I have a US SGS3, not-rooted - AT&T released an OS update yesterday, and now MirrorLink / DriveLink is functional.
Using the Sony XAV-601BT, firmware updated from UK Sony website, Samsung Drivelink APK installed via USB, from the other MirrorLink thread.
When I plug the unit into USB before I would get a message "USB device not recognized", and would then stream Pandora via Bluetooth. Now it auto-launches DriveLink, Navi works, phone works, music works, but only supports Mp3, etc. files at the moment.
Frankly, I was hoping for more app support (eg ability to launch Pandora, Waze, etc.) - right now it only works with built in Google Maps Navi, Phone book, and local files for Music. Something which is annoying, is that I cannot use Bluetooth audio streaming for Pandora at the same time as DriveLink, so the solution is imperfect - I can now use DriveLink navigation, but not Pandora, Or I can exit fully out of drivelink, and listen to Pandora; music or nav, not both - so while it now launches and works, I still cannot use it regularly.
As a bit of an aside, when I first bought my SGS3 I installed an AppRadio2, which was horrible and got exchanged for the XAV-601BT. Now, however, within the last week, there's been progress on fully unlocking control of android using the AppRadio2:
Youtube link "PFiAWrItAdE" (can't post URL)
Seems like the ultimate solution, away from the nanny limitations of DriveLink, although one would imagine, since these limitations are with Samsung's software, a 3rd party app could provide a similar experience with the MirrorLink standard. So perhaps be patient for 6 months, or switch back to AppRadio2, and hope the laggy connection issues have been fixed.
scorp, welcome to XDA!
Many of us feel the same about Samsungs app - pretty poor effort so far Please check out the last few pages of this thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1837847&page=15 (from about page 12 onwards)
A growing number of members here are trying to build a donation 'bounty' in the hope that we can get a developer interested in playing with the Samsung Mirrorlink app and removing the current restrictions to allow full mirroring of the whole phone (meaning all apps on the headunit).
The more support we get the more chance of making this a reality, if you'd be willing to donate something to see this happen please make a post in that thread (also stating your phone model and ROM/firmware) and I'll add you to the list.
Thanks,
Olywa
If any members have any interest at all in mirrolink/drivelink (mirroring phone display and control on supported car headunits) please do take a look at the thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1837847&page=15
Related
Now, before I get flamed, I know that there are plenty of bluetooth remote control apps for controlling your PC from your Android device or controlling your Android device from your PC etc. What I was wondering was, is there an app that allows your to control one Android device from another Android device? Would that be useful, especially with all the tablet devices that are coming out now? How cool would it be to connect your phone to your tablet via bluetooth for the purposes of sending and receiving texts, or making and receiving phone calls etc? Is there any development on such an app?
Comments? Thoughts?
Nothing? Nada?
I don't have an answer for you but I've had the same thought as you that this would be a great app.
I've released two data transfer apps that are used to send data between Android devices, (BlueMuze and Listables if you're interested).
The reason I mention this though, is because I think that for specific tasks like sending music or a photo, or as you suggest, making a phone call, the tech is there. But full-on remote control of another device is a bit more difficult. I'd imagine it would require root and possibly some very clever hacking of the Surface Fliger and Event stream.
That's not to say it's impossible, but it would be a really decent technical challenge. There certainly is a permission related to injecting events into the event stream, that could be a good place to start (if anyone wants to try this).
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html#INJECT_EVENTS
hope that helps
Another quick thought, it's also entirely possible someone will port a VNC server to android someday. There are already VNC clients available...
alostpacket said:
Another quick thought, it's also entirely possible someone will port a VNC server to android someday. There are already VNC clients available...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would certainly be cool! However, the functionality you mentioned in your previous post is something I think would be more functionally useful. Like, say your phone rings, but you answer can answer the call on your tablet as if the phone saw the tablet as a hands-free device, or just answer on the phone (whichever you prefer). Or you dial on your tablet, and then it engages the phone to place the call. Or SMS strings automatically synchronize, and you could answer/respond on either device and they mirror each other in their own respective SMS clients.
That sort of thing I think would be beastly! Y'know, something that gives your tablet and your phone more of a synergistic relationship to each other. Like, rather than two separate devices that fill specific functions, it'd be more like two devices complementing each other and working together to cover all your bases seamlessly.
I just wish I had the knowledge and development-fu to do it myself...
I have also been looking for this kind of thing - primarily so I could run videos from my tablet to my TV, and then use my Android HD2 to control the playback from the comfort of my sofa.
What would be ideal for me would be someone knocking up a bluetooth (or Wifi) solution which sends control commands to something like VPlayer, QQPlayer, MoboPlayer, RockPlayer whatever
smeddy said:
I have also been looking for this kind of thing - primarily so I could run videos from my tablet to my TV, and then use my Android HD2 to control the playback from the comfort of my sofa.
What would be ideal for me would be someone knocking up a bluetooth (or Wifi) solution which sends control commands to something like VPlayer, QQPlayer, MoboPlayer, RockPlayer whatever
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pretty much already to that with my SGS2 by using a bluetooth mouse. I know it's not the same as pushing a specific button and having a specific action happening on the other device, but the effect is similar enough.
Bump! Trying get some visibility on potential devs for this idea.
any news for android-android remote access?
Questions or Problems Should Not Be Posted in the Development Forum
Please Post in the Correct Forums & Read the Forum Rules
Moving to Q&A
Ive also been looking for a app to control my xoom tablet from my HTC phone,there are a couple of simple apps on the market such as "tablet remote" but im looking for one that has more media (music/film) capabilities,i guess the app would involve installing it one both devices then syncing via bluetooth
then you could control the playlist of music,stop pause fw rw any film,the ability to actually stream the music from your phone to table would be awesome !
in my personal situation my tablet is docked with speakers attached,i like to be able to access its music playlist then control that play list with my phone,and maybe even add extra tracks from my phone to the tablets playlist
is there already an app out there that will allow me to do this via bluetooth or wifi ?
has been years since this thread exist, any news?
Hi,
I recently installed Cyanogenmod 10 on my Q.
The install process was quite smooth. (see the Q developer forums for tutorials)
I chose the ROM with the amp support as I have two nice Bose speakers collecting dust.
Well no longer. The Q is now my main music device in my living room.
First, I was very excited about the Cheapcast app (quite a bit of stir about that here on the forums).
I could easily cast my music from my phone or tablet via Google Music. Worked fine, for a while.
Cheapcast, however, is nog very stable for streaming music. Hiccups, slow, connection loss.... I had to reboot the Q a lot.
I then tried Bubble UPnP (installed on Q, some minor config) combined with Cast To UPnP/DLNA for GMusic installed on your phone or tablet. This setup rocks and has been serving me music for the past couple of weeks.
You can try these apps for free, but there are time limits per session. Buying is well worth it.
I still preferred the original Q with the social streaming thing. But my current setup comes close: it's stable and easy. Somewhat slow in responding to actions like skip track, but it'll do.
If you have 5$ to spend on apps, give this a go. You won't be sorry.
Can you post the configuration for BubbleUPnP? I can't get the cast gmusic app to see my bubbleUPnP renderer.
Some settings
coolacid217 said:
Can you post the configuration for BubbleUPnP? I can't get the cast gmusic app to see my bubbleUPnP renderer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there, here's a few settings. I don't remember which ones are default and which ones I changed:
Local renderer
- enable
- allow remote control
Local media server
- enable
- advertise on lan
- allow remote clients: all clients
Cloud content
- google music: enable
- select account: none
Control:
- kill on inactivity: never
- start on boot
- volume keys
- media keys
- lockscreen controls
I do remember having to reboot te Q to make certain settings stick.
Hope this helps, regards,
eddib
Thank you! That did the trick.
Now also from the browser
You can now also cast directly from your Chrome browser with the Google Cast extension.
My Q started showing up recently.
eddib said:
You can now also cast directly from your Chrome browser with the Google Cast extension.
My Q started showing up recently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to pop in and thank you for this thread! I bought a Q from eBay a couple months back, and after setting up CM10, BubbleUPnP was the next thing I installed. It works great! While there have been changes with the most recent Google Play Music that prevents some capabilities, everything else works flawlessly. BubbleUPnP really does make the Q a serious streaming device again. Cheers!
Google being Google
Scuba Jeremy said:
While there have been changes with the most recent Google Play Music that prevents some capabilities, everything else works flawlessly. BubbleUPnP really does make the Q a serious streaming device again. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, Google seems to have locked down some functionality. You can still cast, but the receiving end has been secured with encrypted keys.
Cheapcast no longer works. I guess they want money for licenses.
Nor does casting to BubbleUPnP on your Q from the Google Music App (with Cast To UPnP/DLNA for GMusic; the app's gone from the App store btw).
I now cast music via the BubbleUPnP app to the Q, so not really using the Google Cast protocol, but the actual UPnP.
The interface for browsing music on you phone via BubbleUPnP is far from perfect, but it still gets the job done.
To use this, you need to add your Google Music library in BubbleUPnP.
If anyone finds another way to keep using the Google Music app to control the casting to the Q with BubbleUPnP, please let us know here.
I think it might be possible to use the Google Music App as a controller for BubbleUPnP, not sure though.
Hey guys,
just a quick message to let you know that the BubbleUpnp app has gotten some great updates recently and is now much cleaner and more responsive.
Also I found that CM 10.2 (from here in the forums) works best for this setup. It allows for the Q to run without screen or mouse attached, with BubbleUpnp running in the background. Other CM versions I've tested all needed the BubbleUpnp app to run in the foreground (thus needing screen and mouse).
I made a quick write-up for installation and added all files to my Google Drive, get it here
If this can be done with free apps, please reply here.
... now I need to find how to get the LED rings to do something
Does BubbleUpnp automatically load when the Q boots up? Also, if you could get the LED ring working again, you would be the hero of this sub forum
dts924s said:
Does BubbleUpnp automatically load when the Q boots up? Also, if you could get the LED ring working again, you would be the hero of this sub forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can configure the upnp app to start on boot.
For the led, there is an interesting thread here somewhere that discusses getting led functionality back. It should be possible to make this into an app.
i just got started learning Android dev, so for now, this is a bit out of my league.
eddib said:
Yes, you can configure the upnp app to start on boot.
For the led, there is an interesting thread here somewhere that discusses getting led functionality back. It should be possible to make this into an app.
i just got started learning Android dev, so for now, this is a bit out of my league.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there some setting in BubbleUPNP I'm missing? I still don't see the Nexus Q when I try to cast Google Play Music.
I have one Galaxy S9 phone and one Galaxy S9 plus phone. I am unable to cast the videos directly from youtube to TV from both of these phones and in older Galaxy S series phones this is very straight forward. I have tried multiple options without any luck and I also found that lot of people have the same issue when I googled. I have contacted Samsung support and they told me that you need to install "Samsung Smart View" app from Google play store. It seems this app doesn't come in built unlike previous versions. Unbelievably, when you pull down the buttons below settings icon it displays smart view button even though it's not installed on the phone. It is not detecting any devices until you install "Samsung Smart View". I don't know whether this is intentional or they just screwed this up.
It seems Samsung released a patch update for this issue now.
You don't use Smart View or anything else to cast. The YouTube app has a cast icon if it sees a Chromecast on the same wireless network. I'm a little confused by your initial post. There hasn't been any issue using a Chromecast with my S9+.
What?
Averix said:
You don't use Smart View or anything else to cast. The YouTube app has a cast icon if it sees a Chromecast on the same wireless network. I'm a little confused by your initial post. There hasn't been any issue using a Chromecast with my S9+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
Apps with native Chromecast support (e.g. YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Movies etc) have always worked perfectly on my S9+.
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
The following steps seems to resolve the issue
After lot of trials and errors, I am able to resolve my issue thanks to Aliaksandra from google chromecast product forums.
Here are the steps:
1) Go to Settings->Select Device Maintenance
2) Wait for optimization to complete and then select Optimize now
3) Then select the Storage tab located at the bottom of the screen
4) Click on the three dots located on the top right and select Settings->Click Clear Cache
5) Select the Memory tab from the bottom of the screen and click Clean Now
6) Reboot the Samsung device and then try adding the account once again.
This did the trick for me and my friends also.
Has always worked fine for me. I have an S9+, one Chromecast Ultra and one Chromecast. No issues.
dumblazyman said:
After lot of trials and errors, I am able to resolve my issue thanks to Aliaksandra from google chromecast product forums.
Here are the steps:
1) Go to Settings->Select Device Maintenance
2) Wait for optimization to complete and then select Optimize now
3) Then select the Storage tab located at the bottom of the screen
4) Click on the three dots located on the top right and select Settings->Click Clear Cache
5) Select the Memory tab from the bottom of the screen and click Clean Now
6) Reboot the Samsung device and then try adding the account once again.
This did the trick for me and my friends also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What on Earth are you talking about? First you talk about Smart View. Then you talk about a non-existent firmware update. Now you're claiming "device optimization" is a cure for an issue that doesn't exist. Where does adding an account factor into casting?
I'm not sure you understand how Chromecasts even work. Are you even casting from within apps or just mirroring your screen?
Can you provide a link to the Google forums that talk about this issue?
Google forums link
Here is the link
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/OrDR1xwqXRk
Averix said:
What on Earth are you talking about? First you talk about Smart View. Then you talk about a non-existent firmware update. Now you're claiming "device optimization" is a cure for an issue that doesn't exist. Where does adding an account factor into casting?
I'm not sure you understand how Chromecasts even work. Are you even casting from within apps or just mirroring your screen?
Can you provide a link to the Google forums that talk about this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Averix,
Bro, you need to understand people do have these kinds of issues. I agree you may have spent more time resolving these issues and helping people but please don't assume you know everything bro.
I know how to use Chromecast works and been using it for last 3-4 years. As explained in the OP, I have the problem in casting videos from youtube on S9+ phone to TV which is working fine with previous versions of Samsung Galaxy phones. When I raised complaint with Samsung tech support, they gave me number to contact them. When I contacted them, they made me troubleshoot the issue and finally they told me to install Samsung smart view app from play store and after installing this also it still not worked correctly. After couple of hours later my phone displayed a message that there is software update and after this update the cast icon started showing up on youtube videos intermittently. Once I followed steps mentioned in the links below, now it is working for me.
Here is the google forums link where people have issues in casting from S9+ to TV: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/OrDR1xwqXRk
dumblazyman said:
Hi Averix,
Bro, you need to understand people do have these kinds of issues. I agree you may have spent more time resolving these issues and helping people but please don't assume you know everything bro.
I know how to use Chromecast works and been using it for last 3-4 years. As explained in the OP, I have the problem in casting videos from youtube on S9+ phone to TV which is working fine with previous versions of Samsung Galaxy phones. When I raised complaint with Samsung tech support, they gave me number to contact them. When I contacted them, they made me troubleshoot the issue and finally they told me to install Samsung smart view app from play store and after installing this also it still not worked correctly. After couple of hours later my phone displayed a message that there is software update and after this update the cast icon started showing up on youtube videos intermittently. Once I followed steps mentioned in the links below, now it is working for me.
Here is the google forums link where people have issues in casting from S9+ to TV: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/OrDR1xwqXRk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read through that thread. It's a cluster of different issues from Chromecasts rebooting or not connecting, the Home app not working with mirroring, Smart View not casting properly, etc. There isn't any common thread of a core issue. I'm glad the voodoo solution solved your problem, but having dealt with hundreds of Chromecasts for commercial installations, I think your case is extremely isolated. I would be curious to see some replies if anyone else is having this issue on here.
Again, I'm glad yours is working now, but I think your solutions of phone software update and cache clearing are actually irrelevant. I'm betting the phone reboot cycles had a bigger impact on flushing the cast associations that your phone thought it had. Using Smart View to cast a mirrored image of your screen to a Chromecast is one of the most horribly inefficient way of casting. If an app has native casting capabilities, always default to using that first. Otherwise, you're literally streaming content to your phone, rendering it on the phone, encoding the content being rendered on your phone, and sending it out from your phone to play as video on a Chromecast. When you select a cast icon from an app, it typically just tells the Chromecast "Hey, go out to the internet and stream this video directly. I'll give you some credentials so you can watch that DRM video. Let me sit here and idle my processor saving battery and making my owner happier."
Averix said:
I read through that thread. It's a cluster of different issues from Chromecasts rebooting or not connecting, the Home app not working with mirroring, Smart View not casting properly, etc. There isn't any common thread of a core issue. I'm glad the voodoo solution solved your problem, but having dealt with hundreds of Chromecasts for commercial installations, I think your case is extremely isolated. I would be curious to see some replies if anyone else is having this issue on here.
Again, I'm glad yours is working now, but I think your solutions of phone software update and cache clearing are actually irrelevant. I'm betting the phone reboot cycles had a bigger impact on flushing the cast associations that your phone thought it had. Using Smart View to cast a mirrored image of your screen to a Chromecast is one of the most horribly inefficient way of casting. If an app has native casting capabilities, always default to using that first. Otherwise, you're literally streaming content to your phone, rendering it on the phone, encoding the content being rendered on your phone, and sending it out from your phone to play as video on a Chromecast. When you select a cast icon from an app, it typically just tells the Chromecast "Hey, go out to the internet and stream this video directly. I'll give you some credentials so you can watch that DRM video. Let me sit here and idle my processor saving battery and making my owner happier."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, bro.
Installing the SmartView app seems to have helped with my issue.
I have three TiVo units, three Rokus, and two Vizio smart TVs. I just switched from my S7 Edge to the S9+ ; the S7E would show all these devices when casting from YouTube app.
When I tried to cast from YouTube app on S9+ to my TVs the only devices I would see were the Rokus. Neither TV and none of the TiVos would show as options for casting from the YouTube app.
After installing the Samsung Smart View app all of the devices were listed! Thanks!
gadzooks64 said:
Installing the SmartView app seems to have helped with my issue.
I have three TiVo units, three Rokus, and two Vizio smart TVs. I just switched from my S7 Edge to the S9+ ; the S7E would show all these devices when casting from YouTube app.
When I tried to cast from YouTube app on S9+ to my TVs the only devices I would see were the Rokus. Neither TV and none of the TiVos would show as options for casting from the YouTube app.
After installing the Samsung Smart View app all of the devices were listed! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Casting to a Chromecast is not the same as talking to a Tivo, Roku, or smart TV. The discovery protocol is different. YouTube maintains the DIAL protocol which is why it shows up on Tivos and Rokus. In your case, open the YouTube app and look at all the devices you see available to cast from. Now open Hulu, Movies Anywhere, or other Google Cast compliant apps and you will see a much smaller list corresponding only to devices broadcasting as Google Cast receivers.
This thread is mixing up Google Cast (Chromecast or Android TV receiver), Miracast (screen mirroring using Wi-Fi Direct), the DIAL discovery for streaming content, and apps that use multiple protocols (SmartView). Each one has it's own issues and gotchas when trying to make things work. The problem with the advice in this thread is that there is no panacea for all the myriad of symptoms the original poster and you have. I'm glad your YouTube is working now, but that doesn't mean you have fixed a Chromecast issue because they are targeting different endpoints.
I will let those of you who care do some research on your own as to how all these things are different if you really want to understand what is going on.
DIAL protocol
Casting, DIAL, Airplay, etc. and Fire.
Chromecast change from DIAL to mDNS
dumblazyman said:
Hi Averix,
Bro, you need to understand people do have these kinds of issues. I agree you may have spent more time resolving these issues and helping people but please don't assume you know everything bro.
I know how to use Chromecast works and been using it for last 3-4 years. As explained in the OP, I have the problem in casting videos from youtube on S9+ phone to TV which is working fine with previous versions of Samsung Galaxy phones. When I raised complaint with Samsung tech support, they gave me number to contact them. When I contacted them, they made me troubleshoot the issue and finally they told me to install Samsung smart view app from play store and after installing this also it still not worked correctly. After couple of hours later my phone displayed a message that there is software update and after this update the cast icon started showing up on youtube videos intermittently. Once I followed steps mentioned in the links below, now it is working for me.
Here is the google forums link where people have issues in casting from S9+ to TV: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/OrDR1xwqXRk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the S9+ a month or more now.. casting videos has always worked for me. I can do it from Home, from YouTube, Plex, and I also have used Videostream. All work fine.
Casting works fine for me except for Plex for some reason
I'm running into issues with my S9+ and Chromecasts as well. Sometimes my S9+ doesn't detect my Chromecasts until I reconnect to my wireless. This goes for Youtube, Hulu, Netflix, even the Google Home app. This has never been an issue before and the only thing that has changed has been my new S9+.
The S9 cannot mirror to Chromecast. Samsung has stated this time and again. It has to do with Oreo and the processor in the S9.
Seems ridiculous that I spent $800 on a flagship phone and have to use a 5 year old LG phone to cast Spectrum cable to my television.
Chromecast has worked on my S6, S7 & S8, but NOT on my S9+ OR the Note9. Really sucks... Anyone figured out a REAL fix yet?
Welcome to the whole forum, I'm new here and I hope to find a way to solve a problem I have with my android tv box MX9 pro. The first thing I did to whatch Prime Video was to install it from the play store. The application works, allows me to log in and gives me all the movies, tv series available. But when I want to watch a video content, whatever it is, the movie starts for about a second then closes (crashes) and returns to the home page of the chosen content.
Then i tried to install the version for Android TV, obviously not through the play store, and even in this case I log in regularly. When I want to see a video content, the video does not start but constantly remaining the buffering circle.
Finally I tried to see if I could bypass the application by going through KODI and I installed the Sandmann79 add-on for prime video and, although with a different procedure, I regularly access my Prime account. When I want to start watching a video content, after setting the standard kodi player, this seems to start regularly, the time bar advances but the screen remains blank and nothing is heard.
At this point I have exhausted all the options available to me and I am forced to ask for help in this forum.
Is it really impossible to play the videos of the first videos with this device?
purbane said:
Welcome to the whole forum, I'm new here and I hope to find a way to solve a problem.........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this device but, I'm just wondering if the following will also be helpful for what you are looking for. Don't be afraid to ask for some member guidance within it too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3762965
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNLESS asked to do so, PLEASE don't PM me regarding support. Sent using The ClaRetoX Forum App on my SM-G900T device.
Thank you, i had already Read that post and i tried the last apk 4.10.3 of [email protected] but using that apk, i got an error of internet connection when i tried to watch a video. What i am trying now is to set VLC as external default player in kodi to make sure that all the videos launched by kodi are opened with vlc that always reads everything. There is an xml file to be integrated into a specific folder of kodi but then, when I want to open the video, it gives me a message that there is an external player but I do not open it then, yet, I can not say if this additional method it works or not.
Anyway the procedure suggested in the post you conseiled me doesn't work, at least for me.
Thanks Anyway.
Rockchip, the chipset company already fixed the problem of Amazon Prime Video not working over a year ago on similar devices.
The manufacturer of your tv box must have really outdated firmware and zero support since they didn't fix it.
But Amazon also blocks the tablet app from working on devices with traces of AndroidTV as in your case and the AndroidTV app only works on full AndroidTV devices having Playready 3 DRM, which your device doesn't have, thus the error with the AndroidTV app.
You can use the Kodi addon, it works correctly, check if your are using the latest version and login from the addon's settings and wait, also make sure the InputStream addon is enabled and changed to InputStream and not Kodi or something else.
Thank you. I don't think My Android Device is out dated because received Android 8. Anyway if the problem is with drm 3 no way. Not even with kodi works, i tried all i could try. I installed addon prime video of sandmann79 and enabled inputstream but i only get The movie starting with no image neither sound, only White screen and time bar going on. Therefore i wanted to try an external player as vlc.....
I think i can't go on anymore, the Device doesn't send anymore video Signal to my tv so i can't anymore display it on the tv..... Definitively broken.
At the end of all i got a conclusión that only a tv box is worthy of bringing this name, ie nvidia shield tv, albeit with all its flaws. I had one and despite very few apps were on the play store (Chrome on all), did not have an on / off button, did not display all the shortcuts in the app section, had absolutely no such problems. I gave it back because I did not like these things but I did not think that these Chinese boxes were such a crap. I tried h96 max +, mx9 pro and both of them stopped after two days of work. I think to back to buy a shield tv, the only box worked fine with prime video, Netflix, without lags thanks to his powerful hardware.
Hey guys,
I'm not really sure if this is the right place to post this question but as I don't really know where else in the web I could find help on this I'll give it a try
TL;DR:Do you know any (and I really mean any - including writing an app or other hands on approaches) method to have a permanent (tabbed) navigation at the bottom of the screen to switch between apps or websites/PWAs?
The background of this question:
I'm coming down a long road trying to hack together a DIY - privacy focused - smart speaker - mainly to switch lights and play some music. I started off back in 2018/19 and found snips.ai one of the most promising FOSS smart speaker projects for my plans and so I got me a Raspberry Pi 3b+ and a Matrix Voice board as foundation. Then half a year I later, when I found the time to put those together, I had to find out, that Sonos just bought snips.ai and their services were to be shut down...
Since then I had a long pause on this but always followed the development of FOSS voice projects including Mycroft (to expensive HW, to bloated, to tied to their web services IMHO), Sepia (to complicated to setup) as well as attempts on hacking OTS speakers like Alexa, Google Home, Sonos et al or combinations with web controllable wifi speakers like Teufel 3sixty (which is really a gold speaker but as tons of other radios has a frontier chip set with its awkward web interface) or even the awesome Squeezelite-ESP32 project. Lately I stumbled upon Rhasspy and got myself together to give my project a new try and was even kind of successful (got a self hosted voice assistant doing what I want - even if I had to learn and write some python here and there). But I figured out that 1) a smart speaker without a display is not really what I want and 2) I'm not really that kind of maker guy to 3d-print cases, plan and build circuitry and what not - or it's just missing me the time to do and especially experimenting on this
So I ended up with the idea of the software that I need (Rhasspy server side + a satellite app, Home Assistant, Logitech Media Server, Spotify/Tidal and maybe some others) and was then looking for some hackable device to serve as interface to that (display, speakers, microphone, wifi + maybe bluetooth). The Sonoff NSPanel Pro was a candidate but I didn't trust the quality of its speakers and read some reviews that were claiming a weak performance. Then I found the Lenovo ThinkSmart View that has all this and this XDA thread and immediately got me a new one for 60 bucks. Now I have a quality device better then I could ever make it with a blank(though not rooted) android, a Rhasspy Voice Assistant running on a local server ready to receive and send audio streams, a promising app to act as a Rhasspy satellite and some quality speakers to play music on. The last opponent I'm facing now is a nice UI on android that can bring all the bits together.
What I'm looking for now is a free (and ideally OSS) panel/kiosk solution with that I can seamlessly switch between Home Assistant (web UI), Spotify (web UI or their app) and some others like a self hosted Web music player. In my imagination I could switch between them with a permanent tab bar at the screen bottom but am open to other ideas. I'm not an Android developer but I consider myself a stable Java dev open to write an own app for this - I'd just need a starting point (read of Webviews, Custom Tabs, Trusted Web Activities but found them not really a solution to what I need - maybe is there some browser which's contents I can just include in an app?). Also I can write (progressive) web apps and do stuff with them but then AFAIK the only method to embed remote sites would be iframes which likely won't work with at least spotify).
I really do not want to bloat this forum with all that stuff - I'm just writing this in the hope that 1) someone is interested in this and maybe is on the same journey and 2) to give some context on my actual question above
Thank you very much in advance!
Just came across your post. I’ve been looking for something very similar and have also been considering the NsPanel pro. I don’t have as much concern for audio quality as I’m less likely to use it for playing music, just responses or notifications from Rhasspy. I have just ordered a Lenovo device as I’m sure I’ll have fun with it.
To answer your question above, I just found this in the HA companion app that might work for you: https://companion.home-assistant.io/docs/integrations/android-webview/#links It’s not perfect but could be used with a button or voice command to launch the app on the device. I’ve also seen other posts about using a key mapping app for using the volume buttons to do other tasks.
I’d be very keen to see what you’ve done for dashboards and how you’re using the Rhasspy app on your device. Has it been as responsive and accurate as you hoped?