# Steam 4K: Needs a few features updated/added



## M W (Jun 26, 2020)

Installed the Stram 4K yesterday and it seems to be working with no major issues. There are few annoying things that hopefully can be addressed soon.

1. Ability to manually add sound devices that aren’t automatically recognized. The work around posted on the forums here did not work me me.

2. The TiVo guide needs the ability to hide/show only channels you are interested in. The Sling guide allows it but not the integrated guide

3. Ability to add support for USB-C Ethernet adapters.

But overall the device works quite well with good picture quality. The ability to use Android TV apps is a great feature.

UPDATE: I will be returning the Stream 4K. If you don’t use Sling the Stream app is quite useless. Also have buffering issues with a lot of the android tv apps. I think this device is limited by the processor. I switched to a different streaming device and the same android apps work flawlessly. The modified Android TV OS is frustrating as well.


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

Check my setup

Very much disagree. Very powerful, inexpensive device. I use none of the things you suggested in your update.


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## Alex_7 (Jun 24, 2020)

usamac said:


> Check my setup
> 
> Very much disagree. Very powerful, inexpensive device. I use none of the things you suggested in your update.


That looks very nice, what launcher are you using?


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

Alex_7 said:


> That looks very nice, what launcher are you using?


Hey thanks! It's the Tivo version of Wolf Launcher


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## jaselzer (Sep 10, 2018)

usamac said:


> Hey thanks! It's the Tivo version of Wolf Launcher


Doesn't it bother you having the "e" on the Chrome app on a second line? It would keep me awake at night just thinking about it

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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

jaselzer said:


> Doesn't it bother you having the "e" on the Chrome app on a second line? It would keep me awake at night just thinking about it


Nope, I sleep like a babe each night knowing everything I use is clean and sleek. Might actually bug me if I ever used it, but I think maybe twice since installing it I've brought it up. Probably, should just uninstall it.. Firefox is my go-to browser, pretty much everywhere. Trackers are misgated to a max, and addons like Ublock Origin still work.. just need a mouse cursor


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## Alex_7 (Jun 24, 2020)

usamac said:


> Hey thanks! It's the Tivo version of Wolf Launcher


Steps or video tutorial on how to set it up?


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

Nice. I use Tivimate too.


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

Alex_7 said:


> Steps or video tutorial on how to set it up?


Use Wolf Launcher on Nvidia Shield / FireTV Cube (1-Click) | TechDoctorUK

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## rczrider (May 16, 2020)

M W said:


> I think this device is limited by the processor. I switched to a different streaming device and the same android apps work flawlessly. The modified Android TV OS is frustrating as well.


It's definitely not the processor and despite the fact that folks like to complain about dongles having only 2GB of RAM, both are plenty for 99% of the people who use streaming dongles. The Mi Stick 4K will have the same SoC (Amlogic S905Y2) and Google Sabrina (aka Chromecast Ultra 2) is expected to have the Ethernet-capable variant (S905X2). There are definitely faster devices (such as the Nvidia Shield), but those aren't really dongles/sticks.

Now, your observation about Android TV is valid. It's running fairly stock, but for whatever reason, they made the decision to take away user options that, in my opinion, have really crippled the device.


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

rczrider said:


> It's definitely not the processor and despite the fact that folks like to complain about dongles having only 2GB of RAM, both are plenty for 99% of the people who use streaming dongles. The Mi Stick 4K will have the same SoC (Amlogic S905Y2) and Google Sabrina (aka Chromecast Ultra 2) is expected to have the Ethernet-capable variant (S905X2). There are definitely faster devices (such as the Nvidia Shield), but those aren't really dongles/sticks.
> 
> Now, your observation about Android TV is valid. It's running fairly stock, but for whatever reason, they made the decision to take away user options that, in my opinion, have really crippled the device.


Can you elaborate what options you're both referring to? I've moved to a sideloaded launcher and disabled and/or uninstalled a ton of the stock ts4k bloatware.. are you referring to in comparison to android os or androidtv os on the shield for example?

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## rczrider (May 16, 2020)

usamac said:


> Can you elaborate what options you're both referring to? I've moved to a sideloaded launcher and disabled and/or uninstalled a ton of the stock ts4k bloatware.. are you referring to in comparison to android os or androidtv os on the shield for example?


It's not stuff you can remove; rather, they've actively hidden settings inherent to Android. Some you can get to (see the sticky) and some you can't. For example, folks are having a ton of issues with SDR/HDR/DV and it boils down to TiVo making decisions for the user. It's just stuff like that. The OS is weirdly locked down to the point that they _actively_ made it worse.

The best thing that could happen to this device is custom firmware / ROM that uses stock Android TV. There is no value that TiVo brings to this device.


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

rczrider said:


> It's not stuff you can remove; rather, they've actively hidden settings inherent to Android. Some you can get to (see the sticky) and some you can't. For example, folks are having a ton of issues with SDR/HDR/DV and it boils down to TiVo making decisions for the user. It's just stuff like that. The OS is weirdly locked down to the point that they _actively_ made it worse.
> 
> The best thing that could happen to this device is custom firmware / ROM that uses stock Android TV. There is no value that TiVo brings to this device.


Ok, I wanted to make sure you both meant the androidtv os specifically.. anyhow, i know you were working to tackle a custom firmware for it.. any luck or progress? Need a tester?

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## rczrider (May 16, 2020)

usamac said:


> anyhow, i know you were working to tackle a custom firmware for it.. any luck or progress?


I wasn't...that was DIMIRON and ptcfast2 (though not together, on separate paths) in this thread.


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## usamac (Jun 4, 2020)

rczrider said:


> I wasn't, that was DIMIRON and ptcfast2 (though not together, on separate paths).


Yup, my bad.. ptcfast2 was who I was thinking of.. anyhow, thanks

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