Privacy friendly streaming box? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago by SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Howdy y'all, I'm currently using an Amazon firestick on my living room TV, (running Wolf Launcher, Jellyfin, and SmartTube) but I'm considering upgrading to something more privacy friendly. Especially since Amazon is starting to crack down on ~~"Side Loading"~~ installing my own damn software.

The most open alternative seems to be an android TV box, but Google is walling up the android garden more heavily now too.

On the software side of things, I need something that:

Is remote controllable
Won't harvest my data
Let's me install what I want
Specifically will run the 3 programs I use. Jellyfin, SmartTube, and Kanopy.

On the hardware side of things, I'm pretty open, whether that be a rasberry pi, or a modified android TV box (provided I can flash an OS that isn't infected with Google).

Has anyone else done anything like this? Steaming devices all seem like locked down, data harvesters, which just so happen to also show you movies.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] RanchBranch@anarchist.nexus 8 points 3 weeks ago

I use a nvidia shield with lineageos installed. It works perfectly for me with no tracking. I have Jellyfin, SmartTube, Dropout and Nebula installed (from F-droid, obtanium, and Aurora respectively) I think your TV has to be HDMI CEC but our shield remote can turn on/off the TV (I'm 90% certain HDMI CEC is the name of the standard) Outside of that, it is technically a smart TV but it is not connected to our network and will never be connected.

this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026

41 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy

48579 readers

133 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
Don't promote proprietary software
Try to keep things on topic
If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
Be nice :)

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 6 years ago

MODERATORS