Disclaimer: I am not interested in any cracked apps. I am open to app clones from reputable developers that remove adverts on websites like XDA Developers.

I have moved away from Spotify premium on my Android phone, in favour of Spotify Lite (no ads), YouTube Vanced, and YouTube Vanced Music. Using Set Orientation for Spotify Lite on my Shield TV works great, but most of the time you have to guess what is actually selected on screen as this does not highlight, and you cannot cast from Spotify Lite on another device. If you already have it running on Android TV and you open it on your phone (with the same account) and select something the UI will not respond on the phone but it will start playing on the TV. This could work but the drawback with this is that if you leave it running and you are not at home trying to use Spotify Lite your songs will only be playing at home, not to mention if you want to play music on your phone and someone else wants to use the Shield.

There are ads when casting from YouTube Music Vanced to the Shield - on the Shield.

Google Home does not yet allow adding the Shield TV to a speaker group

Smart YouTube TV works great on Android TV, there are no ads but if you try to have audio only by going to your homescreen it pauses playback.

Is there some way to do this? I am happy to root the Shield if necessary.