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Violator
May 15, 2003


Does anyone have any luck with VLC? I'm trying to load a bunch of short videos onto it and have them automatically play one after another and then loop from the beginning again. It has to be stand alone with no network connection so I can't stream stuff to it.

I've got a bunch of videos loaded onto it in the Remote Playback section's Cached Media. But I can't get it to play the next video automatically, it just goes back to the video listing screen. If I set repeat to "single" then it loops the current video. If I set it to folder, then at the end of the video it just stops and goes to a gray screen. I can't figure out how to create folders of local media on this version of VLC. (If I jiggle a video, I can't get it to move to drag onto another video to create a folder like it does on the iPad version.)

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Violator
May 15, 2003


Blurry Leaked Images Depict Alleged 'Apple OLED TV' in Testing Facility
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/16/images-depict-alleged-apple-oled-tv/

Dun dun duunnnn.

Violator
May 15, 2003


I remember the rumor a few years ago for the TV was that the connections were going to be separate from the display. So the TV itself would only have a power cable going to it, and your components would plug into an external AppleTV sized puck and the puck would AirPlay everything to the TV. That way you don't have to worry about wire management, seeing ugly wires, not having enough ports, not having the correct ports, etc. on your TV. You would just put all of your components in a case or closest and never see them and if you need to upgrade you just upgrade your puck instead of the whole TV to get new ports, capabilities, etc.

AirPlay 1 was too slow to accommodate this, but would the recently released AirPlay 2 allow it?

Also, I assume the picture and sound quality would be of equal excellence of what the HomePod apparently has. I saw some write-ups of the tech in that thing and the overall impression was "holy crap, I can't believe they're putting this much technology in a $350 speaker." I don't know how legit that sentiment was, but it's what I would expect from Apple.

Superior picture and sound, only having one wire going to the device, and a slick UI that controls everything sounds like an Apple product they would be working on. But would these niceties be enough for folks to buy an expensive TV when you can get a 65" 4K for like $500? Probably a dumb question. ;)

Violator
May 15, 2003


Keystoned posted:

What 65" 4k tv can you get for $500? Not being an ahole, curious if thats actually possible since that sounds super cheap.

I get MicroCenter daily deal emails and they had "Vizio 65" LED 4K Ultra HD Home Theater Display w/Google Chromecast Built-In" for $549 a couple of weeks ago. Turns out I'm kinda talking out my rear end, though, because that deal was for refurbished.

But they do have new "LG 65UH6030 65" 4K UHD IPS LED Smart TV w/ WebOS 3.0" for $799, which I still consider hosed up cheap. I don't know how good they are, but I remember when TVs of this size were $3k+.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/467237/65UH6030_65_4K_UHD_IPS_LED_Smart_TV_w-_WebOS_30

Violator
May 15, 2003


Thwomp posted:

It'd still require iOS devs, developing mainly for iPhones/iPads (touch-interfaces), to develop something almost completely separate for the tvOS app store.


Not saying it can't be done but it'd require a shift on the part of developers.

Plus there's still no pack-in controller so developing an amazing game that requires more than the Siri remote is still targeting a tiny minority of ATV owners.

Violator
May 15, 2003


1997 posted:

I watched Deadpool yesterday and I almost couldn’t believe how good it looked. Very impressed with iTunes 4K movies, especially since movie codes can be had very cheap.

Is there a suggested site for movie codes? I just recently learned about this and it makes a lot of sense.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Just for shits and giggles, I put the Dark Sky complication in the upper corner, and along the bottom. Both of them are telling me different temperatures. What the hell? Also, why does it take 10 seconds to get my forecast when I tap on the complication? If background refresh is on (which it is for complications), shouldn't it have the temp already?

Dawg, this is the AppleTV thread.

Violator
May 15, 2003


When I put the Apple TV to sleep I’ve found that if I continue to point the remote at the TV it will turn the TV off 100% of the time. I usually have to point it at the TV for like an additional two seconds until I see it shutting down but it works every time. If I just set the remote down right away or don’t point it at the tv while putting the AppleTv to sleep then the tv never turns off.

I’m guessing it’s using the infrared for this, and if I remember correctly I trained the remote to handle the TVs volume so I’m guessing it’s also sending the shut off command.

Violator
May 15, 2003


its HIM posted:

Holy poo poo, this new YouTube app is garbage. I used to be able to browse/scroll through my subscriptions in a 2D grid of 15-20 on screen at once, and now I can 1D scroll with THREE loving massive icons at a time along with a bunch of empty space. Like the UI was designed for a 24" 1980's CRT that I'm sitting twenty feet away from.

loving hell, this is exactly the reason I cancelled Hulu. At least I'm not paying for YouTube, I guess?

Holy cow, you're not joking. This is terrible. The old grid of channels was perfect and I used to enjoy browser around my subscriptions. Now it's a pain in the rear end and I literally thought to myself how I'm going to watch a lot less YouTube because of this.

Use the design of the device's OS and standard UI! Don't force your mobile app bullshit onto platforms that it doesn't work well with.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Nostalgia4Dogges posted:

Makes it real seamless to switch to headphones on the go without fussing with settings.

Ohh nice

Violator
May 15, 2003


I setup an older pre-Siri remote AppleTV for someone and holy cow is the old Netflix app better than the new one. No bullshit, just a grid of movies that are smartly organized. I forgot how nice it was.

Violator
May 15, 2003


It seemed like for some apps that the password got reset when the app was updated.

Violator
May 15, 2003


EL BROMANCE posted:

Especially when you’re using relatives’ accounts. I’ll probably redo Starz, Showtime, and HBO this weekend during a visit.

Speaking of which, does anyone know how “zero sign-on” works? It’s launching with Charter this fall and other providers in the future. Like it knows what IP you’re using so it auto-signs you into your accounts or something? Seems like a “look how convenient this is (oh by the way you can’t share accounts any more)” kind of thing?

Violator
May 15, 2003


I had a heck of time getting remote streaming (from my home to my office) and voice control (“go back 15 seconds”), and eventually found out through trial and error that it was the beta player. Turned that off and everything works fine again. FYI

Violator
May 15, 2003


Vince MechMahon posted:

So PS4 controllers work now. But Steam Link requires you setup a controller in the app. But the Apple TV already reads inputs from the controller as soon as you sync it. So you literally can't set it up because when it tells you to setup the B button, O on the PS4 app, it reads that as you pressing what TV OS has mapped as the menu button on the controller. So it takes you back. Great job, guys, everyone involved really knocked this one out of the park.

Are you talking about the beta?

Violator
May 15, 2003


Would Sling be the best option for getting some cable channels? I use various streaming services for the shows I watch, but there's a few things that I want to watch live:

USA, TNT for rasslin'
MSNBC and CNN for news

It looks like with Sling that would be $25 for Sling Blue + $5 News Package for $30 a month. $1 a day doesn't feel terrible. That's $25 cheaper than the cheapest special with cable and $20 cheaper than PS Vue.

I have Charter and I was using my folk's credentials since I'm only watching a few shows, but that is starting to not work in apps like MSNBC where it won't play live streams any more. I'm guessing because of their zero sign-on tech where they're matching the device to the specific IP for service or something.

Violator
May 15, 2003


FCKGW posted:

Yeah, Sling would be cheapest.

You can use Suppose.tv to compare packages: https://www.suppose.tv/tv?m=2&f=1l2l446!419!275!73l250l50l1l0lll1&r=rJfgFHNPV

We have a "Cutting Cable" thread too: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3490605

Ooh, thanks

Violator
May 15, 2003


Honestly I’m more interested in TNT in case AEW turns out to be worth watching, and if I’m going to start paying for a service I figured I might to start trying to watch Raw again. But I don’t even know if it’d really be worth it.

Violator
May 15, 2003


I wonder if you get auto subscribed to It, so if they have 40 million phones sold over Christmas they can claim 40 million TV+ subscribers or something.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Kristneder posted:

I’m pretty sure you can control that in the new control center.
Hold down the tv button to access it.

There’s also a way if hold down one of the buttons during play back (play button?) where a menu pops up where you can configure the output device.

Edit: maybe they got rid of this in the newest release for the control center method, I’m not sure

Violator
May 15, 2003


The original talk was that Apple wouldn’t support it because they believed it was likely to be targeted by patent trolls. I don’t know if that was just fluff, but man I remember for like a decade there was a poo poo ton of patient lawsuits coming out a small district in Texas or something that was the scourge of the tech industry.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Duckman2008 posted:

Anyone have the original Apple TV 4th gen (not 4K) and notice it slowing down ? It was never thaaaat zippy, but recently it really feels like it has been taking for ever to load and respond.

Haven’t seen any rumors of a meeting Apple TV either , but not sure I am willing to “risk” upgrading it to a 4K yet, I was hoping to use this until whatever next model comes out (plus the TV it’s hooked up to isn’t 4K).

Yeah, it seems like even stuff like scrolling animations and switching screens are really shuddery too.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Just as a general point, the entire system is faster on the 4K. Menus, switching screens, etc is snappier so if you have the means it’ll future proof you better and also be a better general experience.

Violator
May 15, 2003


ufarn posted:

Some cold water. :negative:

I think Jon Prosser has been wrong more than he's right and L0vetodream has been vague but right about everything I think.

Fedule posted:

It's me, the only person on Earth who really likes the Apple TV remote. I'm sorry, this is all my fault.

I really like it, too. I never lose it, always set it down in the same few places and orientation so I never pick it up wrong, and I think the scroll and voice controls are a wonder of modern technology. :blush:

Violator
May 15, 2003


jabro posted:

I'm used to outrageous Apple prices but that is even outrageous for them.

Audio equipment that is... expensive? Unheard of!

Violator
May 15, 2003


I mean Schiit sells an $850 amp for headphones that doesn't include any headphones. The ceiling for audio equipment is sky high and Apple isn't targeting folks who buy their headphones at Walmart. There's always a price shock when a new Apple product is announced. I remember folks saying the original AirPods were too expensive to sell in mass market.

Violator
May 15, 2003


priznat posted:

It has displaced the switch for us which never was that good for kids, apart from mario kart there aren’t a lot of games that younger kids can play. Even that 2d super mario where they can be nabbit is a stretch.

Sneaky Sasquatch, butter royale and the lego brawl are all fun for kids though. Getting arcade as a freebie in the One plan is basically a bonus.

Wow, I’m surprised. I’m guessing your kids use a controller? I can’t imagine little hands swiping through games very well using the Siri controller.

Yeah, the non-4K is smashed dog poo poo now. The UI hiccups so much in Plex and other apps that it can be a crappy experience. The 4K is worth it just for the smoother UX experience.

Edit: Not to be a weirdo, but when did your kids start playing video games? My little dude is only a few months old but he’s noticing screens and is obsessed with touching my Apple Watch during breakfast. I’m not against screen usage, especially now since we don’t leave the house very much, but he’s got a while to go before he gets any sort of coordination.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Does anyone know how to whitelist video service providers? I’m trying out some ad blocking software on my router, but it’s causing the PBS AppleTV app to fail playback. It tries to play a pre-roll ad, fails, and then errors out of the entire video feed and jumps back to the UI with an error. If I turn off as blocking it works fine. So I’d like to just turn on ads with this feed but i have no idea what to whitelist.

Violator
May 15, 2003


FCKGW posted:

It’s it’s some in-house implementation on your router it’s gonna get more complicated.

Yeah, it's built into the router. What I might try is loading the content on my computer and nettoping it to see if I figure out what to whitelist.

rufius posted:

Now that I think about it though, I toss PBS $6 a month because it’s public television and they need my money more than most.

I think paying for PBS means I don’t get ads maybe?

Yeah, my wife pays the $6 too but for some reason there were still ads. I'll try it again and see (this issue initially popped up the afternoon she ordered it) and maybe it's fixed with better caching or something on their end or a reboot on my end.

Violator
May 15, 2003


smackfu posted:

Funny that Netflix shows are searchable in the TV app, include the episodes lists, but can’t be added to Up Next, and when you click “open in Netflix” it actually does a title search instead of linking directly. What half integration is this?

Netflix won’t integrate into the TV app themselves I’m guessing for competitive reasons, so I guess Apple is doing what they can to get at least a little bit of it into the TV app.

Violator
May 15, 2003


teagone posted:

For $5/month, it's decent imo. Oceanhorn 2 is probably the best game on the service. It's a Zelda-like RPG. What the Golf is fun. The Samurai Jack game is fun. I wanted to try The Pathless but my non-4k 4th gen Apple TV can't play it. You won't find desktop/console class games though—they all feel very much like they were made for the iPad at best. But, I mean, again for $5/month? That seems like pretty ok deal for quick pick-up casual gaming on the couch to me.

I'd hope dumping an M1 chip or whatever equivalent into the next Apple TV means higher-class games development for Apple Arcade though, but I'd guess they'd bump the monthly price up eventually if that would be the case. Also if Xbox Game Pass comes to Apple TV...oh boy.

[edit] For the record, I'm currently not subbed to Apple Arcade anymore since I played through most of the stuff I wanted to already. I'll pick up the sub eventually—most definitely if Apple Arcade becomes a primary focus on the next-gen Apple TV—but I also have a Playstion Now and Games Pass Ultimate sub, so I have plenty of other gaming avenues available right now.

I ended up upgrading to Apple One (or whatever the plan is called) because it was just a few dollars more than everything I was subscribing to already and I wanted to try Apple News and my wife wanted to try Apple Fitness anyway. So I have Apple Arcade but there is very little that interests me. It seems like a no brainer for them to dump a bunch of money and resources into this but it just seems like it hasn't taken off yet and their heart isn't really in it. If it's included free with your bundle, or if it's just $5 a month, then it seems like a good deal. But I was hoping for something that would grab me and there wasn't. But I'm a super casual gamer with very limited tastes related to what I grew up with (play experiences like Doom, Quake, MK, SF, Twisted Metal, Nintendo games, etc.) and I haven't gamed seriously in over a decade so I'm super behind the times. If you're an RPG fan or somebody who branches out more than me there might be something awesome on there.

I think the biggest thing they could do if they actually gave a poo poo would be to pack a controller in the box. People are expected to play a game like NBA 2k21 with the loving Siri remote? I'm one of the few who likes the Siri remote, but it's absolute dog poo poo for trying to play a game. Throw a loving controller in the box and you'll get a lot more people playing. I have Apple Arcade, grew up a gamer, and even for me buying a controller is too much friction for me to get invested in their game selection. If your competition is charging $49 for their streaming box and you're charging $200, you might as well throw a $7 controller into the box if it will help prop up your gaming service.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Folks still happy with HomePod mini as a sound bar replacement? Does having two HomePod mini's paired make an appreciable difference for movies over just one?

Violator
May 15, 2003


buffbus posted:

I have multiples of each type. I would not recommend even a pair of minis as a replacement to a competent sound bar. If you can get ahold of the full sized ones, they would be good but probably not the best use of the money for exclusive use as tv audio.

Ah, good info. I’m using a garbage TCL hand me down sound bar, but it randomly turns off after a while and has a hard time connecting at start up so I was looking for a replacement and hoped the minis would be an easy replacement that was guaranteed to work with the ATV and would have AirPlay as a bonus. My hearing is smashed dog poo poo now for some reason and I literally can’t make out the TV speakers any more.

Violator
May 15, 2003


limaCAT posted:

A lovely feature of the Apple TV 4K: it can be force a stereo downmix to the TV, so it won't loving the central audio channel and send voices into the void. Living in an apartment complex I loving love this since I don't have anymore to raise the TV audio anymore and end up fighting with Ms limaCAT.

LOL you just changed my life. This should be a setting they ask you during setup.

Violator
May 15, 2003


If you buy an old style remote you’re also getting an old battery in it. The remote for my AppleTV HD that I got in 2015 is starting to crap out and every few days I get a “battery is under 20%” notification even after charging it overnight. I guess the battery has held up relatively well for being used daily for almost 6.5 years now but still.

Violator
May 15, 2003


IUG posted:

I’m using Eufy, and it works with HomeKit without Home Assistant. It has a hub plugged in with Ethernet though. They also boast about consumer privacy and no monthly/yearly fees, which are definite advantages to ring.

Yeah, I use one of the Eufy pan and tilt cameras as a baby video monitor. The one I have doesn’t have a hub though. Really nice to have the little PiP window of the camera feed on the TV while I’m watching a movie.

Violator
May 15, 2003


I think it’s because HomeKit has a limited feature set that the cameras have to abide by to be certified for HomeKit. I’m guessing as a baseline and so if a particular camera has a lovely feature it doesn’t tarnish the HomeKit branding. Hopefully the next release this summer adds some of those features.

Violator
May 15, 2003


I had an issue where the AppleTV remote started working like 30% of the time. The remote app on my phone worked fine. I have my ATV mounted behind my TV and finally tried moving where it was mounted and that fixed it. Assuming the TV was blocking the Bluetooth signal from the remote but the WiFi the iPhone was using was getting to it fine.

Violator
May 15, 2003


Trying a different cable has been the solution a frustrating amount of times. HDMI, Ethernet, USB, etc. Especially with the different versions of USB-C. I think changing the HDMI cable solved the 4K issues I was having last summer iirc.

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Violator
May 15, 2003


qirex posted:

I got the new 4k and all is well especially the new remote but now when I pick up my phone or iPad the remote screen is open on top of the lock screen and I have to dismiss it before I can actually use my device. Paradoxically it seems to happen most immediately after I've used the hardware remote. Any ideas?

Hmm, just noticed this just now that you mention it but on my AppleTV HD. I activated a shortcut on my Watch that turns on my AppleTV and when I looked at my phone the screen was on and the remote app was active.

On a side note, if folks haven’t played with Shortcuts for AppleTV it’s kind of neat. I created a shortcut called “morning cartoons” that turns my living room lights on to 50%, turns on the AppleTV and tv, opens the PBS Kids app to their live stream, and sets the volume on the connected HomePod mini to 50%. With one shortcut I can get my kid set with some entertainment while I make them breakfast.

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