halvgris Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 i have gone from using mid range laptop to a 40 usd tanix tx3 for a week now. why i felt ready to try android again pretty much left android after android 5 when it took samsung a whole year to reach my continent meaning asia and usa had it a year prior to europeans. this was also what was called a flagship phone. there my hope for android died and ios started to open the doors that was previously locked playing own media files. my primary use is watch/download/stream tv series, movies and youtube. the only minor problem so far is navigating with windows keyboard and delayed sound via bluetooth. sofar these are minor problems because the benefit has been lots of saved time in booting os. every bootup is the same not 1-15 minutes at random times with windows, excluding forced upgrades. vlc on android is a treat, it combines scene tv rips in one group listed 1,2,3 etc. easier to navigate vlc via keyboard to get passed intro, commercials etc. i used to be to run windows from 3.x-7 entirely on keyboard windows 8 and higher made it close to impossible. android has it's own rules which makes it harder especially for new users like me. enter key stopped working and even if android has right make and language it won't work, i am really surprised because i have watched more than 40 different youtube reviews on different boxes none of them has mentioned this. if you just want to run media from hdd usb memory devices you only need the remote which consist of navigation left right up down ok back audio lower higher on/off home options mute. not a problem. my problem is finding my ways throgh keyboard navigation. google it! yes i have unfortantly the usual answer is to a solution on android devices from years ago or someone trying to code on android. none of them helps me out. i found a common android cheat sheet but ut would not work with my windows keyboard and my relevant guesses three different ones shut the box down. the least wanted feature on a 6 watt device in my opinion. this is not a post for or against android i just want to get a better grip on keyboard commands and how to master usefull apps with it. help needed for sure. other apps that i have no problem on either windows or linux like kodi doesn't seem to help at all on android. mind you it is a modified version of kodi but i can't seem to be able to add files to it. not a huge problem today since i mostly use it with fresh disposable media and vlc on android is already tweaked far beyond my expectations and kicks windows version for sure. help wanted. partly resolved. there is an app called menu buttons 5.3 which shows at the right a panel of usefull standard options. basically it has the remote functions back home but you can pick ANY function i naturally added cut paste and enter key. still not optimal as far as speed goes with enter, which works in the alex ui menu gui for some reason. i am still new to this so if you have a better solution or app than menu buttons 5.3 let me know. removed the awful break with normal enter. UPDATE and other recommendations after 1 month of using android box exclusive (not entirely true) chrome has failed a couple of times when there is heavy html5 flash like content. on the other hand that happens on windows too but definately take longer time to resolve on pc. might even need a hardware power off and to restart. on android after a week you know when this happens and press home or switch app and it closes rather rapidly. restart chrome and it continues from where you left off. scores windows 0 - android box 1 what about total failures. shut downs or restarts? well had 1 or 2 on the android box. can t really remember what i was doing. still this happen with windows too. but requires restarts and windows guessing if it works fine. android loads as there was no problem at all. scores windows 0 - android box 1 dlna streaming. to be honest only tried two different software on windows and it made my desktop pc pretty much unusable. android lets me stream sd content to an apple device while surfing the dark web. this is my best feature yet i just activate dlna app and i can stream it with any other unit. struggled with a 5gb 1080p file but that is alright. scores windows 0 - android box 1 as mentioned before with a debrid downloading service you may stream movies and tv series. only tried up to 1080p because that s what i got. no problem. the vlc app is by far better than the windows app for some reason. this saves time. it also remembers where you left, stopped watching a clip. scores windows 0 - android box 1 on windows i used a google spreadsheet to store my daily tasks. well the android apps were appalling to say the least. not usable. so i tried microsoft excel which is free. not only does that app load instantly thanks to the excel functions i use one sheet for shopping, daily tasks, discover and remember tasks. this point goes to windows even if i found a viable workaround. scores windows 1 - android box 0 still there is my main problem which i named above, the darn incapable windows keyboard which only supports a-z 0-9 any other special character but NOT the essential enter key. there is button mappers and keyboard mappers that i have tried but one stops the other one from working so as far as i know the best solution for me at the time is button mapper who lets me get a virtual enter key. there is a built in bottom menu but it lacks the enter key. scores windows 3 - android box 0 on windows i used IDM to download a set of files this is not possible on android so i have to do one at the time but again since i use a debrid service it is real easy and i can still stream browser youtube. scores windows 1 - android box 0 surprisingly the youtube official and unofficial android app is not taking any scores at all. it s really hard to get details or comment without skipping to another clip or worse go back to see the clip you already watched. seems like they just ported the limited youtube app from windows. it s not as bad as spotify but surely a runner up. scores windows 1 - android box 0 chrome plugins doesn t work at all on android. i have used chrome and brave on android and recently opera. it seems like opera is the faster one. opera has a desktop mode feature so you don t get a super small window with details when shopping etc. in chrome you need to either stay in the same tab to have this feature or enable it all the time. some sites like g__kbuying will more or less force you to see the non desktop version which means you see a title and price but no details. scores windows 1 - android box 0 will i go back to windows? not really, unless apps that i use disappear. i would however wait and spend up to 80-90 usd on a more powerful box with at least 3 usb ports. as a leecher i want to save my favorites on local hdd for future use. i would also go with a newer android version rk3566 which at the time is the best priced units has android 11.0. there is so much that happens in between 9-10-11. some say going for a certified google box will limit the numbers of apps in the google app store. if that s true i will never go with a certified box. for anyone on 4g/5g etc i would set up a pi-hole server because without plugins there is no other option available. well there is an app called blocksite but it costs more or less like the hardware for a rasberry pi which will run pi-hole. i myself have an old nuc that will serve as a pi-hole server in the future. i would however say that popups aren t that bad as on windows as they place themselves in a new window and you can press X to close it without being annoyed. anywhere you read ppl will ask if netflix work on android boxes in 720p or better, well even if i like nf originals it s not an option for me. they offers season 2-4 on some shows or even worse season 1-3 but not the final 4. apart from that they use geoblocking like amazon prime so you pay the same as a us customer but get less content. there is no reason to subscribe for a streaming service more than one month at the time so that you can stream all seasons. i do however think that disney plus has a huge advantage over all other services, they have not only the movies that i grew up with they have star wars, marvel etc. if you have kids this is a keeper. note i don t work for disney but i feel you get less cheated on subscribing to them. will update this next month to see what has changed. stay safe, have a nice day! 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debebee Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Modern OS' like WINDOWS ANDROID MAC OS LINUX are graphic user interfaces. you need at least a mouse and keyboard. You can use a use a WIRELESS MOUSE AND KEYBOARD COMBO WITH A RF USB TYPE A DONGLE.. Example https://www.amazon.com/Xiaomi-Keyboard/s?k=Xiaomi+Keyboard Alternatively look at options on the GOOGLE PLAY STORE OR APPLE APP STORE for REMOTE CONTROL Using Your Phone.. Al lot of them like ZANK remote are fremium or free at a certain level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debebee Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 Some Apps that may interest you: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=remote control&c=apps&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cetusplay.remoteservice&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=zank.remote&hl=en&gl=US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debebee Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 If you like a hardware based solution, the best controller for any ANDROID BOX / ANDROID TV BOX / ANDROID TV is an AIR MOUSE WITH DULL QWERTY KEYBOARD Just search for AIRMOUSE on google example https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Wireless-Keyboard-Connection-Projector/dp/B07WRZNW6X/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=air+mouse+keyboard&qid=1619044304&sr=8-3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debebee Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=adarshurs.android.vlcmobileremote Edited: this a remote for pc vlc not android vlc.. sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvgris Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/21/2021 at 1:34 PM, debebee said: Modern OS' like WINDOWS ANDROID MAC OS LINUX are graphic user interfaces. you need at least a mouse and keyboard. You can use a use a WIRELESS MOUSE AND KEYBOARD COMBO WITH A RF USB TYPE A DONGLE.. Example https://www.amazon.com/Xiaomi-Keyboard/s?k=Xiaomi+Keyboard Alternatively look at options on the GOOGLE PLAY STORE OR APPLE APP STORE for REMOTE CONTROL Using Your Phone.. Al lot of them like ZANK remote are fremium or free at a certain level the actual windows keyboard touch isn t the problem, a-z 0-9 are set ctrl x v c fine but enter only work in the main menu i tried to manually find the use of special key and another key after shutting it down 3 times. i know there is lots of apps for ios etc but i need to use one that i atleast know the keys from muscle memory. will look into reffered app and thank you for taking the time to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvgris Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/22/2021 at 1:21 AM, debebee said: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=adarshurs.android.vlcmobileremote Edited: this a remote for pc vlc not android vlc.. sorry noticed that it was win/mac/lnx before reading your post. mind you i put it on my wish list if i ever go back to windows or linux. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvgris Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/22/2021 at 12:21 AM, debebee said: Some Apps that may interest you: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=remote control&c=apps&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cetusplay.remoteservice&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=zank.remote&hl=en&gl=US it seems like zank has the return key in one of the pictures so i can fix problems with just setting up a speare android phone. for other non android box users using a standard remote or keyboard will navigate and play most things. it s just when it comes to writing stuff. i am baffeled that no one has just made an app that turns a windows keyboard in to android or at the least support basic functions. media keys work fine audio on/off low to high etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debebee Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 android tv remote will use your phones keyboard as a full input device.. but your box is an android os and not the androidtv os, the foemer being the same one used by mobile phones.. regarding your enter button working on maon menu it might be your specific keyboard, try borrowing a usb keyboard and try that also look for an app called button mapper on. play store that can remap your enter key to another key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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