Looks like I got weekend plans

Damn it's a missed opportunity to call it Pectin

I mean, in terms of raw capability, it’s actually one of the better “turn a dumb TV into a smart TV” devices on the market. It has good hardware transcoding support to take the burden off of your server. It also has very little in the way of fluff. It was one of the few boxes that wasn’t packed full of ads by default (though I’m not sure if this is still true).

But yeah, it means you’re locked into Apple’s ecosystem. Which is… Not always the best. Apple is notoriously difficult/annoying if your app gets tied up in approvals, so native apps can sometimes be trapped in limbo for a while. And that’s assuming they even allow the native app.

I guess you could build an HTPC with similar functionality and hardware support, but then you’ll be stuck using a Bluetooth keyboard to navigate things, plus all of the “oh let me wait for my computer to boot up before I can watch anything” pains that go along with it. There are solutions for a lot of the complaints, but a lot of them are fiddly or require lots of extra stuff just to achieve the same basic functionality of “remote has power button that turns on TV and streaming box, and navigates menus as if it’s a native app.”

I had an Nvidia shield, but I couldn’t stand the newer Home Screen filled with ads. I like the peaceful quiet of the Apple TV Home Screen. Also picture quality is pretty great. I don’t need to side load apps cause I was using Plex for a decade for all my media needs, plus my in-laws know how to use it when they watch my kids. Win all around.