After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/after-luring-customers-with-low-prices-amazon-stuffs-fire-tvs-with-ads/Open linkView original on lemmy.world739
Comments185https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/after-luring-customers-with-low-prices-amazon-stuffs-fire-tvs-with-ads/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
Everything has ads now, I don’t have a fire TV but surprised Amazon is this late to this bs game. The Xbox has ads now like with mw3 when you launch the console. My Visio Tv I spent ~1000 on a few years ago is stuffed with ads when you turn it on.
pihole
Is this...an ad?
A solution. Is it an Ad when it is for something you do yourself that solves problems about which you've publicly complained? Think there is another word for that. hmm. It sure suggests something that is specifically designed as being a definition for that. Sure suggests something, but I guess we'll never know. I'd appreciate anyone recommendation upon a good word to use when someone offers a solution to something about which you complained. Any suggested recommendation would be welcome.
Top tier sarcasm lol
Aniki got it. Endorsement.
Jokes, of course ❤️
This is why my 'smart' TV will never, ever be connected to the internet. It's an LG so I would expect it to not be onerous, but it's often nagging me to connect to my router for stuff like AI tools.
No thanks. You're smart enough already for my use, TV! HDMI only please.
I'm a firm believer that smart should be self contained. If a device needs the internet, it's not that smart since it has to rely on outside sources to work properly.
Although I agree with the sentiment. It’s like saying people that research are not smart.
They should all just be thinkers like Einstein, let some other dummy find the proof.
You can disable the AI in the settings.
They're not late. I've been using Fire Sticks for years and Amazon has been working hard the whole time to shove more and more ads all over the UI. The main row of apps gets smaller with every update and more and more ads are plastered around and between them to try to sell you more shit you don't want or already have.
I managed to jailbreak mine before they locked them down and install a custom launcher so they're actually usable, but the stock UI is god-awful. I'll be replacing them once the next round of Apple TVs come out.
The Nvidia Shield Pro is quite capable. Sideload a different launcher and install Aerial Views and you're good to go!
How did they lock them down?
Pushed a software update that disabled third party launchers and disallowed disabling future software updates.
Oh, shit!
My Xiaomi Mi Box S 4K doesn't auto-update because there's not enough storage space left.
No idea if Xiaomi have pushed any Amazon-level evil updates since last update though.
All I know is, 3rd-party launchers changed my life for the better, and I don't want it to change anytime soon.
My favorite 3rd party launchers
AndroidTV
Android
It's not new, Amazon just changed their policy allowing ads for non-media. The Fire devices have always been primarily vehicles for ads; they take up the entire lockscreen on the Kindle reader and Fire tablets. On Fire TV, the top 40-ish% of the screen is a giant ad, then you get a tiny carousel of recommendations, then another thinner banner ad, then "your" content like queue and watchlist.
My Apple TV has no ads.
One of my home monitoring cameras suddenly started placing ad watermarks on my video feed - I shit you not. I feel like obstitricians are going to start slapping ad stickers on newborns bellies as they pull them out soon enough. I hate it. I'm not completely sure what the answer is, but I've always been a proponent of the micropayment idea as a way to navigate digital life with more focus and less dependence on ads but it's not caught on at all because HEY FREE!!
Thank gosh my PS5 doesn’t yet have ads when I launch a game
My tcl doesn't have ads. Probably because it already knows I'll ignore them and it's selling that data
TLC was discussed above https://lemmy.world/comment/5181873
Your comment sounds like you might already be aware, but maybe you were just assuming it's doing the same spying most smart TVs are probably doing.
Mine is Roku based so the article doesn't apply, but yes I'm still assuming they are pulling and selling data to subsidize up front cost and fluff profits
buying a 'dumb' tv is getting harder and harder to do...
how long until you are forced to hook a new 'smart' one up to the internet, just to "set it up"--even if you have no plans on ever using the 'smart' features or embedded apps?
Looking forward to the 1 yr free trial of my new TV, before I have to subsribe to Samsung+ for just 15.99 per month to turn it on.
I cannot stand how believable this scenario is.
Unlock additional HDMI ports for only $5.99 a month!
Roku tvs already do that, you even need to put in a credit card number for it to work.
You can choose not to connect a Roku TV to the Internet during the initial setup, and you just get access to live TV and the HDMI inputs with (obviously) no streaming channels or updates. It works fine as a dumb TV.
And the credit card thing? That's after you create your account on their website, you can just close the browser window. Or click the button saying "skip" or "later" or whatever it is.
Was helping family with setting it up, I guess I didn't see that
They don't make it obvious at all, in fact they do their best to seem like you can't
does this link to make an account without a payment method not work anymore?
https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc
If you buy a Sony Bravia you can put them into “pro mode” which keeps all the signal processing, but lets you turn off android.
That's good to know!
Agreed. You can buy the displays that are marketed to businesses and usually come without all of the invasive smart features.
They definitely cost more on average, but they’re also built to run more often or constantly, and hold up far better. They’re even a lot more customizable.
You can buy some that come with slots where you put in a raspberry pi or another computer of your choice, instead of whatever OS that comes with smart tvs.
At this point, I’m starting to regularly check if there are “for business customers” options available when I need something, because the options for regular consumers are getting so bad with all this data hoarding and ad pushing.
Just don’t connect it to the internet.
That’s the point they are making. Currently that’s possible. But what is stopping the producers to force you to hook it up to the internet?
O… damn.
Not buying the tv might work… at mass. Like everyone. Please people, vote with your wallet/privacy.
Not gonna happen. People are fine with that.
They already do, vizio sets and roku TV sets require an internet connection as soon as you power it on to set it up
roku because you 'need' an account to use (try here for one without a payment method requirement).
vizio must be a new thing for the current models. mine (bought last year, and was "last year's" model then) didn't need a net connection to set up for using as a 'monitor'.
I can’t figure out why the cheap TCL I bought 5 years ago isn’t packed with ads. Maybe because it’s Roku-based?
Probably because it's Chinese spyware. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/tcl-smart-tv-security-flaws
Disturbing; thanks for sharing that. Seems like the Roku flavor may be okay-ish, but I just walled it off from rest of home network anyway.
Yeah, TCL was the front-runner when I was looking for a non-smart TV until I saw that. :( I ended up just going with a samsung and hoping for the best. I've not noticed anything annoying, but we're probably going to switch back to a PC hooked up to the TV with all the subscription problems / price jacking lately.
Functionally, it’s proven to be a really great TV, particularly at the price point. At most, only one ad in the interface, and it’s for a movie typically.
Get a projector and a screen. They're all dumb.
Im sure you could mount a rollup projector screen anywhere you would put your TV, but your first point is huge. The light issue is a huge non starter
I've tried getting a way too cheap, really bad projector running Android to work once. From Wish or something, I guess. It was a truly unpleasant experience. Fortunately, it wasn't mine!
Also, I had a good ol' dumb Epson projector 10-15 years ago, but it had a very noisy fan, meaning you had to always turn up your HiFi to try and camouflage the fan noise in louder sound than you else would've had. Are low-end consumer projectors still that noisy?
I have a Ben-Q and sit under it without noticing fan noise at all. It's 1080p and the lights don't need to be dimmed. The projector screen is mounted to the ceiling so I just roll it up when I'm done.
That's good to know! Mine was only 720p "HD ready", though I remember the image quality as being decent. I just had a white wall, though it actually looked fine on e.g. a blue wall too. I still have it somewhere, but the lamp is broken. Thought of fixing it last time I found it, since a replacement lamp isn't too expensive, but decided it wasn't worth it because of the fan noise...
Been awhile but boy I really feel like my LG setup was pretty darn close to this sort of experience.
What a totally expected turn of events!
Stuffing ads on streaming services? How could Amazon do such a thing?
Anyway, for your consideration, Barbie (at last!), now available on streaming services everywhere.
I have you tagged as 'probably actually her' just because I want it to be true.
And as I've said here before: I just play her on TV.
Which is a fantastic answer, but this is Lemmy, not TV, and Margot Robbie's name is Margot Robbie.
I'm not trying to call you out, nor draw you out though. I'm not into parasocial relationships, but I do love the idea of Lemmy's first celebrity user being the actor that literally played Barbie. It's just a delightful thought.
But being the first novelty account: also fine.
These are all important milestones for Lemmy.
... Cool.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
... Cool.
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I completely forgot about tags. My first Lemmy tag is now 'probably actually her.'
Hopefully not on me, because I can assure you that I am a 4 year old Polish Lowland Sheepdog, and not acclaimed actor Margot Robbie. Please tag responsibly.
I didn't. I tried to use Sync but they paywalled tags. Thank Boost for existing.
Duuuuude! I didn't know boost existed for Lemmy! Thanks you!
Boost, here I come!
And you are surprised?
This needs to become illegal. Ads are part of the price you pay for a device or service. If you didn't agree to them at the time of purchase, they can't be sprung on you after you've paid.
They agreed, they just didn't read the terms and conditions
Fuck that. That isn't an excuse. The ToS are abused by companies all the time.
They didn't agree at the time of purchase.
I am sure if someone sues them then they will definately be off the hook because of some statement in their terms of service.
You need to be aware of major terms in a contract for it be valid. That or they need to be reasonable or standard.
Which is why it needs to become illegal
Actually kinda surprised that chromecast doesn’t have ads, at least the model we have.
We have a dumb projector with features such as “select source”.
The original cast-only chromecasts didn’t have ads as far as I know, but they’ve all been discontinued and replaced by the google tv chromecasts which have ads integrated throughout the interface, mostly just for streaming services, movies, etc.
Fuck seriously? I have a Chromecast from like 7 years ago and I was considering getting a newer model just because, you know, improvements and stuff. But definitely not if there are ads. Holy shit no.
Just use a different launcher. No ads then. OEM launcher is a mess anyway.
Google TV has ads, though they are for the moment easy to miss or ignore.
For the moment.
Didn't used to. Stopped using it once adverts showed up
I have a nearly-dumb TV (chosen for that and never connected to the Internet) and a separate little Android TV box I got from AliExpress for 25 bucks were I only use Kodi.
The TV is maybe 4 years old, the little box maybe 1 year (I had a 10 year old similar thing before but it can't handle newer video formats so I switched).
Have yet to see a single Ad.
Mind you my setup is as is because I've long ago learned that you want your fast-changing-cheap-tech bits separate from your expensive-long-life stuff, so in this case I want my digital video file decoding hardware separate from the much more expensive large digital TV screen so that I can switch the former without paying a new of the - much more expensive - latter.
Yeah, so you may not be seeing ads, but there's a non-zero chance you have a botnet infested device on your network instead.
Is there a way to check if the little Android box you already have is one of these infected devices?
Here's the GitHub repo of a software developer that was one of the first to find this, and I think the first to make it really public. It has some info on how to tell and possible steps to do some cleanup.
https://github.com/DesktopECHO/T95-H616-Malware
There's been a lot of articles recently about those cheapo boxes being filled with spyware straight out the factory. Might wanna check that out.
I did.
It's not on the list.
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Not sure why you’re being downvoted. But you’re correct—some TVs have been found to automatically connect to open wifi networks to phone home.
Yeah. I have a Vizio smart TV but each time you turn it on it acts 100% like a dumb tv until you press the smart button.
I have a seperate shitty little HTPC that's used for all the media and my brother uses his xbox.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
This is sort of what happened with Google Chromecast with Google TV. I bought that on a technicality for my parents over an Apple TV. My mom (who isn't a native English speaker) was watching another foreign language show on Netflix and whenever she paused on the Apple TV the seek bar would come in and overlay itself on the subtitles. She was frequently pausing just to catch up on the long sentences to read them and then unpausing just as quickly. This wasn't an issue on the Android-based Netflix, where the subtitles remained in view.
Well OF COURSE because it's fucking Google they started shoving more and more ads onto the device, to the extent that my parents actually get pretty confused on how to properly navigate the thing. It makes me so mad.
I have a similar situation. Have you thought about submitting feedback to Apple regarding the issue so they can take the scroll bar into consideration and subtitle placement? https://www.apple.com/feedback/
No, because I think the problem belongs to Netflix. But maybe it does belong to Apple? I’m not sure who is responsible, really.
I solved this problem on my Xiaomi Mi Box S 4K by installing FLauncher, and setting it as the default launcher (on my own box as well as my parents').
LeanbackOnFire is another great option, but FLauncher has better customizability options, and that's what I prefer.
In this way, I haven't seen a single system UI ad on my Android TV box for years. For ad-free YouTube, I'm using SmartTube. So far, it's been amazing.
I'm visiting my parents this winter so it will be a good chance for me to look into trying something like this.
That sounds like a plan. I'd search online for advice from other users beforehand, regarding which solutions/apps are confirmed to work well with the exact device, OS version etc.
Amazon being greedy and bake ads into their devices? Who could see that coming?!
Anyone that didn't know that was the end game was not paying attention.
People said "Aw, they won't do that" when streaming eclipsed cable television. Yet, here we are.
Anybody who ever says "they won't do that" clearly doesn't have a clue how nothing is off the table for capitalism.
Remember that "deal" always has depth behind it. They are waiting to reach critical mass so they can "throw the switch". Streaming services, "smart" devices, subscription services... You should only engage with these "deals" if you understand the bigger picture and have a plan to disengage quickly as soon as they pull their bullshit.
Your black Friday TV is NOT the same as the TV that brand typically sells. It's a different sku, all the parts are deliberately sourced lesser quality versions and it's literally designed to break/fail earlier than the "normal" version. You're not getting a deal on the TV you wanted, you're buying a lesser TV - Not necessarily a bad thing if you know what you're buying, but you need to know what you're buying.
There is a big lack of consumer education in the U.S. I don't know how to solve it in our oligarchical society. The corporations don't want consumers educated.
There should be regulation of the private sector. There has to be some accountability for these corporations. The onus can't be on the consumer one hundred percent of the time. It really shouldn't be at all. Buyers should only be responsible for deciding which products would be best for them and their budget, not for having to predict which corporation will utterly fuck them over the least out of the only three corporations they have to choose from when they're all trying to scam them out of their money.
I'm so sick of being scammed every single time I buy something. The government needs to step in and do their job instead of just handing out a few fines here and there.
Most people are not that technically savvy.
Even a Windows computer, like a laptop. An HDMI cable isn't hard to plug in.
Even learning to broadcast programming from your laptop to your TV has a learning curve. Meanwhile, you can just push a button on the TV and get to Netflix. The problem is that now half the space is going to be taken up with ads, and not even relevant ones.
Exactly. It seems people often completely miss the human behaviour element of this whole issue. Just saying 'LeARn to TEcH N00b' isn't helpful or realistic in the real world for most people. I have family that still won't touch a computer, or only use one for the most basic of browsing and email, but they can use a TV remote without issue.
If thats the price of freedom then I think one should definitely become tech savvy.
Besides, isn't saying that you're not tech savvy in today's tech world kind of admitting that you're willfully ignorant and only buy tech stuff for show?
You think people only buy TVs for show? That's a very strange thing to suggest. People buy TVs so they can watch shows. For over 70 years, all they've had to do is turn it on and maybe turn a knob or push a couple of buttons and that's it. Expecting people to learn more than that is too much for many people. And saying you aren't tech savvy isn't some shameful thing except to people who are tech savvy. Even if it does mean someone is ignorant, that doesn't mean they deserve to be taken advantage of.
One way to look at this is that if you buy a bike, you should have at least basic understanding of its work and repair process. If you run a car, you should know the traffic rules. Similar in internet world, but only not explicitly implied.
Ignorant people should not be taken advantage of. But this is more like a principle than application. Currently, the internet is like a wild wild west. The more techy you are, more you can save your mental health. It is just the lack of awareness in people that make companies take advantage of them. IMO, Tech-literacy is a necessity, just like traffic rules or basic life support.
Tech literacy is beyond many people. They are very confused by it. Not everyone has the capacity to be able to learn things on that subject. There is no subject everyone can be well-versed in, especially not a complicated one.
And, again, TVs have just worked for over 70 years. Why should people who have watched TV all of their lives expect to suddenly have to do some complicated new thing just to avoid Amazon fucking them over?
Certainly in my country, people who don't know how to setup a computer still choose to buy one.
Maybe the boomer generation. I am a millenial running a pihole and subscribing to OTT. This is true of others in my generation and younger.
Well it's not shameful in that it requires ridicule. I just think it's a bit embarrassing for me personally that a lot of people don't bother learning tech stuff. It's similar to people declaring that they don't read books. In this day and age, being tech savvy is kind of required to navigate a lot of society.
I know that, you know that, the companies exploiting the ignorant and elderly know that. So there's no better cure than for the ignorant to learn.
Still sounds like you're blaming the people being taken advantage of because they don't know things you do.
Leaving aside the silly thing about buying stuff for show (which may be true of a fraction, but not the vast majority), I disagree.
While becoming 'tech-savvy' might allow people to navigate around the pervasive ads in techn like the Fire Stick, it's unrealistic to expect this level of expertise from the average person. People have a myriad of responsibilities and interests competing for their attention; not everyone has the luxury of dedicating time to become a tech expert just to avoid advertisements. This expectation completely ignores the complexity of our lives and the sheer volume of knowledge required to custom-build solutions like a media PC, or build your own media library. It’s not about being willfully ignorant; it’s about the practical realities of everyday life.
Also, the implication that not being tech-savvy is a form of willful ignorance is unrealistically dismissive of the different talents and intelligence people possess. Being proficient in the many and various technology's is just one skill set among many, and people value privacy and simplicity without having to jump through hoops to achieve it. Technology should serve to enhance our lives, not add another layer of complexity. The burden should not fall solely on consumers to fend off invasive advertising; it is also the responsibility of companies to respect their users’ desire for a straightforward and unobtrusive experience. (Though I suspect we both agree this bit is more dream than reality...)
I am not holding my breath, at least until such time as companies actually change away from focusing purely on growth, money left on the table and towards sustainable business.
It doesn't take enormous effort to be at least aware of the shenanigans of the devices we interact with daily. Some people don't even bother with that.
If one knows how to setup wifi in their house... The next logical thing is how to configure their TVs, then on to a wifi extender, etc.
I find a dedicated HTPC is just overkill in terms of hardware these days. I just use Kodi sideloaded onto a Fire stick and point it to my file server for all my media. There are methods to get Kodi to launch on startup or to remap one of the stupid service-related buttons on the newer remotes to launch it instead.
Ads on the home screen? I don't give a shit, I'm just there for a second to launch an app. Ads while searching? Cool, I don't think I've ever used the device's built in search.
I have a NanoPC-T4 that I use as a server, the thing would in principle make a good set top box -- it's what Rockchip designed the RK3399 for, after all, it can decode 4k h.264 and h.265, and it's from 2016 (I got it for its pcie lanes, a rarity with arm boards).
None of those SmartTVs run expensive hardware, any reasonably fresh potato can do what they do.
I did that, but at the end of the day, I find the experience of the Shield TV better.
Fair enough, although I might add that there is not a better way to run Kodi but HTPC, even when the Shield is more than a capable client, it sucks from time to time, I blame the limited RAM of the device.
If you bought a Vizio TV 4 years ago it now has a "feature" where it switches inputs to the ad-ridden integrated android system if it detects that whatever input you are on doesn't have a signal for more than 5 seconds. Even if you pull it from the network it still tries to load it anyway. It's becoming unavoidable even for those of us who roll our own solutions.
vizio also moved the tv tuner bits over to it's 'smart' bullshit, too.
I connect my LG because jellyfin works great on the built on web browser. I can also run it on a firestick or chromecast but I like the interface provided by the browser.
To use the android-based remote (which was actually pretty cool at the time tbh)
Yup. Small Intel NUC, Linux, and one of those Air mouse remotes are all I need.
It's hard not to be that guy and mention how neat such a setup is every time I have to watch someone else fumbling around with the horribly designed and ad-ridden UI of their "smart" TV.
I'm really shocked that this is the Technology community and it's full of people complaining about ads. We're supposed to be the geeks who are laughing at the normies for watching those ads while we watch content on our techy solution which is immune to such garbage.
We are talking for the normies here. And it is becoming more and more difficult to block ads and trackers even for moderately savvy person.
I have a Nokia android TV with no ads as far as I can tell 🤷
Glad I use Apple TVs on LG devices.
I have the same setup. Apple TV's have ads too, they just aren't intrusive.
What ads does AppleTV have?
If you put the Apple TV app on the top bar it will put trailers and such for Apple TV + content. That’s the only ads on Apple TV I know of
I actually haven't sat down and used my Apple TV in a while, but I thought there was a carousel ad at the very top of the Home Screen, but maybe I'm thinking of a carousel ad at the top of the Apple TV app on the device, which might make more sense since you use it to purchase and watch movies. It's still showing ads though, technically.
Ya but thats extremely nitpicky to the point I wouldn't really take it into account. Don' get me wrong, I'm appreciative you took the time to share this conjecture but I just don't see it in the same way. Its not invasive, I honestly have way more criticism reated to their bullshit "Not now as opposed to never" nags, and also the way when you try to turn of shit they want running 24/7 there's always this annoying worthless disclaimer that trys to talk you out of doing something you have and will do a million times like turnning of location services
The Apple TV is expensive for a reason. It's a good product with good hardware, which means it has a smooth interface. When something is extremely cheap, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT.
I must miss them — perhaps because Pi-hole?
I have had three in high availability at home but intend to have a look at this thank you!
I do wonder what makes some people despise ads.
I myself do, but I’ve never been told to or even been echo chambered (well maybe now, but not always). Going back over tens years and detested them.
But at work some people think ad-blockers shouldn’t be a thing as it’s stealing as the internet runs on ads and I just can’t see that point of view. However valid it could be.
I don’t want to see them all my digital life as they are on the real world. Christ I’ve seen them on the pissing motorway ffs.
Ads can be a reasonable price to pass for free or discounted content.
The issue is that every day, every year, they are finding new ways to shove even more ads. The more they're shoved, the less reasonable it becomes. Where the line between reasonable and unacceptable is will vary per person. However, there is a point where enough becomes enough and you just become done with them.
In theory, I'm fine with some ads. Useful ads in places where it makes sense (like shopping). Small, unobtrusive ads that fill up otherwise empty space. But ads are like capitalism and cancer. They just continue to grow and grow and get worse and worse until they've utterly destroyed the thing they were meant to support. If you let them in, it's only a matter of time until they completely take over. No one has managed to do 'reasonable ads' for any great length of time.
It's just one of those things where in theory it sounds workable, but in practice it's highly destructive and corrosive towards everything.
I concur. The problem isn’t the ads themselves, but ads in a capitalist society, where profit has no ceiling and neither do the amount of ads.
Advertising is intended to manipulate preferences and choices. Why would I willingly subject myself to such manipulation?
Because we pride ourselves as being uncontrollable unique individuals? Where as others just want to get through the day and focus on their one thing?
Well, I'm okay with old concept of ads. But it was them that decided that ads must double dip with customer information and it was them that decided that ads viewed by people who are engaged to the ads doesn't count as ads that was 'seen'.
Continuous race to the bottom since then.
How is this surprising?
PSA: It is incredibly easy to get an alternative launcher for android TVs. Zero ads. Literally none.
Which do you use?
FLauncher. It's even on the Google play store.
Then you have to side load an app that changes the default launcher. But that is also very easy.
Thanks
What android TV would you recommend? Even with an alt launcher, can you still control OS/apps well with just a remote controller as input?
Sony is the easiest to change all the settings. Samsung is the worst.
I have no idea what a reddit controller is.
I think he meant to type "remote" instead of "reddit".
Ahhh. Then yes. Remote works the same. Change the default launcher to FLauncher and it automatically maps it to the home button.
100%, Reddit must have infiltrated my autocorrect after I fucked off here to Lemmy :)
I've had a good experience with my Sony. Very easy to change things and sideload stuff.
I like my Philips, it's got the cool ambilight and runs android TV. I think they lag slightly behind LG in performance but these don't have either of those things.
In my humble opinion until the producers of such appliances learn honesty through pain, it's much better to have a pirate streambox (with something like
torrentflixor Popcorn Time or whatever, I just download torrents and watch on my laptop, so don't use these things).A pc or android running Plex and or Kodi on the front end.
That's just a normal Media PC.
I think they are referring specifically to a PC that streams from those crappy streaming sites and not downloading the movies locally.
You can do that with Kodi but not Plex.
I meant something with
peerflixinside, to stream torrented stuff.An Apple TV box doesn’t have ads.
My HTPC doesn't either.
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That's only because they don't have the market share. If Apple ever becomes dominant in this arena they would absolutely take the opportunity.
That's debatable. Unless you have the TV button open the home screen and not the Apple TV app, Apple TV+ content when not subscribed can be seen ads.
My Shield TV doesn't either.
When you're served ads, you're not the customer, but the product. The customers would be the advertisers. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, mind you, until it stops you from consuming the context you intended on consuming. Then it becomes a problem.
And when I'm paying for the privilege of getting ads.
Yes 100% this too
Who didn’t see this coming?
Vote with your wallet. Don't make them keep profiting on this BS.
Oh no! Whoever could have foreseen this awful turn of events! Amazon would never (checks notes) stuff ads down our throats.
Have you seen the TV that has a second screen that just plays ads
And apparently has cameras and sensors that detect if you cover up the 2nd screen. Truly dystopian, but also they weren't exactly hiding these features if people bought the TVs...
This is literally the oldest trick in the book, haha.
I'll keep buying dumb TVs for as long as they're around to thrift for. There's going to be plenty of flat screen dumb TVs for a lifetime.
I'm pretty sure everybody saw this coming. Well, everybody with any brains in their head.
Whatever it is, I imagine it's a horrible product that doesn't work well and consistently disappoints its users.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In a StreamTV Insider report from November 1, Amazon said the new ads will allow advertisers to reach an average of 155 million unique monthly viewers.
For example, Amazon is preparing to make Alexa with generative AI more useful for finding content on Fire TVs.
This could help Alexa, which has struggled alongside other tech giants' voice assistants to generate significant revenue.
Amazon Fire TV users will also start seeing banner ads on the device's home screen for things that have nothing to do with entertainment or media.
Amazon opening the ad space to more types of advertisers is similar to a move Google TV made early this year.
The banner ads will occupy the first slot in the rotating hero area, which Amazon believes is the first thing Fire TV users see.
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Had a firestick for 4 years, switched to Roku a couple weeks ago and I wish I did years ago
I can boot up the Roku, open Plex, and start a video stream without ever seeing an ad
I have a TCL Roku TV, and it has ads. I always thought that would be the same on any Roku device, but I guess not?
I do have ad blocking at the DNS level setup on my router
But, the Firestick showed ads regardless of that, so...
Lots of 'smart' devices have hard coded DNS IPs. Build an OPNsense box Forward all port 53 requests to your pihole ? Profit
This is the way.
Doing something similar on the Chromecast, turn on, open stremio and play away
At recs on a comparable alternative? I don't mind spending more to not have ads
I just do everything via Chromecast, so I never see ads.
No shit.
Kind of hard to watch streaming services that way, which is generally why people buy such TVs.