Nvidia Shield Just Updated Android TV - and Now Forcing Ads on The Home Screen!

My Shield TV has auto-updated to the latest version of Android Home by and it looks like the Google W**kers have decided it isn't bad enough forcing you to watch 2 ads every 2 minutes on Youtube…there are ads now on the Home screen. This is apalling - because it doesn't let you change to a clean interface on the home screen - on a device I've paid good money for and would never have bought if this was the deal. I have already solemnly sworn not to buy anything advertised on youtube:).

Anyways for anyone interested…it is possible to get rid of this by Uninstalling Android TV Home updates - though I never allowed auto updates in the first instance. But it looks like the evil money grubbers will close that loophole in time.

Comments

  • +4

    Get a Pi-hole setup and never worry about ads again.

    https://pi-hole.net/

    • That's a great idea….will now need to go back to the Pi deal that I saw here a week or so ago.

  • shrug

    Shield Pro is an absolute weapon of a media player with no equal. Changing to Android TV (which is on my chromecast on the other TV) is very minor

    • +1

      Android TV

      You mean google TV

    • Except it doesn't remember anything you've watched, doesn't suggest anything based on what you watch (comes up with crap on open IMO)………it's extremely sad, I've gone back to the old and unsupported SmartTube . even if it can't attain a resolution above 1080/1440. Love the idea of ditching those super-annoying ads but the new version sadly is crap IMO

  • +1

    There's an Android YouTube app called "Vanced".

    I don't know if it's on Android TV, but on normal Android it functions as the YouTube app and eats ads like a son-of-a-gun; and if you go into Settings and enable "Sponsor Block" it'll skip those sponsored ad reads like an old-school Tivo. The ad-in runs on Chrome, too.

    Full disclosure - I don't trust anybody, so I use a burner email/YouTube account for both of those.

    Also, write to your local MP and Fair Trading Dept. We need legislation to stop this kind of nonsense happening; and that only happens if you let them know.

  • +6

    No one here is actually getting what the OP means. There aren't literal ads, they're advertising streaming content right on the home screen, even for apps that you don't have installed. It it past of the new OS, and not something within an app. PiHole will not help here, as these are technically just banners advertising content.

    To be honest, they're not that bad - but the easiest way to get them removed is to never click on them. When they see there's no conversions from this experiment, they will pull the system altogether.

    • +3

      no its just advertising creep, getting people used to smaller adds, then putting in bigger ones later on.

  • +1

    I just uninstalled all updates of the Home app and rolled back to the original version, and eveything seems to work fine like it used to. I don't know what functionalility I've lost by going back to an old version but I too hated the new version.

  • You can use custom launchers to get rid of it. That’s what I use on my fire stick and it just has a homepage with the apps i want to use and none of the stupid prime suggestions.

  • I heard this was coming :( I hear some people managed to disable ads on their ad-feeding TVs by blocking certain urls via their router e.g. samsung.net/ads, so maybe there will be a workaround for Shield too soon.

  • Not really sure why this is a problem for anyone - how long are you sitting there looking at the home screen? I actually enjoy it because it shows me new movies and tv shows that I might not have known about, and if you take time to like things/add to your watch list etc it will get better and more relevant suggestions.

  • Just install a custom launcher. It takes 2 minutes, here's a guide:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/ShieldAndroidTV/comments/o6o5dz/new…

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