Hey everyone, I have an Nvidia Shield K1 Tablet that can't hold a long charge well anymore and I am wondering if there are any launchers/apps that would allow it to act more closely to an android tv ? I'm mostly looking for apps that would allow me to control a majority of it with a bluetooth remote. Thanks !
This is why I love Android and Reddit. People trying to and a lot of times successfully making something work in a way unintended to fill a specific need. Good luck on your endeavor!
I'm sure Kodi has come up at some point, but it'll do most of what you want. You can edit the keymap to your hearts content. It can see apps on your tablet, so you can launch Netflix, Hulu, etc from it. There are a few apps that map it as a launcher (at least in the sense that it'll launch when you press the home button). I wouldn't recommend using the unofficial video add-ons, it's fine without them. If you have DVDs or Blu-ray's, you can rip them and with a bit of setup Kodi can index then. Kodi gets a bad wrap from the media but I've been using it since the XBMP days and I keep coming back.
I have a used samsung galaxy s3 that I hook up to the TV with MHL. I root it so I can pair my Dualshock 3 via bluetooth. Some of the apps I got working fine with the controllers are :
Google Launcher: doesn't look great on a TV, mostly the overblown icons, but functional
Plex: can switch to TV mode for easier gamepad navigation, but the navigation panel (play, pause, stop, etc) is overblown on a TV
Moonlight Gamestream: similar to google launcher
YouTube doesn't work at all since it requires touch input, and I haven't found a way to chromecast/miracast from my other phone unto the galaxy s3
As for the BT remote part, you can try pairing it to the tablet and see how it goes there.
I remember a good few years back when I first got the Nexus 10 tablet, I tried apps to get my phone to emulate a BT remote/controller and it worked sort of fine.
I even remember using an app called Cheapcast that allowed me to cast to the tablet, but it no longer works once Google started changing the Chromecast protocol.
/r/androidafterlife
You can download and install Leanback launcher and other AndroidTV apps from apkmirror. The only one that doesn’t work is Netflix because of its DRM so you’ll have to run the tablet version of Netflix which might not work with a BT remote so you would want a mouse.
Edit: You could also look at launchers like TV Launcher 3 or HAL launcher which both offer remote support.