NewsON Alternatives

by [deleted]

My parents have finally decided to cut the cord and transition from DirecTV to streaming options. One of the apps that I know they would see as essential is the NewsON app offered on Roku.

I picked around and it looks like that app is not offered on the Android TV platform. Is this still the case? I know they offer Android support, but it appears to be locked to tablet/mobile devices.

I would like to avoid recommending them getting FuboTV or YouTube TV if at all possible as that would largely eliminate the appeal of cutting the cord financially for them. They live in an area that is serviced by a Sinclair station, if that helps.

Any recommendations for NewsON alternatives I could put on their device? I’m fine with side loading if needed initially, but would prefer a Store app for ease of use updating since that might be an issue for them when im not around.

sideburnsy

Haystack has similar local news stations on it in my market.

ChicagoShadow

You can try Local Now, VUit, and/or LBTV.

The_Overider

Haystack Pluto xumo. Then live channel and add them all to it. All in play store. Live channels has categories one is news. Hope that helps. These all work in the US I'm not sure about other countries.

neightwulf

How technical do they and you want to get?

NewsON and Stirr are both Sinclair. You can find m3u playlists to bring Stirr into any app which can use them (e.g. Kodi with IPTV.Simple). Might be close enough to scratch their itch. Unfortunately I don't see any simple solution you can just download from Play Store, set it and forget it.

You can also try downloading the apps from any one of the APK mirror sites and sideloading as you suggest. Sometimes this doesn't work at all, sometimes it works well, sometimes it works but is difficult to use because the app is expecting touch (not remote) input. Updating when you're not around is again a question of how technical everyone wants to get, you could setup network ADB in person then use any remote tool to use their laptop or whatever to update the app via ADB from anywhere.