Why AndroidTV and not full Android?

by 1111joey1111

I just ordered an Android Stick, the X98 S500. It has full Android 11 on it. I was trying to decide between that and other devices, some of which were running Android TV. My main use of the stick is to play local video content (from HDD) via KODI or VLC. I also enjoy running other various Android programs. I'll be plugging the stick into a projector.

I've never used AndroidTV, and I'm wondering what the big differences are between boxes and sticks running AndroidTV and full Android OS ? Why does anyone prefer AndroidTV over a full Android OS set-up?

Can you run KODI and VLC on AndroidTV devices ( like on the ONN stick for instance) ?

pawdog

Yep, it's quite simple y Android is a mobile OS built for touch screens, but Android TV is an OS built for the 10 foot experience and remote control use. The they both share the same underlying foundation. At this point any important apps that are media playback related are on the TV Play Store and fully functional on Android TV devices. This doesn't include the obvious straight piracy apps. Those have to be sideloaded and if they are properly designed will work perfectly on Android TV devices.

latinriky78

what the big differences are between boxes and sticks running AndroidTV and full Android OS ?

The difference lies primarily in the Google certification that allows to get up to 4K video playback from YouTube and most streaming video services, besides that, in order to get 4K video from Netflix, the device must have the Google certification in order to get the Netflix certification only from OEMs they approve through something called "project hailstorm".

Why does anyone prefer AndroidTV over a full Android OS set-up?

The answer is the same as above.

Can you run KODI and VLC on AndroidTV devices, like the ONN stick?

Yes, those and many other apps available in the Android TV Play Store that are optimized to be used in big screens and with the remote control, though you can sideload non-android tv apps (smartphone apps) and use a mouse to move around the interface, take into account that not all work properly because they are not optimized for the platform.

Eyetron2020

You can still sideload apps into Android TV. You are calling mobile Android as "full Android" but Android TV is still full Android, it's just that the play store hides apps that weren't designed/optimized for TV usage so the average Joe doesn't get frustrated when trying to use an unoptimized app on the TV.

You can still easily sideload these apps if you want, just install a file manager app. They just might be difficult to work with since some apps rely on gestures and stuff to work but that doesn't work super well on a TV. An Android stick will have the same difficulty in using these apps. There's nothing different in this regard to using an unoptimized app on a TV.

lpuglia

It is just a different interface, Android apps will work on both kind of devices as long as the UI is not tailored for one of the two, but even then, chances are, that it is still somewhat usable.

sholomon84

Hello. I bought your verse x98s500 2/16. I wanted to flash it, the computer detects it, but gives an error of 5%. It does not turn on, it does not enter recovery. Most likely a brick. Can you tell me where the testpoint is located on the board? Where to close the contacts? To try to resuscitate). The store where I bought does not know.