I replaced my Apple TV-with a Raspberry Pi

[@NeverEnoughRally]

I feel mostly what you buy with TV boxes is the UI. There's no way I could drop a pi with Kodi off at my parents house and not get a phone call every 10 mins. I'm still hunting for some Linux based OS that has a UI that's somewhat intuitive for non tech minded people.

[@bjoern.gumboldt]

Have you tried Jellyfin instead of Kodi? Their UI is more like Amazon’s and Apple’s.

[@JeffGeerling]

Honestly Kodi isn't terrible... but I do get what you mean. Apple TV if you cull the apps down is the closest thing to 'drop off and not get phone calls' IMO, the interface is intuitive but the remote they include actually makes the experience worse!

[@NeverEnoughRally]

@@JeffGeerling Currently my go to for them is the roku, and honestly it's mostly for the collection live channels. But with rokus recent mediation snafu essentially making your device unusable unless you agree to their new TOS, I've been on a hunt for something else. Other than android boxes, which i've been underwhelmed with their performance, I've been playing with Flex Launcher on github. I feel if i could get it set up right, it may be the best option as a drop and go system for them, but time will tell if i can get everything working in a way they wont be calling me all the time.

[@jorrit_o]

@@JeffGeerling They have a newer remote thats much better now. But yeah it's kinda hard to navigate it quickly and precisely at the same time.

[@adrianbaev5277]

​@@JeffGeerling​ @NeverEnoughRalley I mean couldn't you just run Ubuntu/Debian with kiosk mode into Stremio. UI is a lot more intuitive for non techy people. You can set it up for local files and of course you should never go to the stremio addons subreddit for a guide on how to use a debrid service to make everything automatic. Whatever you do, don't look for a guide on that subreddit to make it all an easy painless process of watching whatever you want with real debrid.

[@tld8102]

apple tv is good for home kit. the main concern for the raspberry pi is DRM on streaming services like netflix and disney. When i watch tv, i just want it to work and not worry anything else

[@cheynespc]

lookup widevine support for kodi streaming allows netflix and other streaming services to run on kodi also simple iptv view for live streams some providers offer a stream or googe iptv services and free local streams

[@mdnt233]

It sounds like a problem for every kind of DIY stuffs though. :(

[@tld8102]

@@mdnt233 but i bought an apple tv so i can quickly sit down and enjoy the show. i just want to watch it on the big screen and not worry if it is going to work every time.

[@JoopKomkommerShake]

Kodi is not Apple tv.

[@kubilay2708]

right! Kodi is way better 🤷‍♂️

[@petrbartek9252]

Who says it is???

[@ColaTai]

Yes yes i love the yarr yar plugins

[@williamfeng6706]

@@kubilay2708def not

[@YuvrajSingh-ix5pl]

😂

[@ernestgalvan9037]

A FAR better (HONEST) title: “I Built An RPi5 Media Center using LibreELEC and Kodi”

[@pagrichard]

It was just make you watch 16 minutes to actually find out you cannot really replace the Apple TV at almost the same price in components if you are streaming.

[@rmenes]

Exactly. I was hoping to see netflix and other streaming services on the Pi. I thought that finally it was possible. But it is not the case. Better use the Pi as a Plex server than this...

[@Moli05]

And only nerds would watch the video

[@fireloop69]

which cannot run netflix at 1080 due to lack of widevine and hence makes the apple tv a better choice unfortunately

[@godbleak]

@@fireloop69 This was a whole rabbit hole that I knew existed but wasn't prepared to go down. We really are just stuck with proprietary software (and likely hardware too) if we want to use any streaming service.

[@joca138]

Sorry Jeff I really like your content, but this not replace Apple TV or Nvidia Shield in any way, we can't cast videos, we can't install streaming apps and Kodi in 2024 ? It's just not comparable solutions...

[@ForTheEraOfLove]

I think he's trying to avoid infringement laws but is still giving us the power to get the data any way we please

[@BLKMGK4]

If you have your own content stored Kodi works fine and can be customized far better than competitors. If you want to stream from outside the home from a commercial service not so much. I’d use Kodi in addition vs as a replacement since Kodi can do emulation etc.

[@rayderrich]

Agreed, I had hopes at the start of this video, but the Pi solution does not do anything that my other boxes do on a daily basis. I do not own all the shows I want to watch, nor do I want to own them. I consume and then move on.

[@RyanFranklinWilliams]

There are open source add-ons for most streaming services that can be paired with your paid subscription that work great. Been using LibeElec for four years without much incident, no pirating or stealing. Occasionally I might need to switch inputs to Chromecast for something but not often. Not even kind of often. YMMV but it's a great setup.

[@SjorsMaster]

you can cast fine if you have the proper plugins

[@gtwannabe2]

I prefer Jellyfin over Kodi. The client is extremely lightweight and runs great on gimpy hardware like a Chromecast with Google TV or Roku Express. I run the Jellyfin server on a little fanless Atom PC. It hardware transcodes via Intel QuickSync and lets me watch my NAS media wherever I want.

[@ItsTheSameCat]

HW accelerated video works on the Pi 4 with Jellyfin, using Video4Linux, but not the Pi 5. I set mine up tonight and it plays even 4K footage really well.

[@stuffinfinland]

​@@ItsTheSameCat So you have pi 4 or 5?

[@ItsTheSameCat]

@@stuffinfinland Pi 4, running JellyFin on Raspberry Pi OS Lite.

[@zevindd]

Still kinda missing the streaming part... netflix, amazon, etc.

[@shruggiexo]

i think most solutions would be limited to 720p or lower due to not having widevine (if using some android tv rom like lineageos's one) or hdcp/browser compatability.. streaming services will often limit the maximum to 1080p on anything they determine as "not a smart tv (/box)"

[@zuko9085]

Yeah, that is the killer. and something like the nvidia shield at least brags about upscaling content.

[@chievo72]

Clickbait title.

[@charlesdoesmore5488]

@@chievo72 Yeah. I would of rather bought a Cheap box (from a reputable brand) and connect a hard drive. There are many apps that can watch local videos.

[@iankphone]

Yep. This solution is fine for SDR "Linux ISOs" and not much else. Don't get me wrong, I've got a large collection of prime "Linux ISOs" but the lack of streaming clients is a 100% deal breaker.

[@asnovasdodia]

I've recently got an Apple TV as a gift and I swear I'll never use a RPi for that purpose again. To add insult to the injury, it was cheaper, as it was second hand.

[@burnte]

I’m an android guy, but my iPad is amazing and my bedroom AppleTV almost makes me want to replace my living room Chromecast 4K.

[@OgbondSandvol]

​​​@@burnteI'm an Android and Linux guy, the AppleTV is my only Apple device in all my life, and Apple TV is so good that I have to force myself to not think about what would be if I try other Apple devices.

[@bose5160]

I have Apple TVs and Onns and CcwGtv and Fire sticks in my house. The Apple TVs are nice but I will accept occasional menu stutter to be able to install whatever I want on the Android boxes

[@randomperson6548775]

@@bose5160 That's fair... but is also niche. What most people want is already on the App Store (Netflix, KZbin, Prime, etc.)

[@jdrukman]

@@OgbondSandvol come over to the dark side, it's great here!

[@claudiusvier]

Honestly I think the Apple TV is actually quite worth it. Its polished and integrates into the ecosystem very well. Its a million times better than a "Smart TV"s OS and as it goes for Apple products its surprisingly good value

[@bjoern.gumboldt]

Especially, if you’re also using Home on your phone for all the smart home suff, because it can serve as a hub. Only alternative is to get a HomePod instead to be the hub.

[@JeffGeerling]

If they'd just make a nicer remote... :D I do use an Apple TV at home, it does have a more intuitive UI and some pretty good apps for anything entertainment-related.

[@jonathanschober1032]

@@JeffGeerlingyou can use any IR remote with Apple TV

[@ziggbro]

@@JeffGeerling Just get another remote?????

[@fujinshu]

@@JeffGeerlingThey redid the remote on the newer models so that it’s a lot more useable with iPod-like clickwheel functionality for precise scrubbing through audio and video.

[@TerraMagnus]

AppleTV gives me actual streaming services. Kodi is a neat trick if you just pirate everything or buy blurays and rip them for everything you watch.

[@AtoManPL]

I used to use Kodi on Orange Pi PC and could play Netflix just fine... until it broke one day. So, yeah, I guess. Android might be a better choice.

[@dorvinion]

These days anything worth watching is worth buying. Which is another way to say to say there's not a lot worth watching anyway. So buy and rip is really not too big a hassle.

[@nightwing8666]

@@dorvinion for you and me? maybe. for my parents? nah. and running a pi even in my case is inferior to so many more options out there if you know ur tech

[@JordanJ01]

Even then, anything highish bitrate won't be smooth. Dead useless ideal that isn't anywhere near an apple TV. I lost a little respect for him today.

[@jarsky]

​@@AtoManPL only a certified android device though. No DRM support on uncertified devices (e.g raspberry pi)

[@danielcollin4012]

I have an Apple TV and one of the reasons is that it supports apps such as Netflix,Prime,Max,and local TV stuff out of the box. While you can get some of them working within Kodi with various plugins and such it's usually not that great experience and it tends to break when the "emulated" app gets updated. For local content I just run Kodi on my Apple TV. It takes some fiddling to get running, but it's all doable.

[@LewisDonofrio]

Sadly when kodi need developer keys to use KZbin script I dropped kodi…..

[@EnricoAnsaloni]

Netflix Kodi plugin works perfectly, even with 4k HDR content too (HDR only on windows)... it's the Prime Video plugin that kinda sucks

[@dualbeardedtech]

Quick question : are you using m3u to connect to certain outlets? I ask because they break the most often. But there are ways to automate a reinsertion of a new m3u when one breaks.

[@Cha0sNicr0]

If you use an Android OS instead of Linux, you can install Native apps and use Kodi as a launcher for them. That's what I do, since the default launcher on my TV is not very user focused.

[@feahnorl]

@@worfrozhenko4032no transcoding available though.

[@xssimposter5203]

You mentioned having a pi running for 10+ years, mine just hit its 10th year and is running my adguard service. It started out as a temporary solution that became long-term cause it just works!

[@JeffGeerling]

If it's temporary and it works... it's not going to be temporary! I have a Pi-hole running at the office I tossed up there a couple months ago... never mounted it in the rack, never documented it or anything... but it's working. So I'm not sure I'll change it for a while besides updating it manually. I should, but it works and I'm lazy :D

[@AlistairBrugsch]

​@@JeffGeerlingNothing more permanent than a temporary solution

[@gutwallst6645]

Not so fun fact: federal income tax was supposed to be a temporary measure

[@tokul76]

You find genuine temporary label on stuff that is over 20 years old.

[@demisedemise]

I'd love to see a great Pi 5 build. One that can do wverything, wven play games. The puronman case might be small for a fantasy 🤔 Pi build, but, you can also build a bew case for it like the pironman...this stuff is awesome to watch. Love your stuff. ​@JeffGeerling

[@GerardPinzone]

And what about streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, Pluto, etc.?

[@JeffGeerling]

In the conclusion, I mention those won't work with this solution, and there are two options if you want those streaming services.

[@var67]

14:42

[@nathan_uwp]

U don't use that if u have Kodi. U pirate

[@yoyomelon6275]

@@JeffGeerlingbut your title says you replaced your Apple TV with Pi….. it’s not exactly a replacement to Apple TV is it? It’s just a local video player with Kodi plugins for pirate videos.

[@frydac]

@@yoyomelon6275 it is possible to legally own local content, maybe you are a bit young and aren't familiar with the concept of buying and owning content but it is very much possible. Also you can host that content yourself on your own server, so it doesn't need to be 'local'. Also he never claimed that it has feature parity, only that he replaced his apple tv with a pi, and it seems to cover his usecase, any other conclusions are your own, aren't they?

[@cattigereyes1]

That’s my issue they can yank shows from your downloads via internet. Sony did it recently. This means you need an off line back up player with all purchased shows saved. Meaning you would have to take new shows and move the file to your personal back up player that’s off line. I am betting the big players want that to be illegal in the future.

[@gddeen1]

? Linux supports read only directories, or read only mounts. What does "yank" mean? Sony grabs your content? I'm guessing I'm misunderstanding. They delete the file? I assume the FBI would have something to say about that. But, clearly I've never understood how anyone moved just 8 videos to a media server much less hundreds. There isn't a UI in these Media centers applications to rip from DVDs, record over air content, etc. - flummoxed.

[@JG-nm9zk]

The first gen apple tv was an actual computer.

[@JeffGeerling]

Back in the good old days... it was basically a trimmed-down Mac mini. Wish that were still the way.

[@OtherTheDave]

@@JeffGeerling How different are they from cut down Mac minis? Could Asahi be loaded on them?

[@TheAmazingMrB]

It was before Apple Silicon, so if possible many Linux distros should work, not just Asahi

[@t1mmy13]

@@JeffGeerling We're slowly going back to those days now that an iPad has a fully fledged desktop CPU (if only we could run mac os on it) maybe the next apple tv will have an M chip as well lol

[@t1mmy13]

@@OtherTheDave The apple tv they are talking about is 10+ years old, you could boot full on Mac OS Tiger on them (if I remember correctly) with some tinkering. But it still performed worse then a mac mini of the time I believe

[@LewisDonofrio]

I used to do this a decade ago, found the costs of the parts was to high for what I needed, and the fire sticks fit the price point perfectly, still use them everywhere these days….

[@tyler5888]

I literally just did exactly this 2 days ago (with rpi 4). Kodi is really cool and I've been amazed at its codec support and playback ability for 1080p content. I would have to agree that 4k is pretty well out of the question for Pi 4, at least at 4k bluray quality. Nice to know the upgrade path is viable though.

[@AltCutTV]

I wonder if 4 is still better than 5 for some codecs (at lower resolution) though. Apparently there were complaints about decoders for long after release.

[@koshrf]

Title click bait. Watching 80% of the video to get told that none of the stream services work, then it isn't even close to an apple tv or chromecast, it is just your regular media streaming device of your own content.

[@JeffGeerling]

The chapter markers should help, at least; I have no problem with people skipping around to the parts of the video they might find useful!

[@serqetry]

Yeah, this isn't building an AppleTV at all, it's just a Kodi box. I have the same thing set up, though on an x86 Linux HTPC rather than a Pi. It's running both Kodi for the connected TV and Plex Server so can watch the same files on my AppleTV via the TVOS Plex app. From the title of this video I was expecting some kind of AppleTV emulation.

[@myaccount__7269]

The Chromecast is $30. Firetv 4k max is $35..SD card alone is $30.... Cool I guess but pointless and waste of $

[@nightwing8666]

yeah and the Pi is not even good at decoding high bitrate videos.. at this point you are expected to have a decent server plus a $120 media pc that cant play any decent quality videos. i would be better off with the walmart onn android box with jellyfin or plex and i can have any streaming service i want. all for $20

[@mjc0961]

Blame KZbin, the algorithm demands that creators clickbait their titles or get no views.

[@rtorcato]

It's way cheaper to put Kodi on an amazon fire stick than using the new raspberry Pi.

[@electriccomics]

Pi 5 is likely better than a Fire stick 4k or Chromecast 4k, plus zero bloatware on libreelec. It takes at least an hour to debloat a fire stick or chromecast even if you are fast.

[@ocelotmadness6287]

@@electriccomics Can the Pi 5 do AV1 though?

[@Hoytehablode]

@@electriccomics it is not. and is cheaper. and can do much more, dolby atmos, dts hd, netflix, disney+, applety, prime video, hbo max and so on

[@uranblut]

​@@ocelotmadness6287no, it also has no other hardware decoders you'll need. The pi 5 is the worst choice.

[@do4bmw]

hey , is there a part 2 of this video ? i missing the AppleTV part , streaming , Movie Store , netflix , appletv , and the other streaming services. i mean, what you show us here is just a streaming client for local video files, that i think 99% of us not longer have , because of the streaming services

[@Thanhvo31]

Interesting video, but it’s misleading to claim you’ve made an Apple TV with a Raspberry Pi. What you’re actually using is LibreELEC on a Pi, which is something I’ve used for a long time. While it’s a decent media center, it’s not the same as running Apple TV software. Please be more accurate in your titles and descriptions

[@drmunki]

What you have there is not a replacement for the apple TV box. You're clearly an experienced techie, not sure why you would click bait this as a replacement? You even make the point that it can't replace netflix apps etc. which would be a requirement for any real contender.

[@PixPete]

Clickbait police are here! No sir, you didn't make your own Apple TV. You made a bog standard streaming device with Kodi - the most clunky and horrid UI for a streaming app ever made. What you pay for with Apple TV is the UI and the high quality streaming bitrates. Both 1080p and 4k streams are noticeably higher bitrates on Apple TV than any other service, and you definitely won't get those with a Kodi box.

[@oevers]

Also the Matter/Thread internet bridge.

[@whophd]

Did you also want to mention HDR, Dolby Vision and quite a lot of DRM’d streaming apps that support them?

[@RobKraut]

Minus being able to play any of the modern high fidelity audio codecs… if you have no real home theater setup, probably not necessary. But if you want true audio, the NVIDIA Shield Pro is still the only game in town.

[@Brad-jb2bd]

​@@RobKrauti would probably say most people don't have that kind of setup and therefore doesn't need to be addressed. While i dislike most apple things their streaming box is the best out there. The Nvidia shield needs a refresh so badly.

[@elsuperpollo2273]

You missed the point, roku force arbitration and add too many ads even if you pay extra for ads free.

[@maluraq]

Is there a reason you spent the whole video calling it an apple tv box instead of a streaming video box? You're not actually making an apple tv box, and some of us aren't in the Apple ecosystem and don't want an apple tv in the first place. It's just strange not to call it what it really is.

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

Great! I can finally watch Jeff Geerling on the big screen!

[@JeffGeerling]

In 4K, no less!

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

@@JeffGeerling May every pore shine brightly in 4K!

[@matze2468]

... and his awesome Dad!

[@mathcale]

stan

[@SahithaKARAPITIYA-yx3dh]

Why can't you use the regular rpi os and watch youtube with a large tv connected as the monitor?

[@Aristo12]

Running LibreELEC for years now on a Pi 3b. The SD card is a little slow (maybe getting old), but it still plays up to 1080p 30fps fine. Even some h265 videos on 1080p as long as it's not 10bit or running for longer than 20 minutes or so because then it starts thermo throttling (with just a heatsink, though, no fan).

[@z_polarcat]

How’s this’s ‘I made my own Apple tv’ what you made is an overpriced underpowered computer that’s running local files using Kodi, where are the other streaming apps that set top boxes provide? After all that’s why people buy them, additionally you can run Kodi or Plex apps on them to play local media

[@gddeen1]

I really don't think an RPI 5 is underpowered. It has far better CPU processing power than things like FireTV. The MAIN problem with an RPI 5 is it is missing a team of engineers focusing upon the OS you installed and all the software and services enabled on your LAN. This is a BIG problem just waiting to happen. Even people watching network security are constantly caught off guard by the poor security decisions made by developers of the OS and the applications. Think of 500 million units all going rogue at the same second (best case scenario, simply unplug all units).

[@bjoern.gumboldt]

Well, my Apple TV is the hub for my HomeKit stuff. And though you can’t put kodi on it, you can put jellyfin on it. Same difference. Plus, what about the apps? Unifi Protect for security cams, etc. If you want kodi in 4k, just get a Fire TV 4k Max (Gen 2) for less than 50 bucks next Black Friday or during Prime days… they’re always 50% off. Use the rpi5 as your jellyfin server instead.

[@chasebtb]

Jellyfin server + Infuse on the AppleTV 4K is my setup and it's so nice

[@ItsTheSameCat]

Pi 5 doesn't support HW accel for video on Jellyfin. Pi 4 is better.

[@povilasstaniulis9484]

@@ItsTheSameCat Pi 5 does NOT have hw accelleration. for anything except for HEVC decoding. They ripped all of the decoders and encoders from the SoC except for the HEVC decoder.

[@therealgamingmaniac]

It's a good idea, the only problem being at that budget people are not necessarily looking to fiddle around with the system config much, and want an out of box experience. Also they have Widevine L1 DRM support enabling 4K playback on Netflix and other streaming services. Apple TV and Shield are actually pretty powerful, and could in the future be used for cloud gaming or network game streaming for now. also Apps are optimized most of the time out of the box, due to large ecosystems.

[@SmashCatRandom]

I've used an old Pi3 with Kodi as my media centre for years now, and it's still great - with its content loaded over Samba from my server. Although I have a 4K TV, I only watch Netflix/Prime in 4K and they're built into the TV itself. I have thousands of movies and TV shows on Kodi that are all 1080, but look fine to me. If you mainly watch 1080 content it's a good use for an old Pi when you've moved onto the Pi4/5, I think.

[@esela847]

Still watching through, how does this handle DRM with the likes of Netflix? Last time I looked into this sort of solution (repurposing a nuc) running some form of Linux or Android it quickly became apparent I would be limited to something like 720p :( Been a while since I looked into it though.

[@JeffGeerling]

Still doesn't work out of the box with LibreELEC; if you need one of the streaming services, that is a show-stopper for a solution like this.

[@__Ben]

🏴‍☠ :)

[@esela847]

@@JeffGeerling That’s a shame but I suspected this would be the answer, While I dislike streaming, there are ways to get cost effective Netflix plans that at least allow me to save some space on my drives. Thank you for doing the leg work, it’s a lovely solution if your media sources are all self hosted.

[@neb_setabed]

​@JeffGeerling so this is not a replacement for an Apple TV at all.

[@av_oid]

@@JeffGeerlingArrr. As in that is the solution. Arrr, Me Mateys.

[@ramjeesaradi]

Apple TV plays an integral role in the HomeKit operation and it provides Dolby Vision and a very comfortable remote

[@thazsar]

AppleTV and Plex are where it's at. Kodi had toooooooo many issues trying to maintain it

[@X91X-km7hp]

replace plex with jellyfin and i agree

[@FlaxTheSeedOne]

Problem still is all the streaming services which just plain wont play. like netflix etc. So a pre bought device is always something I would prefer.

[@gutwallst6645]

need Widevine support, InputStream helper inside of Cod! repo

[@Tailslol]

My shield is 9 year old now XD for a while it was flashed with full android instead of android tv. It was a gaming beast!

[@tomscurlock3]

Jeff, love your channel. I love this video. I started my business because of a video that instructs "how to load android 11 TV on a raspberry pi." I decided that I would build a device that would destroy Firestick and Roku. I finally did it and I owe it to your videos and a video on loading android 11 TV.

[@JeffGeerling]

Android TV would be a great option too, possibly even better in terms of supporting more apps and streaming services.

[@tomscurlock3]

@@JeffGeerling I will send you a couple of options to load on the raspberry pi to watch videos. I also have some additional information for you.

[@SpaceDoodle2008]

It's incredible how low-quality cheaper streaming boxes are. I had to replace my Roku Express some time ago because it started to bootloop - and support for all kinds of apps is not great. So using a pi would have been cheaper and also better!

[@77slevins_video_channel]

Hey Jeff, I get what you are saying but I am never going to get my 74 year old mum to use this to watch Netflix and Prime Video, but I was able to explain to her how to use the Apple TV remote, which has a very limited amount of buttons and a very user friendly GUI to navigate. This solution is great for tech savvy users, but sucks for the rest.

[@blablamannetje]

With my Chromecast, I especially like the remote with very few buttons. I can control them without putting on my glasses.

[@IanWootten]

The sad truth is you'll lose access to all new streaming service exclusives. No Dark Matter for you! I used to do things this way until I realised I didn't really want to be on call to fix things when my kids were watching tv.

[@JeffGeerling]

I really hate the state of the media industry today. I thought Apple was going to be able to centralize purchasing for shows and movies before Netflix/Disney+ really screwed that up, then there were 5, 6, 7, now like 25 different streaming platforms hoarding content :( It's like cable, except there's really no way to actually bundle everything together, and it's more expensive now than it was 20 years ago if you want "all the channels". Not to mention managing 10-20 subscriptions instead of one.

[@povilasstaniulis9484]

No wonder people are pirating... Because even if you pay a fortune for all those streaming services, you will still get a junky experience (like requiring 10+ apps to watch all the content you want).

[@trowawayacc]

Oh nodbody tell this guy. 😅

[@stephenwilkinson2228]

You haven't made your own Apple TV box though, have you!? In fact, you've done nothing other than put together prebuilt hardware and software. A Raspberry Pi 5 running Kodi is in no way anything like an Apple TV, or the Roku, or the Firestick, or Chromecast. All of those devices can run Kodi, and a lot more. Also, Kodi is old. Why not show Plex or Jellyfin, that have nicer UIs?

[@RyanHenrie999]

The new Onn box with Google TV is pretty sweet. Even has wired LAN.

[@ApexOT]

Strongly considering moving from roku to those.

[@theglowcloud2215]

Too bad the SoC in those is approaching 10 years old

[@RaviKumar-mj3gs]

I use Onn with Jellyfin app attached to my NFS storage. Jellyfin is not available on Kodi.

[@user-gs9br6ih2n]

​@@theglowcloud2215The onn 4k plays 4k pretty reliably still. It only costs $20 usd

[@TheQBall1977]

And only available in the US.

[@renegerritsen1345]

If you factor in your time, the Pi is not cheaper than an Apple TV. Also, the hardware is not as good (the Apple silicon GPU is quite good). The software is better on Linux but also takes time. Having full control is a pro for your audience (👋), but so is having a managed system. Okay, I should have watched the full video first... you actually came to the same conclusion.

[@JeffGeerling]

Heh a roller coaster! But yes, those are all quite valid points.

[@stefanlasser3872]

You missed the point about the Apple TV: It's a great STREAMING device capable of Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR, etc. with any provider out there.

[@autohmae]

3:54 packaging has become amazing really, Recently been unboxing a lot of Lenovo laptops, I realized their packing from Z-series since 2021/2022 is sick (I'm unpacking a different model and it's not just all models): outside is a regular laptop-size cardboard box. Then on the inside we have this very sturdy structural support cardboard parts, kind of like egg carton type, but better. And then they have the laptop wrapped in a sort of linen cloth, but it too is just paper/wood based. That means all packaging is all paper/wood based. And the charger is USB-C charger, to bad they don't have multiple USB-C ports on the laptop.

[@samgod]

While a Kodi box is by no means in the same league of sophistication, refinement, or capabilities as my Apple TV, at $121, it’s only a few bucks cheaper. I have full voice control of my APpleTV with Siri on my iPhone, Apple Watch, or Mac. My iPhone offers a keyboard anyone a textfield appears on AppleTV. AppleTV’s DolbyVision and color reproduction are phenomenal, the UI is buttery smooth, the reliability of content available, the complete lack of ads and complex geeky gadgetry, etc. I can go on. After constantly having to reinstall and reconfigure Kodi, with its endless builds, themes and plugins, I eventually gave up. Besides, my AppleTV saves me $12 a month from the Spectrum box I returned.

[@PowerPlay25kV]

Love your videos! Always educational and informative. It’s also great seeing you and your dad working on projects together. The workbench project turned out great!

[@nikobellic570]

For those wishing to stream netflix, Disney+ etc then you would swap out the librelelec for a pen drive loaded with raspberry pi os. This has had widevine support for a number of years now. Granted, it doesn't playback 4k but the new pi 5 handles 1080p very easily!

[@chrishewitt]

LE can/does run Netflix, Disney+ etc. using 100% the same widevine support that RaspiOS has .. which handles 1080p content fine (4K needs L1 certs).

[@nikobellic570]

​@@chrishewitt those streaming services are reliant on add-ons kept up to date by volunteer developers. Whereas chromium browser will always be able to access media websites. Back around 10 years ago, Kodi / xbmc was the only way for low end htpc based on linux. Now, browsing does the job

[@r3tri3ution_z3nith_point_z6]

This was a project of mine back in 2018. I still have the game troller remote. Still great for dedicated TV box. Maybe i will make the updated version. Thanks Jeff.

[@vintagevintage2060]

Literally: is possible to replace Apple TV with Pi, but it won’t let you use neither Apple streaming, nor other TV apps. Absurdity at its finest 🙌🤣

[@sanguineel]

"But it's OK." This little statement stood out to me. As someone who is easily frustrated, this is small but powerful statement is to say out loud when improvising.

[@gonzalo.valenzuela]

I use a PI for along time, but at some point Kodi cant handle the library (around 2000 movies and 200 tv shows) and I moved to Plex

[@JeffGeerling]

A decent option! Though you could also pass Plex through to Kodi's frontend (or Jellyfin too), if you wanted to use the Pi as just the dumb UI for your library elsewhere on the network.

[@nicholas4839]

I had my pi crash all the time when it trys to load video list no matter if I pass thru jellyfish or kodi but I can get it to stay up and play 120fps av1 with no dropped frames by running a 1tb ssd to gpio for fastest transfer I have a the og pi still and it does it all never got a newer model

[@akyhne]

​@@nicholas4839If you use Plex and a more expensive TV or smartphone, it's not the Pi that does the work, it's the unit you play it on. I don't think a Pi can play (transcode) AV1.

[@notsonominal]

Wait, Plex is an upgrade? Interesting, more or less stopped using my plex pass cause it just doesnt want to Apple Silicon.

[@LanceThumping]

I'm more partial to Jellyfin than Plex, I feel Plex has too many privacy issues. However, I'd say either likely work better than Kodi anymore.

[@DanielLaurie]

An AppleTV in an integral part of the Apple Home ecosystem. It is not “just a video streamer”. It does more than act as a streamer box.

[@JJacobsson]

Chernobyl is such an amazing show.

[@JeffGeerling]

One of the few recent TV series I can rewatch and still get sucked into.

[@AaronEiche]

I'm reminded that the first Apple TV was basically a stripped-down Mac Mini, and a few folks figured out how to just install and run regular Mac OS X on it. After Apple moved the AppleTV to its mobile-series chips, that stopped being an option.

[@HungarianDerrickRose]

How is this more flexible than let's say and Nvidia Shield? That one can run Kodi too and has no problems with 4k playback. Also you can install all the streaming apps that you can not run on a Pi.

[@stevenvogelaar8075]

The best part of the pi is that you can get a hifiberry for it. (Or a dirt cheap pcm5102a dac) And connect that to a good amplifier with some solid speakers. Films, tvshows and even music will get an extra dimension. 😋

[@RolandGustafsson]

The Apple TV is totally worth it. I've even developed a couple of apps for it in the past few years so it *is* a computer, tvOS it's called and is a subset/superset of iOS. As an iOS developer it is easy to program tvOS. You can even sign up for free developer account and easily write your own code for it. What's not to like! 🙂 Oh, I have a couple of raspberry pi, one as a data logger for various arduino based sensors I've built and another running octoprint for 3D printing, so definitely a fan of all platforms. 🙂

[@JeffGeerling]

It'd be cool if Apple allowed us to run macOS on iPads and Apple TVs, would make the hardware that much more useful, especially after they live a useful life in their primary role!

[@RolandGustafsson]

@@JeffGeerling I have a sneaky suspicion that the new M4 based iPad Pro will be able to run macOS and they’ll announce it at WWDC. Crossing fingers.

[@gutwallst6645]

​@@RolandGustafssonlol I've been hearing the same thing for years, keep dreaming

[@brandonpetty3849]

I built a PI4 with a 512GB SD card, fan less, running off the TVs USB power, controlled through a cec remote. I had hundreds of 480p DVDs ripped from my personal collection. I was able to play the 4k HDR dune on the PI4! The magic is in the simplicity of the setup. You can carry one small box with and bring your entire collection, no power supply or special remote required... no hats, no nothin. I doubt you can pull that off with the 5.

[@digressor]

No matter how you hate Apple’s walled garden, the AppleTV is just ahead of the competition primarily because of its OS. Also, it’s not just a streaming box. It’s also a pretty good gaming box. Yeah, the remote is not perfect but at least you can use your favorite remote and pair it to the AppleTV. One thing I love about it aside from being user friendly are the settings. You can use your iPhone to calibrate color temp of your TV and to optimize wireless audio sync. The Match Content setting on SDR/HDR is also great.

[@PhoticsTV]

If the Apple TV had a web browser, I probably wouldn't even have bothered trying to get the Raspberry Pi to replace my Apple TV. 😄

[@ahicracing884]

I used an original P1B+ (512MB) with OSMB for playing videos from a HDD. Mainly the kids cartoons. Worked great. We used the Kodi App on an old phone as the remote. I also setup DLNA and the kids would stream to their tablets using VLC. Kids are older now and prefer TikTok, KZbin, Netflix and Disney Plus so the box has been retired (after the dust from just working for years was cleared off it)

[@postnick]

95% of the reason we love our apple TV is because it's so easy for the iphone to be the remotes when the toddler loses the remote (Or we hide it)

[@JeffGeerling]

Ha! Not only that, the iPhone is probably a better remote than the thing they include in the box... I hate Apple TV remotes, I've owned all but the latest, but it doesn't look that much better either.

[@neilk22]

The user experience on the Apple TV is way better than fiddling with a Pi. Moving movies and series around, organising files etc creates too much friction.

[@Walker956]

totally legal movies right?

[@milescarter7803]

He ripped his DVD collection to his NAS/Server

[@chievo72]

And not a misleading title at all either.

[@ranjitmandal1612]

🌚

[@LighteningOne]

​@@milescarter7803 sure...

[@Blizzard4242]

The title is misleading, I would want an Apple TV to be able to listen to immersive audio on Apple Music, which the Pi can't match.

[@Phil995511]

I have the two systems that you are presenting today. If I had to keep only one to broadcast video content on my dynamic monitor (without TV tuner) with matte screen which serves as a TV, it would most certainly be the Apple TV 4k gen 2. The Apple box does not need to be administered unlike the RPi, you turn it on and it works... And then according to my tests, in 1440p the RPi5 doesn't do too badly, but in 4 K it's a disaster in any case under RPi OS. I must also say that LibreELEC and Kodi are not intuitive enough for me to enjoy using them ;-(

[@padcraftingvideosandfiles8013]

I did much of the same when I stumbled on a Pi Zero 2 W before the supply chain kicked us all. The dealbreaker for me was the lack of video Airplay. Then I found that I could buy a really old AppleTV on the used market for well under $40. And believe it or not, it works just fine for Airplay. With that, I could do the transcoding from any device, and just cast it to the TV. That made it a lot more convenient for me to use.

[@AtoManPL]

Does logging into KZbin account still require API key and refreshing it on a regular basis? Because that's one thing that actually made me stop using Kodi a while ago.

[@ytbone9430]

Yeah, the KZbin part was horrible to setup and failed after KODI updates and it was all a mess and a huge disappointment. I'm a person with a tech and developer background, I could not make it work reliably, a friend of mine also failed to keep it running. Navigating the KODI interface is painful too, not a fan of that at all. I would also like to know if anything enhanced since I tried last time (3 years ago I guess).

[@jjdawg9918]

​ @ytbone9430 They broke it by changing the default player type in the app. I went and changed that but the KZbin app now takes like 60 seconds to load and another 60 seconds see your subscriptions before it plays. Could be corrupted app or Kodi install on my part but its essentially useless you have the patience of a turtle.

[@ytbone9430]

@@jjdawg9918 Ok, thank you, so the bad experience is still there. Corrupted installation, after doing an update at least, happened to me as well. Things kind of worked before, then not anymore - what a pain in the rear. It's unfortunate, since a lot of small computer / thin clients are available for very little money (10-20 EUR), with DDR3 RAM in sockets, proper SATA, real time clock etc.. If KODI would work nicely with KZbin and other streaming services, and not break constantly, it would make the perfect TV box, but not there yet for some reason. Navigating KODI is hard as well and can get really weird depending on the skin in use.. I won't touch these things for quite some time, too many days wasted for nothing. o)

[@cassiuscartland]

15:20 I think the best way you could fix this problem is to get a power monitoring smart plug, and another, normal smart plug. Connect the power monitoring plug to the TV, and make an automation to turn on the other smart plug when it increases in power consumption. Then, connect the other smart plug to your pi.

[@henryalvarado3454]

Jeff, the walmart onn google tv is amazing for the price and it is 4k

[@heyitsterry]

always cool to find other creators from the STL area! haha awesome video, man!

[@JeffGeerling]

There aren't many of us!

[@keithmiller9665]

Thanks Jeff, very nice video, appreciated. 🎉😊😊 I will be building a living room media player myself in the next few days and so your video was well timed. These days I am re-encoding most of my movie collection with AV1, so good AV1 decoding support is a deal breaker for me. In practice that means an Intel n100 CPU - or better. I already own a Trigkey G4 n100 NUC type device and I expect I will buy another for this media player role. You have given me some extra things to consider. Thank You! 😊

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah an N100 would be probably the best option minimally for AV1 support. That, or a tiny PC build with an Intel Arc GPU or something.

[@webslinger2011]

Just revived my 14yr old white macbook with opencore.Runs big sur now. 256ssd 8gb ram. Still pretty good for watching.

[@pattes4304]

This is no replacement.

[@Mobay18]

The whole point of apple tv, is that you can stream live TV channels. This is just another local streaming box that we had for ages.

[@Twisted_Mind_88]

Not sure why the comparison is with apple tv, this is alternative to any video streamer. Maybe because comparing to android devices, the cost would not make sense. Since the PI is not certified for streaming services like Netflix, it compares to any uncertified device running android tv which can be bought for under 50$ and would actually run video better. At 50-70$ range, there is mi box s 2nd gen and also some amazon fire tv stick devices which are certified for netflix, prime, HBO... Also, instead of libre, I much prefer OSMC. Mentioning that would be nice addition. And pi can also run android and android TV, there are great ports. ATV is great because it adds playstore apps for TV where kodi is just one of them, but you can get stremio, tivimate, games, cam surveillance ... All in all, if you have extra pi5, go for it, try it out, but any android box will be a better choice for multiple reasons

[@chyldstudios]

I have a Jellyfin server on my home network. Works wonderfully!

[@ianhaylock7409]

I switched from Kodi to Jellyfin, but the Linux Jellyfin client doesn't work as well at video playback as Kodi does though.

[@Jason-mk3nn]

Microcenter in Minneapolis still won’t let you buy more than 1x pi anything, even when they have a stack of something old.

[@gus473]

Maybe they'll see this and smarten up....? 🤔

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah I've asked about that... it seems like the policy is still not catching up to reality (in that there are dozens or hundreds of Pis sitting in the cases now), I can understand some limits (like 3 or 5 or something) but the limit of one is a little annoying.

[@luigiprovencher]

Right? It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. It's the same this at the Microcenter in Cambridge, Massachusetts which is an hour away from me. The only reason why I'd want to go there is so that I can get something in person and return something in person. Other than that I might as well buy it online if I need to or want to buy multiples at a time.

[@Tevruden]

For perspective on that elephant: At 4W, at idle that's maximum 35 kWh per year (I'd say when you actually use it, it reduces the total time wasted in idle.) I pay $0.16/kWh, so my solution could save me maximum $5.60.

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

This is good, but is there a way to watch live Digital Television using OTA (i.e. Freeview) or Sattelite or Cable and record TV programmes using something like a Raspberry Pi? Does an RPi DTT Tuner exist?

[@bjoern.gumboldt]

You can put tvheadend on your raspberry pi to do that. Kodi then has a plugin to use tvheadend as a backend. They can run on the same pi or you put tvh on a separate one that’s always on and then connect to it from kodi, your phone, or a firestick, etc.

[@JeffGeerling]

And there's also some issues over in the Pi PCIe database website for various tuner cards that could work over the Pi's PCIe lane.

[@bjoern.gumboldt]

@@JeffGeerling there is sat>ip as an option either through a separate receiver that turns the satellite signal into a transport stream (.ts-file) on your network or via software and a tuner card. In Europe the 1080p is in h264 and 4k in h265 on the Astra satellites.

[@NiyaKouya]

A Pi might not be the best choice for that. But there are multiple projects (like YaVDR) that can turn almost any x86 system into a video recorder as long as you can put a tuner card into it.

[@RyanFranklinWilliams]

I have a hauppage 4 channel digital USB TV tuner for OTA that I bought circa 21. At that time, the kernel for LibreElec didn't support that particular tuner, so what I did was run TVheadend on a separate pi (running ubuntu server) and then pipe that into LibreElec. I have three different sbc's running LE with the four channel tuner I can watch on all 3 simultaneously, or DVR while watching something. The same company also makes a two channel tuner, and that one did work with LE19, but I opted for the four the separate pi because of the amount of tvs we have. I do believe that LE20 now supports the four channel tuner, I just haven't set it up yet. But with that support, I would be able to run TV head and on the same pi with LE. I do have to use the tuner with a powered hub on it's dedicated pi, but had any issues and it integrates into the PVR nicely.

[@TheLexikitty]

I think the main appeal of the Apple TV over my own Kodi box is the AirPlay/screen sharing performance and the fact it acts as a Home hub for native Shortcuts scripts. I think they can also run some IOS apps but haven’t played with that. Still always a fun project.

[@keithgoldston2859]

FIREFLY!

[@JeffGeerling]

'Twas cancelled too soon :(

[@BigBushFarms]

Love seeing the micro center shoutout. Currently at St.Louis Childrens with my newborn daughter and microcenter and raspberry pi projects kept me entertained for the first month lol. Micro center was a daily visit

[@vibrolax]

My wife and I spent a month in St. Louis in 2022/23 for some very specialized surgery. I also visited the Brentwood Micro Center several times. My luggage was stuffed goodies on the flights home.

[@AdamsLab]

Not going to get Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc. on a DIY box unfortunately.

[@chrishewitt]

Unless you install the Netflix, Hulu, Prime add-ons .. they are all working with a little effort.

[@Luke357]

@@chrishewitt If you like 720p.

[@crushert]

We have an Apple TV and a Kodi installation. The Apple TV is the undisputed King of Streaming for us. However, if you want to play media off a NAS or something, Kodi wins every time.

[@BoboMedia007]

Love the G4 Mac in the background.

[@miko007]

i know like - a lot - of people, that bought the apple tv just for airplay. it is a shame, that apple closed it down with version 2, although it is build on top of open software/protocols.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah, honestly if there was a little $50 box that just did AirPlay for mirroring/sharing videos to a screen, I'd have a few of those.

[@ZippyDooDa435]

Oh I see, we're just going to ignore the fact the place next to Microcenter is named "Localhost" ??? How cool is that haha

[@JeffGeerling]

Ha, I think it's like a gaming place or something? TBH I never ventured over there...

[@Hustler1339]

Whilst a great video, the video title is misleading - it's not a a replacement for an Apple TV - you're essentially showing how to set up Kodi on a Raspberry Pi. I was expecting to see some apps and features on the the Pi such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, AirPlay functionality etc.

[@flipside1o1]

Wow click bait title and a great way to disappoint.

[@Volnas97]

Well, this could be an interesting use for an older computer. Cool video, thanks. I wonder if it could be installed directly on Smart TV, if it stops being supported.

[@JeffGeerling]

Most Smart TVs don't give you much in the way of upgrade paths. But LibreELEC/Kodi would work well on older thin clients or a PC you have laying around too. Always nice to put an old computer back in service if you can!

[@KosmicWolf]

I feel like this video is like saying that is possible to replace a car with a bycicle because where I live the town is only 4km(2.5 miles) away from my house, but then I'm ignoring that a lot of people use their cars for longer distances just like most people use Apple TV for streaming services

[@feicodeboer]

I was waiting for the part where you turned the thing into an actual Apple TV but figured out the title was click bait. A pi as media centre is old news...

[@SuperHddf]

can it do Dolby Vision?

[@chrishewitt]

If the DV stream is encoded with fallback to HDR then it will play (as HDR, not DV, though the magic light will appear on the TV). This is the case for most offline DV media. Some online streams follow different bits of the DV specs and do not include fallback and are thus not playable; RPi4/5 have HDR but not DV capabilities.

[@Zomboy4313]

I can imagine how awesome it would be if an Apple TV could run macOS, since it’s plenty powerful and really cheap compared to a Mac mini

[@JeffGeerling]

Honestly I wish the iPad could dual boot macOS too... the architectures on these A-series devices can't be that different.

[@Zomboy4313]

@@JeffGeerlingI’d imagine there’s nothing stopping Apple considering the A12Z chip from the 2020 iPad Pro is used in the DTK (which is basically a 2018 Mac Mini that was made for the transition to the Apple Sillicon chips)

[@MrDragonorp]

remember, no dolby vision with it tho

[@JeffGeerling]

HDR works fine though, and at least for me, that's the high end of content I've ripped off 4K blu-rays.

[@akyhne]

Are you the Pi supports 10-bit?

[@JeffGeerling]

@@akyhne The Dune sample I play in this video is HDR10 and played back fine on the TV, showing the correct mode in the TV's info display too.

[@gordonreeder3451]

I gave Kodi a test drive about 2 years ago. I discovered what you found out. It's great for holding and playing local media. But for live TV and streaming, it's a non starter. Within a week of setting up my Kodi box I went out and bought a Roke Ultra.

[@treyfordham688]

My favorite thing about this video is that it goes to show how universally all these computer nerd dads love Bluey and recognize it as a wholesome show. Good to see Other Jeff likes it too.

[@HaywirePhoenix]

I thought you'd add the Apple TV skin. Great the Pi5 handles 4K smoothly. I've found Kodi uses a lot of cpu and ram

[@nothingtoseehere93]

It’s not an Apple TV though…

[@roberthensley7130]

It’s nice to look at options like these. However I can’t shake that Apple TV has a better value proposition. This setup is $110 and the Apple TV is $130, and with that you get: 1. A better build quality with nice metal materials 2. A smooth user interface with up-to-date applications 3. Includes a premium remote 4. Minimal setup needed 5. Great Apple ecosystem integration 6. Can buy movies easily or use a Plex server for personally imported library 7. Great gaming support with Apple Arcade, Steam Remote Play, Xbox Gamepass and now even Retroarch emulation (A15 is quite capable) Honestly with all this stuff on Apple TV it’s hard to feel like doing a Raspberry pie setup is worth it.