What is least terrible SmartTV OS for privacy? - eviltoast

My parents are getting a new tv, and are asking for recommendation. I think all I can influence is the brand/model (not realistic to propose rpi and more complex systems). I instinctively avoid google/android and lean towards anything else open source, so probably LG WebOS… But I had bad luck searching for more detailed comparisons. Maybe you have experience or opinions?

  • kitnaht@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    LG WebOS doesn’t have good support for things like Jellyfin. If you want to ever build a library of media and let them have easy access to it, then WebOS is gonna suck, so will Samsung’s Tizen. But all the Android TVs have access.

    Don’t know if you’re interested in that kind of thing, but figured I’d share it in case it was a factor.

    The only other alternative is a commercial display.

    • FeelzGoodMan420
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      This is untrue. You can use Jellyfin or Kodi natively on LG WebOS on the TV and stream whatever you want locally. You have to grab it from the homebrew channel or sideload it. It’s a little bit of a process though. Nothing crazy. But it works!

      Edit: you can also get YouTube without ads off Homebrew.

      • kitnaht@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 months ago

        Yeah, sideloading it requires getting a development code from the company, jailbreaking your machine, then installing a full development environment…

        Not what I’d call user friendly.

        Meanwhile, on something like the FireTV stick, if someone gives me the URL to an APK, I can install it.

        • FeelzGoodMan420
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          Rooting (assume you meant this by jailbreaking) is not required for this process. Only some apps require root. Kodi, Jellyfin, and the youtube adfree apps don’t require root.

            • FeelzGoodMan420
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              Look, my answer was simply that web-OS supports Jellyfin and local streaming. Whether you think it’s hard to set up or not is your opinion. I don’t think Grandma is a typical use case scenario for this.