as android TV and doesn't you the option to install as a client.
I just need a way to spoof/mod the app to think its installing on a phone instead of android TV.
Can anyone help with this stuff, been bugging me for soo long now lol.
I just side loaded the mobile all4 application from apkpure.
Sure, you need to use a mouse to navigate it, but it works fine for me.
I should have mentioned I am looking for the fire TV version specifically as it is remote friendly. I have the version you are using already.

Amazon Appstore FireOS only apps - any work arounds?

My son has a Fire HD 8 tablet that thanks to you all, I have installed LineageOS 7.1.2 on. It runs great now, but we'd like to install an application that is only available in the Amazon App store and designed to run only on stock FireOS. I think the app would run perfectly fine on the tablet with Lineage installed, but unfortunately the Amazon App store no longer recognizes the tablet as a Fire tablet and therefore blocks our ability to download the app.
Is there some sort of workaround that could be tried here? I've read about people modifying build.prop to spoof the device type and run "unsupported" apps, so perhaps that is the route we'd take here? I'm just sort of stumped here and really don't want to go buy another fire tablet just so we can run stock fire os for his game.
The apps in question are the Osmo kids learning series. Any help would be very much appreciated.
*edit - i have searched for .apks of the app online that would allow me to manually install, but i have been unable to turn any up.
ChrisULM said:
My son has a Fire HD 8 tablet that thanks to you all, I have installed LineageOS 7.1.2 on. It runs great now, but we'd like to install an application that is only available in the Amazon App store and designed to run only on stock FireOS. I think the app would run perfectly fine on the tablet with Lineage installed, but unfortunately the Amazon App store no longer recognizes the tablet as a Fire tablet and therefore blocks our ability to download the app.
Is there some sort of workaround that could be tried here? I've read about people modifying build.prop to spoof the device type and run "unsupported" apps, so perhaps that is the route we'd take here? I'm just sort of stumped here and really don't want to go buy another fire tablet just so we can run stock fire os for his game.
The apps in question are the Osmo kids learning series. Any help would be very much appreciated.
*edit - i have searched for .apks of the app online that would allow me to manually install, but i have been unable to turn any up.
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Get Amazon Appstore for Android on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/get/amazonapp

which alternative launcher for AndroidTV? MUST be included in F-Droid..

Hi
I installed with adb F-Droid and apps distributed with F-Droid. The most apps don't show up in main menu.
Now I wish to install a custom Launcher, which shows those apps.
In F-Droid I didn't find any launcher with Android TV support.
I don't have a Google account, so cant use Google Play.
I know it doesn't approve the prerequisite of being in F-Droid, but the next one is here on XDA and it's been made by the great Chainfire, so I'll recommend it to you anyway:
[APP][TV5.0+][2015.03.10] Sideload Launcher for Android TV v1.05
Easily launch apps you sideloaded to your Android TV This is only for the new Android TV devices, like the ADT-1 and the Nexus Player, it is completely useless on other devices Android TV requires existing apps to be updated and declare...
forum.xda-developers.com
You can directly install the .apk with a pen drive without using Android TV Google Play Store, and is for exactly what you are needing.
I have it installed on my TV, and it works flawlessly.
Other tip: you can directly install the F-Droid official "Store" app on your TV with the .apk (I didn't catch correctly if you did so, or if you are installing apps from there with adb), so you don't need to be using adb each time you want something from there.
I have it installed with the official .apk as well and it's a bit slow, but works and can be used to update whatever app you installed from there. Mind that for the updating part to work, you need a "mouse input" type of device for doing the "scroll down to refresh" gesture, so the app updates the repository information and lists the updates available for your apps.
Thank you very much for help
For this launcher I can't find the Git repo. At the moment I use FLauncher which is in Beta. Wrote the same in official thread.
I can't connect mouse/keyboard to ATV, see
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...y-paired-it-with-lg-tv.4408593/#post-86493315
Try Wolf Launcher
Wolf Launcher 0.1.9 Wolf : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Lancher
archive.org
texten said:
Try Wolf Launcher
Wolf Launcher 0.1.9 Wolf : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Lancher
archive.org
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Thanks.
I can't find the Git repo and it seems not in F-Droid
Android TV Launcher is for those users who want endless customization options on Android TV. You can add your favorite widgets on the home screen from weather to time widgets — everything is available. You also have support for app widgets. If you want to change your launcher too, there is an easy way-Open Device Preferences of your Android TV. Then go to Build Version under the about section. Now, repeatedly press it until Developer Options are enabled. After enabling, go back to the Device Preferences menu and open Developer Options.
FLAUNCHER is open source android tv launcher made with flutter
FLauncher / FLauncher · GitLab
Open-source alternative launcher for Android TV, built with Flutter.
gitlab.com
My Android TV box does not show installed app. No matter what Launcher I try the app icon remain invisible. The app can opened from settings. chainfire's sideload launcher does not make any difference. there must be something in the android core itself.
use Flauncherit shows any apps you wants !
chainfire doesnt not even see sideloaded apps anymore
PuckBass said:
chainfire doesnt not even see sideloaded apps anymore
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For me is still working perfectly! Thanks for the alternative, anyway.

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