Warning: stupid n00b questions ahead

by scoobysnatcher

I have a Mi Box, which I'm returning for a Shield. I plan to play my films off of an attached USB drive. Are there better apps than VLC for this purpose? If so, do I need to root to get them? Lastly, I'm using a Harmony Hub to control my A/V system. Is there a way to access things like switching audio track, subtitles on/off, etc. from my phone, rather than the Android TV box's remote? The goal would be to throw that remote in a drawer and use my phone (or the Harmony remote) for everything.

Thanks (and apologies if these questions have been asked many, many, many, many times before)

PalebloodSky

I use Kodi for this all the time on my Mi Box. Typically will load it from USB with X-plore which will automatically launch and run it in Kodi. Use Kodi for all the media on my server too. That said the latest update to VLC is decent on Android too.

OssotSromo

Plex. Which comes installed. Is better and will scrape data. I personally prefer Kodi which will also scrape the Metadata for you and allows for stretching the video the way you want it. And doing things like downloading subtitles when needed.

BORIStheBLADE1

Kodi, SPMC and Plex.

th3suffering

While Plex is the less tech saavy solution it often requires a server. I prefer Kodi. Its far more customizable. Plex was originally forked from Kodi (XBMC) if that tells you anything.

nooneisreal

Check out SPMC. It's a forked verison of Kodi, but tailored for Android TV devices (the Shield in particular).

JimboLodisC

Plex or Kodi/SPMC are the two major "home theater" style of frontends.