Sony have blocked the install of Kodi on Android TV

The high horse brigade

Bad form, not that I'd ever recommend a smart TV but if I was recommending one it would've been one with Android TV

advertsfox

Bad move indeed but the performance on Sony Android TVs is limited compared to a decent Android box / 4K stick (not to mention the use of the Sony "menu" button is not the same as the Android menu button function) so another device is the preferred option.

Alternatively, you can just sideload the application and install HALauncher.

The high horse brigade

advertsfox wrote: »

Bad move indeed but the performance on Sony Android TVs is limited compared to a decent Android box / 4K stick (not to mention the use of the Sony "menu" button is not the same as the Android menu button function) so another device is the preferred option.

Alternatively, you can just sideload the application and install HALauncher.

Agreed but there is a certain type of person that needs an all in one smart TV, I know plenty ;-)

advertsfox

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Agreed but there is a certain type of person that needs an all in one smart TV, I know plenty ;-)

Absolutely I hear you, this is how it should be with Android TV as a whole (as Google designed it) but Sony had to intervene! They should embrace it like Amazon - they have sold 10s of millions of Fire Sticks / Boxes since they allow Kodi to work and work well. Have you tried manually installing the APK?

EDIT: I can see from the thread that these slightly modified builds are working - https://app.box.com/v/kodi4sonytv

Boxcar_Willie

Amazon have Kodi and all IPTV platforms blocked on their new 4K Fire TV box.
Impossible to sideload.
Next Firestick software update will extend this to firesticks.

The high horse brigade

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Amazon have Kodi and all IPTV platforms blocked on their new 4K Fire TV box.
Impossible to sideload.
Next Firestick software update will extend this to firesticks.

Really, that's the first I've heard of this.

Boxcar_Willie

Yes I bought a 4K Fire TV recently and tried every possible way to sideloading Kodi & IPTV . Have done it many times with Firesticks and the original Fire TV boxes and never encountered any problems.
Some of the apps did load but when I try to open them it just brings me back to the home screen.

advertsfox

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Yes I bought a 4K Fire TV recently and tried every possible way to sideloading Kodi & IPTV . Have done it many times with Firesticks and the original Fire TV boxes and never encountered any problems.
Some of the apps did load but when I try to open them it just brings me back to the home screen.

The first I heard of that also, which build have you been trying to sideload? What application were you using to do so (an APK downloader or over ADB)?

SteM

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Bad form, not that I'd ever recommend a smart TV but if I was recommending one it would've been one with Android TV

Stupid move. My old Sony android tv has kodi running on it, perfect setup for a family as there is less hdmi switching etc.

The high horse brigade

Yeah it turns out Sony were even promoting Kodi to advertise their smart TVs at one stage
https://torrentfreak.com/first-sony-promotes-kodi-then-allegedly-blocks-it-on-newer-android-tvs-190107/

iggy

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Yes I bought a 4K Fire TV recently and tried every possible way to sideloading Kodi & IPTV . Have done it many times with Firesticks and the original Fire TV boxes and never encountered any problems.
Some of the apps did load but when I try to open them it just brings me back to the home screen.

I've the new 4k TV Stick and have all the apps I need. Use apps2fire app on your phone to transfer them from phone onto firestick

The high horse brigade

iggy wrote: »

I've the new 4k TV Stick and have all the apps I need. Use apps2fire app on your phone to transfer them from phone onto firestick

Yes but you shouldn't have to do workarounds to install the likes of Kodi which is open source software

Dravokivich

advertsfox wrote: »

Absolutely I hear you, this is how it should be with Android TV as a whole (as Google designed it) but Sony had to intervene! They should embrace it like Amazon - they have sold 10s of millions of Fire Sticks / Boxes since they allow Kodi to work and work well. Have you tried manually installing the APK?

EDIT: I can see from the thread that these slightly modified builds are working - https://app.box.com/v/kodi4sonytv

I'm not sure how you can suggest amazon are kodi friendly. When they made a very publicised point of removing it from their app store.

McMurphy

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Yes I bought a 4K Fire TV recently and tried every possible way to sideloading Kodi & IPTV . Have done it many times with Firesticks and the original Fire TV boxes and never encountered any problems.
Some of the apps did load but when I try to open them it just brings me back to the home screen.

Just don't use Kodi then, there's literally hundreds of ways of getting apks on to a stick without worrying about Kodi.

Can't see Amazon locking down their sticks too much, the openess of them was what helped them sell so many of them, and even if they do, I don't think it will be too long for a competitor to release a small, Android based, open HDMI stick onto the market.

SteM

Johnny Dogs wrote: »

Just don't use Kodi then, there's literally hundreds of ways of getting apks on to a stick without worrying about Kodi.

I personally like using Kodi as a local Media streamer, it scans my NAS drives where I have my ripped DVDs stored and organises them very well, loads cover art and movie info. What other open source app will do this for me?

swampy353

SteM wrote: »

I personally like using Kodi as a local Media streamer, it scans my NAS drives where I have my ripped DVDs stored and organises them very well, loads cover art and movie info. What other open source app will do this for me?

Plex?

McMurphy

SteM wrote: »

I personally like using Kodi as a local Media streamer, it scans my NAS drives where I have my ripped DVDs stored and organises them very well, loads cover art and movie info. What other open source app will do this for me?

Sorry, to be clear, I was saying to use a different platform for streaming IPTV.

But to answer your question, wouldn't Plex or Emby do that?

SteM

swampy353 wrote: »

Plex?

Johnny Dogs wrote: »

Sorry, to be clear, I was saying to use a different platform for streaming IPTV.

But to answer your question, wouldn't Plex or Emby do that?

I thought plex only scanned media stored on NAS drives that ran a plex server?

The high horse brigade

Plex is not open source guys. Either is Emby, only parts of Emby is open

Dravokivich

swampy353 wrote: »

Plex?

Plex requires a server installation and a client installation. Same for emby. Kodi is primiraly a client and just needs access to the directories your media is on.

quad_red

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Yes I bought a 4K Fire TV recently and tried every possible way to sideloading Kodi & IPTV . Have done it many times with Firesticks and the original Fire TV boxes and never encountered any problems.
Some of the apps did load but when I try to open them it just brings me back to the home screen.

Mmmm. They couldn't retrospectively do that with Fire sticks I wonder?

Dravokivich

quad_red wrote: »

Mmmm. They couldn't retrospectively do that with Fire sticks I wonder?

It'll be a shame if they did. But I use emby for mobile devices at home anyway. And the emby client is alright on the firestick.

EdgeCase

Sony's a big owner of content via their media arm and they've a long history of agressive enforcement of DRM on devices. It's nothing new for them.

The high horse brigade

EdgeCase wrote: »

Sony's a big owner of content via their media arm and they've a long history of agressive enforcement of DRM on devices. It's nothing new for them.

Yes they've a long history of being complete assholes, I remember a friend had a major issue when they blocked the option to sideload Ubuntu on a PS3 in new firmware updates. Another dickish move but one with no apparent gain for them.

EdgeCase

I remember they put software on Sony Music CDs to prevent "ripping" to MP3 libraries which opened serious security vulnerabilities on Windows machines and caused Macs to crash and become unable to eject the CD.

It's one or the main reasons Sony lost its shine for me and it's never been restored.

Dravokivich

EdgeCase wrote: »

Sony's a big owner of content via their media arm and they've a long history of agressive enforcement of DRM on devices. It's nothing new for them.

Funny that seeing as the new release of Kodi will support DRM.

EdgeCase

Dravokivich wrote: »

Funny that seeing as the new release of Kodi will support DRM.

Depends how it's done. A lot of systems have DRM capabilities and manage copyright material but don't attempt to implement them by brute force and absolute inflexibility.

Sony has a history of trying to hobble tech for business reason, rather than adapting business models as technology changes.

I’m not in favour of content makers not being paid. If revenue dried up, so would good content. However, I think crude blocking of an app because it might compete is nonsense and that’s been part of a repeating pattern for this company.

skydish79

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Amazon have Kodi and all IPTV platforms blocked on their new 4K Fire TV box.
Impossible to sideload.
Next Firestick software update will extend this to firesticks.

Where did you find out the next firestick software update will extend to all firesticks?

Riesen_Meal

Remember they blocked you watching pirated Sony films on PS3 if you were connected to the net but everything else was pretty much fair game on it...

Removed that limitation on PS4 to be fair to them

advertsfox

skydish79 wrote: »

Where did you find out the next firestick software update will extend to all firesticks?

You won't, it's not true (with no reference to this online at all) - he just couldn't get it installed on his new box but I asked for more details about his methods but he hasn't replied (e.g the new software requires authentication on the device itself first for ADB to work).

Amazon will never publicly say they allow Kodi but they won't ever block it either... it's a massive reason they have sold millions of devices.

McMurphy

advertsfox wrote: »

You won't, it's not true (with no reference to this online at all) - he just couldn't get it installed on his new box but I asked for more details about his methods but he hasn't replied (e.g the new software requires authentication on the device itself first for ADB to work).

Amazon will never publicly say they allow Kodi but they won't ever block it either... it's a massive reason they have sold millions of devices.

This 100%

Dravokivich

EdgeCase wrote: »

Depends how it's done. A lot of systems have DRM capabilities and manage copyright material but don't attempt to implement them by brute force and absolute inflexibility.

Sony has a history of trying to hobble tech for business reason, rather than adapting business models as technology changes.

I’m not in favour of content makers not being paid. If revenue dried up, so would good content. However, I think crude blocking of an app because it might compete is nonsense and that’s been part of a repeating pattern for this company.

My understanding is, that it was mainly intended for managing some sort of controlled authentication for streaming service's. But with Netflix constantly closing out devices that can't access it themselves, I'm not sure if they'll pursue it, and if not, doubt others would too.

BandMember

I have Kodi installed on my Sony android tv and it works perfectly, as do third party sideloaded apps. However, I'm guessing that this might be stopped with a firmware update in the future? Also, the apps probably won't update or be able to be updated?

ED E

EdgeCase wrote: »

I remember they put software on Sony Music CDs to prevent "ripping" to MP3 libraries which opened serious security vulnerabilities on Windows machines and caused Macs to crash and become unable to eject the CD.

It's one or the main reasons Sony lost its shine for me and it's never been restored.

Sony put a virus on millions of music CDs, software is too generous a monicker.

They're a bit like Nintendo. C#nts.

Mr E

ED E wrote: »

They're a bit like Nintendo. C#nts.

??

I understand what you're saying about Sony, but what did Nintendo ever do to you?

dubrov

Sad to see this. I was weighing up getting a Sony Android TV or just going for a good panel and good android box.

Looks like the decision is made

Rock Paper Scissors

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

Amazon have Kodi and all IPTV platforms blocked on their new 4K Fire TV box.
Impossible to sideload.
Next Firestick software update will extend this to firesticks.

Absolutely not true....It takes 5 minutes to sideload Kodi, IPTV apps and all the other movie apps to a Fire TV Box

You say the next Firestick update will extend this to the Fire Stick 4K.

What's your source for this information?

If this is true (which I doubt) I'll just install the playstore onto my Fire Stick 4K, Instructions are on XDA forums

The high horse brigade

dubrov wrote: »

Sad to see this. I was weighing up getting a Sony Android TV or just going for a good panel and good android box.

Looks like the decision is made

All smart TVs are crap, it's a marketing gimmick. You will always get a much better experience from a separate box or dongle

grahamb1

Important MAG device users
*****************************

So Informir which are the makers of MAG Devices have been informed by courts to block all portals which are on the "list" for IPTV streaming. For to copyright reason.

Blocking MAG BOX Portal only.
*******************************

UsedToWait

grahamb1 wrote: »

Important MAG device users
*****************************

So Informir which are the makers of MAG Devices have been informed by courts to block all portals which are on the "list" for IPTV streaming. For to copyright reason.

Blocking MAG BOX Portal only.
*******************************

I assume this will also affect STBemu and similar?

Cockford Ollie

http://www.aftvnews.com/sony-is-actively-blocking-the-installation-of-kodi-on-their-bravia-televisions-running-android-tv/

"Veterans of Amazon’s Fire TV devices will surely remember when Amazon removed Kodi from the official Fire TV app store for the same false reputation of facilitating piracy. Amazon has, however, never prevented Kodi from being sideloaded or run on Fire TV devices, which is what Sony is now doing for their Android TV televisions"

So it hasn't been blocked on any Fire TV. Why do people say things which are just so factually incorrect.

Cockford Ollie

The high horse brigade wrote: »

All smart TVs are crap, it's a marketing gimmick. You will always get a much better experience from a separate box or dongle

Not strictly true. Playing a movie directly on a TV, especially with a Sony, will produce superior image quality compared to an external box which is doing very basic upscaling, if we are talking about playing a 720p or 1080p movie or IPTV with a 4k TV.

The high horse brigade

UsedToWait wrote: »

I assume this will also affect STBemu and similar?

No, STBEmu emulates a mag box, the Mac address is completely fabricated and the software doesn't come from the manufactures of mag boxes

The high horse brigade

Cockford Ollie wrote: »

Not strictly true. Playing a movie directly on a TV, especially with a Sony, will produce superior image quality compared to an external box which is doing very basic upscaling, if we are talking about playing a 720p or 1080p movie or IPTV with a 4k TV.

I'm talking and CPU power. All smart TVs are painfully slow as they contain weak hardware compared to even a €50 fire stick

UsedToWait

The high horse brigade wrote: »

No, STBEmu emulates a mag box, the Mac address is completely fabricated and the software doesn't come from the manufactures of mag boxes

But it connects to a portal, which is what I understood is to be blocked?

grahamb1

Infomir, the manufacturer of the popular MAG range of set-top boxes, says it will block the portals of suspected copyright-infringing IPTV providers following complaints from copyright holders. While MAG devices are used to access plenty of legal services, the news will come as a blow to large numbers of customers who use the very capable devices to access unauthorized platforms.

Over the past couple of years, unauthorized IPTV services have been making their presence known in the ‘pirate’ TV space.

As recently reported, pirate IPTV services are accessed by 5.5% of US and Canadian households. The range of content is phenomenal, with few – if any – official entertainment companies in a position to compete.

Such services are typically accessed via set-top boxes, from ubiquitous Android-based platforms through to dedicated IPTV hardware. None of these devices are designed to be infringing but with the addition of third-party services, they can be transformed into piracy powerhouses.

For those looking for a premium IPTV experience, the MAG box range from Ukraine-based Infomir are the tools of choice. The compact devices are used by thousands of consumers to access legitimate content via a beautiful interface but like any such hardware, these boxes can also be used to access infringing streams.

Infomir has understandably distanced itself from this kind of illicit consumption but until now doesn’t appear to have interfered with the choices of its customers. Moving forward, however, it’s clear that will change.

“Infomir is an international company operating in over 150 countries globally. As a manufacturer of multimedia devices, we are subject to copyright and related rights legislation, which we respect and adhere to,†the company says.

“Upon receiving complaints from a copyright holder, Infomir is obliged to restrict access from its devices to any portal suspected of copyright infringement. The restriction will be maintained until the issue with the copyright holder is resolved.â€

IPTV services (both legal and less so) often supply a URL which enables MAG and similar devices to access their ‘portal’. These are entered into the device’s setup page, with the box typically being authorized at the provider’s end by verifying its MAC address against a pre-registered one.

However, Infomir appears able to prevent certain portal URLs from being accessed via its set-top devices and there are some unconfirmed reports online which indicate this may be happening already.

TorrentFreak spoke with Infomir to find out more about this development. Will the company block portals following straightforward copyright complaints, for example, or is a court order required?

“The complaints need not be necessarily backed up by a court order. The form and contents of a copyright complaint must conform to the DMCA requirements,†Infomir Legal Counsel Vladislav Larionov informs TF.

“Our policy is to comply with the EU and US legislation on copyright and take into account best practices in the area of handling of copyright infringement reports. In particular, we only process the reports of copyright infringement that contain all the elements of notification envisaged by the DMCA.â€

Some IPTV providers not only provide access to ‘pirate’ streams but also other content that has the potential to be non-infringing, depending on a users’ circumstances. For instance, there could be questions raised over legality when the holder of a UK TV license only accesses BBC One and similar channels via an IPTV service.

Speaking in more general terms, TF asked Infomir if over-blocking is a concern. The company told us that they require detailed complaints from rightsholders to block portals and they give services that are blocked the right to file a counter-complaint.

“We respect the rights of legitimate service providers, and we are concerned that such service providers might be reported by mistake or due to misidentification. That is why we request that copyright infringement reports submitted to us comply with the DMCA and contain a statement under penalty of perjury that the report is true and accurate,†Larionov explains.

“We also review each copyright infringement report to prevent false or abusive ones. Finally, we provide every service provider with a possibility to oppose a copyright infringement report. In case there is a dispute between a copyright holder and a service provider, we will request a court order to maintain access restriction to a portal.â€

While copyright holders who file for blocking injunctions in court can be identified fairly easily, discovering who has filed a complaint with Infomir is less straightforward. The company told TF that it cannot provide information on who has requested a block other than to say it is mostly “big copyright holders, anti-piracy associations, and companies that provide copyright management and protection services.â€

Finally, it’s not entirely clear how MAG devices are prevented from accessing portal URLs and Infomir informs TF that it won’t provide that information as it might “downgrade†its “access restriction systemâ€. There is already some speculation on specialist forums that firmware updates may be responsible but no clear confirmation is currently available

dubrov

The high horse brigade wrote:

All smart TVs are crap, it's a marketing gimmick. You will always get a much better experience from a separate box or dongle

The high horse brigade wrote:

I'm talking and CPU power. All smart TVs are painfully slow as they contain weak hardware compared to even a €50 fire stick

That depends on the tv you buy. I would definitely pay a premium to have all functions in a single device.

A T.V. with something like the nvidia shield built in would be very attractive

The high horse brigade

That just means you won't be able to use official mag boxes for illegal streams

Stoner

The high horse brigade wrote:

All smart TVs are crap, it's a marketing gimmick. You will always get a much better experience from a separate box or dongle

Not really true. Certainly not as relevant a comment as it was three years ago.

I'm on my second Sony Android TV.

I've all the apps mention here.

Its all on the one remote control, the Sony remote controls my amp too.

I don't game on it, I've tried it, but im not an Android gamer. I've a PS4 for gaming. PS4 controller links up very well to it too.

The only issue with Sony Android TVs is the rubbish EPG

But Netflix, IPTV, Prime, Kodi, Plex

Zero issues, getting better too, no need for a side loading menu apps now either.

Maybe understanding why each device is best rocks some people's boat, and that knowledge beats the single appliance solution,

But one device for rocks for me

One remote
Built in Chromecast
Home assistant on the TV, mic on the remote
All the apps I need
Controls the AMP

Hopefully continuing Kodi via sideloading works

I think the TV business was separated from the media side a few years ago, freed them up considerably.

The high horse brigade

dubrov wrote: »

That depends on the tv you buy. I would definitely pay a premium to have all functions in a single device.

A T.V. with something like the nvidia shield built in would be very attractive

I hope you've very deep pockets :-*

http://www.aftvnews.com/nvidias-first-65-inch-gaming-tv-with-a-built-in-shield-tv-will-be-released-next-month-for-4999/?fbclid=IwAR2r1PubBUjNMBHRD35fh2J1cUQIwn1BFLXZe0E2jQcsLi5ZnLOGhLgwErQ

dubrov

The high horse brigade wrote:

I hope you've very deep pockets :-*

I have now found my true meaning in life