Nvidia Shield TV Owners Are Pissed About the Banner Ads in Android TV (gizmodo.com) 65
Nvidia's Shield TVs are some of the best streaming video boxes on the market, but following a recent update to Android TV, Shield TV users are starting to see ads on their home screen and they aren't happy about it. From a report: The latest update to Android TV on Shield TV devices began rolling out earlier this month and featured a small UI redesign that added large banner images to Android TV's home screen, similar to what you get when using Google TV devices like the Chromecast with Google TV. Now technically, Google calls these banner images "recommendations," as they are regularly updated and rotated to help users find new streaming content Google thinks they might enjoy. However, a number of Shield TV users consider these images to be advertisements (especially when they recommend shows on services users aren't even subscribed to), and as such, have taken to showing their displeasure with the recent update by review bombing the listing for the Android TV Home app, which now has a one-star rating across more than 800 reviews.
Why is anyone surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
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TANSTAAFL
Shock.
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Well, the OS I use is free, has no ads and no data mining.
Re:Why is anyone surprised? (Score:5, Informative)
No!
The NVIDIA shield is not some subsidized Chromecast or SmartTV or FireTV. You pay $200-$300 for a good one of these devices.
These are people who have deliberately paid a premium for unsubsidized hardware that doesn't need to be connected to a BigTech account for non-BigTech direct functions. And until now it never featured this kind of space-occupying advertising.
At the very least many users not unreasonably believe there was an implicit contract that they would not be the product.
And the ads are quite negative in functionality, taking up ~40% of users' screen space as users try and select something.
This is a surrender that makes us all products.
Re:Why is anyone surprised? (Score:4, Interesting)
1022 (Score:2)
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Re:Why is anyone surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
Except the update didn't come from nVidia, it came from Google. The Shield runs a vanilla Android TV with minimal customizations by nVidia. Google was the one that pushed an update that added ads to the launcher.
Of course, it is Android based, and there are alternate launchers (I think the popular one is WolfTV) that lack the ads.
Of course the problem is Google just pushed the update willy-nilly not caring if your device was a free streaming stick or a premium Android streaming box.
I was wanting a Shield until this happened. Good thing I waited.
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The Shield runs a vanilla Android TV with minimal customizations by nVidia. Google was the one that pushed an update that added ads to the launcher.
Not entirely accurate. Nvidia tests and adds their secret sauce. Once it clears testing they choose when to roll it out. They could easily decide never to update the Shield again. Also, unless something has changed, Nvidia pays Amazon for a version of Amazon Prime Video that works natively on Android TV. I spent weeks playing whack a mole with other Google TV boxes until I found out about the Alphabet/Amazon pissing contest. I tried everything except Apple TV and begrudgingly bought a Shield. That was sever
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I looked all over the internet at the first ad, sent an abusive comment to nvidia and did this https://beebom.com/disable-ads... [beebom.com]. Then I disabled updates on the device and disabled google shit store. No more ads and no more updates and I will not be buying any of those devices again. New streaming device will be a Linux roll your own, a small desktop computer with a remote. It is cheaper, more secure and will only update when I say so, when I say and at no other times. I was lazy, I am not that lazy any mor
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Hey, DELL, minimum investment required, just need to be designed, can be done in a day and deals made for cheap supply. A DELL Linux streaming PC and a DELL store to sell stuff for the Linux streaming PC with a DELL Tablet remote. Check out what Steam did, now that is the best possible accesory for a big screen TV not a portable game console.
Dell needs to jump into that market vacancy and create a specific Linux streaming PC with a fancy remote. Charge double what nvidia charge, for something that has chea
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DELL
A raspberry pi 4 is vastly cheaper and does the job just perfectly. Why would you want to pay at least 10x more for a PC with fans and plenty of features you won;'t use ?
Re: Why is anyone surprised? (Score:2)
Was avoiding Apple a cost reason, ideological or some other reason?
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I used to be a Plex advocate, especially since XBMC wasn’t so user friendly, but then Plex decided having an internet connection was a primary requirement. There are some apparent workarounds, but crossing the Sahara with 1 bottle of water is starting to look simpler.
I put up with this for a while, partly because I was using more Netflix and YouTube, and then my internet went out. This made me look at alternatives and I decided to fire up the Plex client on my TV, but nope it wasn’t going to wor
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Even old versions of the Google Launcher got the ads. It wasn't updated to ad them, Google just flicked a switch on their end that told it to display them. Downgrading does not help.
It's not clear if they even told Nvidia they were going to do it.
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The NVIDIA shield is not some subsidized Chromecast or SmartTV or FireTV. You pay $200-$300 for a good one of these devices.
Ooooh, $300 you say? lol
Tain't nuffin main.
W're the frogs and they've had us in a big old pot, slowly turning up the heat.
They've been preparing you for quite some time, and, you, me, and the woman down the street all said "yes!". So now you no longer own anything ... your phone, your tablet, your computer, your tractor, your toaster ... it's all "licensed" now in one of the largest p
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My response to nvidia, "YOU ARE DEAD TO ME", don't try to sell me anything, you can't. The next thing was to dig into setting disable google updates and then disable google store entirely (delete the updates and then block updates). I buy zero apps from nvidia and I will never buy another nvidia product. I of course already spend zero dollars with google and I can assure I will never spend money on them or any of their branded products, NOTHING, All google apps are blocked, why not will not buy anything off
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They give you "free" products like search, email, mobile OS, TV OS in order to mine your data for ad placement.
No, they modify your behavior so that you'll act in a way that gives them more valuable data. The difference is important.
Once you have enough cows, it's far more lucrative to change the cows so they produce more milk than to design milking stations that make the cows stand in one place for longer.
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Shield is not a Google product. It is an NVIDIA product. They are in charge of whether there are ads on the home screen.
It looks like I'm gonna have to finally put in another filtering proxy to kill ads. I used to run one using SQUID...
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It looks like I'm gonna have to finally put in another filtering proxy to kill ads. I used to run one using SQUID...
Look at Pi-hole. I run a couple of them in VMs here. They do an excellent job.
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Except for Nvidia doesn't do anything to prevent me from sideloading an ad-free launcher [smarthomebeginner.com] on the device trivially if I want.
You were saying?
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Which alternate launchers search across apps? You were saying?
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Oh, so you just want parts of the new launcher, but not other parts? Sounds like it's time to write your own, or be happy with what is available.
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You don't have any rights when you're a renter vs. an owner.
Except that Nvidia Shield is (usually?) sold not rented, so you're the owner.
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I don't rent my Shield. I OWN it, bought and paid for.
You only own it for some values of "own". Yes, you "bought and paid" for it. But if the provider of a crucial operating element of your Shield can vandalize it on a whim, and the nice law enforcement officer laughs at you when you want to file a complaint and press charges, then you don't really own it, now do you?
Re: You're a renter (Score:1)
It is not review bombing... (Score:5, Informative)
...if you get ads in something that did not have them before and that pisses you off enough to warrant the score you give.
Review bombing is when you base your score on something other than the actual experience with the thing.
Well perhaps Nvidia should ... (Score:1)
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Re: Well perhaps Nvidia should ... (Score:2)
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True. The problem (of which Google is of course very much aware) is that any device that does not have Android TV (or tvOS) on it is doomed to fail, just like phones without Android or iOS do not stand much of a chance.
I suspect Roku would disagree on that point.
Xbox One (Score:2)
This worked for me. (Score:2)
Uninstall updates to the app Google Play Services.
Disable app auto-updates.
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... and be vulnerable to whatever revolving backdoor was in the app that now never gets updated.
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Also, forget about running Netflix doing that.
Yo Grark
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Netflix works for me.
So your mileage may vary.
At least it's not as bad as Fire Stick (Score:4, Informative)
The interface on that streaming device has gotten to the point where ads for new programming take up the entire top half of the screen. Worse yet, they expand as you scroll down the channel listing. It's totally obnoxious!
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The ads and background activity finally ruined the original fire stick, making it literally unusable (as in, media chokes while playing because of the background bullshit) so I bought a shield... sigh.
Insutlng. (Score:3)
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So ho ahead and buy a 600 dollar tivo. That will fix these problems. The streaming boxes that soam you with adds cost less than a rib eye steak dinner.
Hmmm. (Score:2)
Piss off users. Get burned.
Apparently, it does take a rocket scientist to figure out this will happen.
not just the ads (Score:4, Informative)
It used to be that there was a home screen display of the users' choice of various applications, followed by highlights from those apps. Now it is just the highlights, so there's no easy way to get to the main screen of the app; you are always dropped into the video, forced to stop it and return to the app main screen. You can get to the main screen, but it is three clicks away. Also, specifically on Netflix, there is no way to look at the description without the video beginning to play, but if you don't watch it, it is stuck in your "continue watching" list forever. This pain in the ass "feature" is specific to the Shield TV, as it does not happen on the game console I have.
There must be a VP, or higher, level of executive in charge of annoying customers.
I was going to buy one for my mother, since her cable TV bill is egregious, but now, I'll have to look into Roku and Apple, even though I am not a fan of Apple's ecosystem.
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The netflix thing is annoying to be sure...but you can purge things from your continue watching row:
https://help.netflix.com/en/no... [netflix.com]
Of course it'll just fill up with crap you don't want to watch / don't want to finish / whatever. It'd be nicer if you could delete them on the fly.
At least they added a setting to stop the goddamned previews from autoplaying.Here's that setting for anyone who is not aware. It made my roku a lot less annoying to use.
https://help.netflix.com/en/no... [netflix.com]
not on Shield/Netflix (Score:2)
According to the response I got from Netflix or Nvidia (I for get which ATM), the autoplay feature control is deliberately disabled on that platform. Works in Wii U, though.
I will try managing the "continue watching" link.
FWIW, Crunchyroll has broken that. I have seven episodes of various things completely watched sitting in my "Continue Watching" with 1 S (second).
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What I found on my 2 shield TVs, I disabled the Google Play Store, then uninstalled the updates to Android TV Home. Eventually I assume some application is going to complain at which point I'll re-enable the store and try to manually update those applications. If the launcher update sneaks in while its enabled we can probably perform the previous steps again.
I also disabled updates for the shield itself as eventually the base image will be updated to include the new version of launcher, this one is more ann
LOL - Recommendations (Score:5, Insightful)
I actually laughed out loud at this one. It's one of the funniest weasel-word rebrandings I've heard in a while.
"Oh that billboard? No, that's not an advertisement. That's a recommendation! You're on a freeway and we're recommending you exit and buy a Big Mac."
"But I didn't ask for a recommendation!"
"I know! Isn't it great? Even if you didn't know you could be hungry right now, I might have guessed right and WHAM! the food is right here!"
"Welcome to KPPV the Classic Rock station with no commercials. We now break for 15 minutes of recommendations for products you didn't ask for."
Brilliantly shitty.
Change the default launcher (Score:1)
I didn't follow these exact instructions - but change your default launcher.
https://www.gamerevolution.com... [gamerevolution.com]
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"The biggest drawback of a third-party launcher is that none of them have all the capabilities the original one does." - says the article you linked.
When is Google gonna delete and reset the score? (Score:1)
Bait and Switch (Score:2)
Yes, Yes We Are. (Score:2)
I'm seriously upset by it. I already gave Android TV Home the lowest possible rating, which can only be done from a device capable of actually downloading and running the app. Lack of advertisements with more flexibility than AppleTV was the major reason I bought 3 of them (the ones with the green lightning bolt or whatever it is). The decent hardware and small footprint was just a bonus.
The usual roll back updates, factory reset and use another launcher don't work; and it's too late to turn off automati
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And why is that? I don't see intrusive ads on my roku. There are some static ads on the screensaver and the home screen. They're completely harmless until you tap on them.
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You can set a different launcher... with adb debugging enabled... it wrapper launcher app adb debugs the android to use wolf launcher or something like that.
If you havenâ(TM)t learned by now, youâ( (Score:2)
No automatic updates on any Google device ever. Yes, there may be a problem with an unpatched vulnerability. Thatâ(TM)s up to you to evaluate the threat.
This is what you signed up for when you chose an Android product.
Samsung TV does it as well (Score:2)
I noticed, after some time of using my new big screen very expensive Samsung QLED TV (I know, but it’s a very well-lit basement) last year, that there was an ad appearing in the bottom left of the TV, left of all the apps.
I was livid. I paid all that money, and they’re going to start advertising on my screen???
I wrote them a passionate email explaining how that would be the reason I never buy Samsung again, and how I would take every effort to inform my friends and family so that they wouldn
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solutions (Score:2)
1. Don't buy anything that runs Android, ever.
2. If you don't have a choice, don't let that Android device on the Internet, ever. Keep your Android TV "dumb" and use a set-top box like an AppleTV to do all the network and content stuff.
3. If you don't have a choice, don't give that Android device open access to the Internet, ever. Use a firewall or a DNS blackhole like pi-hole and block every packet coming or going from the TV except those that are absolutely necessary to watch the things you want to watch.
'tis garbage (Score:2)
Android TV is complete garbage. Horrible UI. Apps like YouTube crash all the time. Google can't even get YouTube to work right on Android TV, how do you expect anyone else to?