Hello androidTViewers here is the thing.. I was about to buy the mi box ("mi box 3" in aliexpress) for about 60 usd in aliexpress but then I saw mi box 3s at 50 usd.

Why is that 3 is more expensive than 3s? does it has better gapps/multilanguage support or something?

also, what about mi box 3c? Havent found a single review about and im a bit intrigued because I think it could work well in a 720p screen.

thanks

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This has absolutely nothing to do with Kodi.

I just recently got a subscription for ExpressVPN and was looking to set it up on my Shield TV. I was able to sideload it to my Shield by simply downloading the .apk on the ExpressVPN website and sideloading it with ES File Explorer. One thing though is that the Android version of the program is the mobile version, so it doesn't cover the entire screen (which is really no big deal). However, I can't actually do much on it because using the Shield Remote does basically nothing. The only way I've found I can select a server and turn it on is with the right stick on the Shield controller, but I would rather have it usable on my remote as that's what I normally use.

If anyone knows of a way to get it to work with the remote, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I was looking for a cheapo chinese tv box for my mom (for netfix and usb media) but I'm startng to think a quality xiaomi one would be better. I have a few questions.

Is it easy to play movies with subtitles from a pendrive in vlc player?

can you put an external usb 3.0 hard drive on there? (i doubt this one)

does it has "cast" features or some compatibility with xiaomi phones?

I just side loaded Roblox for my MiBox. I had to use a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse and joystick to play this game. Actually, you only need the keyboard to sign-in the first time you play. You don't need it going forward.

That said, you definitely need a joystick AND a mouse to play. Some of the menu navigation must be done with a mouse.

Instead of having my kid use 3 BT devices to play this game, anyone know of a slightly more elegant solution for this blue tooth device hell? Is there a joystick with keyboard and touch surface built in or something?

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Can I make that be more like what Google wants Android TV to be? Launcher, Android O, voice search, etc...?

What gives?

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I've managed to sideload a few apps onto my Mi Box (from my phone) and have used HALauncher to force landscape mode. Most come up just fine (including Amazon Prime!), but the the remote doesn't double as a touch mechanism to choose things on the screen; clearly i still need something that doubles as a touch-screen mechanism.

Does anyone know if you can plug in a mouse into a Mi Box or is there an app to help use the remote as a mouse-like device?

Anyone try this? I am thinking about just using a 3m strip and putting it on the back of the TV

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Mostly a curiosity rather than practical, but I got to thinking about how some of the TV boxes that run Android (rather than the proper AndroidTV boxes) have the output, and since I've never heard of the proper boxes having one the ability to hook up to old school TVs is one of the few advantages the lesser boxes might have, though that advantage will get smaller over time as the holdouts get replaced

I finally have 4k working on my Mi Box now after some hdcp issues. Now my only problem left ist that Netflix won't output 5.1 audio.
Here is my setup:
MI Box hooked up to my Philips 43puk7100 TV directly via hdmi.
My TV connected to my (pretty old) Yamaha receiver via optical cable.
I know my receiver can't handle dd+ or TrueHD audio.
However when using the Netflix app on my Windows computer hooked up over the same connection netflix can output 5.1 audio, I just can't get it to work on my Mi Box.
Is it my receiver? Can netflix even tell the receivers capabilities if it's connected to it trough my TV and the optical cable? AFAIK toslink is a one way connection...
Kodi and plex work with 5.1 sound without any issues.

Planning to upgrade my Fire Stick to a Mibox because Kodi is laggy af on it.

l'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the hardware specs on a consumer television are not exactly "beastly" in any kind of performance sense, but unless I clear the "Sony Shelf" apps cache when it maxes out, the TV feels pretty laggy.

A trip through the task manager shows an absurd amount of bloat I can do nothing to remove essentially, and any cursory search for custom, modified ROMs, or even just an experience of the operating software that gives the user more control overall seems to yield very little.

Does anyone happen to have links or resources I could make use of in the way of, perhaps custom, debloated ROMS or rooting the TV and using Titanium Backup, or a similar program to remove or freeze the offending apps?

Admittedly, I've only had time to cursorily search for this info, so Im probably just missing some phrases, or not looking on the second page of the google search, but it also looks like there may not be as much of a community surrounding this type of activity on Android TV's. Either that, or there are technical limitations (digital fuses, hardware checks, etc.) surrounding the activity that I just haven't had the occasion to uncover in my limited research.

Thanks in advance!