I keep going back to the roku3 from my shield tv

by defsquad

So, I keep going back to my Roku3 from the Shield TV. I love the leanback experience of the Shield TV and of course gaming if you're into that. Pretty much everything is faster and more responsive on the Shield TV, but content (as we all know) is seriously lacking on the Shield TV by way of native Android TV apps. I know, I know, I could use Kodi for all the things, but it just feels odd going that route when, IMO of course, the "leanback" experience is better designed than Kodi (of course I haven't changed themes or anything, I really don't want to fool with that anymore).

Long story short, I'd love to keep my Shield TV and get rid of the Roku 3 but man, developer and even Google support for the Android TV just seems to be lacking greatly.

I'm paying for several services (USTVNow, SlingTV -- will get rid of this likely, until I can find a DVR addon for SlingTV, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Instant Video, and use Vudu quite a bit for certain movies too), trying to stay legit and pay for services, you'd think everyone would have a native app for what I thought would be big name platforms, but I guess not.

I'm rambling, and just disappointed, like many of you here. I wish I gamed more, so the Shield TV would be a bit more worth it. Thanks for reading this brain dump of frustration and disappointment.

vanker

I do agree that the app selection is lacking. Thankfully I have a fire stick for Amazon Instant, and anything else that doesn't have a dedicated app I can just cast to the shield. The apps will eventually come....I hope.

hertzsae

I mainly use it for Plex, emulators and Netflix which it is great for. I'm about to get an HDHomeRun which I hear works well.

Android TV is getting some love in Android M which is coming shortly, so I wouldn't say that Google isn't giving it love. The Shield has been getting monthly updates, so clearly Nvidia is taking it seriously.

From a platform perspective, if you ignore the lack of apps, the Shield kicks everyone's ass. The good news is that it's only been out for a few months. Developers hate bad platforms and love developing for great ones. HBO has already announced they are coming. I expect everyone else to follow shortly (besides Amazon which may hold back to promote Fire).

The Shield proves that Android TV can be done very well, which you couldn't say about any of the Google TV boxes (or really any of the prior Android TV boxes, glaring at you razer). I'm expecting it to become a very popular TV OS in the future.

I recommend you message your app providers and see when they are planning an Android TV release. Remember that it took a few years before Android phones got app love too. We're really only 2 months into having a great piece of Android TV hardware. Give it time.

stak640

Casting takes care of the missing apps for me now; though native apps are preferable.

Caelrie

What is leanback?

zoopz

I agree that having to run kodi (blech) is less than ideal, especially since the android platform could offer so much. I don't think Google itself will develop it much, just like they don't care about tablets.