#thisishowwedoit – android TV

#2 in a series of “this is how we do” posts.

Because I’ve already posted the background story, I won’t bother repeating the tale. Suffice to say, the very useful Jailbreak iOS App Movie Box has been ported to Android. / movie lovers rejoice

Yup, & not at all unexpected, Movie Box has a clone (albeit one with a particularly ugly icon). Show Time is a direct copy of the iOS app, all features intact.

Also inherited, is the at the very least questionable legality of such an app, so please, do not set yourself for disappointment by rushing to Google Play Store. Where will you find it? Right here. Installing such an app, while not exactly fraught with danger, is not as straightforward as a Play Store purchase. If you’re having problems installing/setting up, I suggest you talk to Megabyte he’ll sort it out for you.

Popcorn Time
Pctime
is an excellent PC version of the mobile apps I’m talking about here which has grown to include an excellent Android client. Recommended.

Now here’s some real gold for ya – alongside the Show Time/Popcorn Time install, I highly recommend an ad-blocking mechanism. One that won’t just banish bandwith-hogging ads from the database of movie torrents, but from your device completely. How? Well, I use an extensive hosts file and find it a very effective solution. To install a modified hosts file, your device needs to be rooted. Again, talk to me. If you can’t justify learning the procedure for what might be a once-only operation, I can do it for you. Quickly & cost-effectively too. Check my Downloads,  grab the Hosts file from there.

To get the full big-screen show going on, you’ll need an Android-based media server – C-Castwhich will pull the video stream from your tablet, phablet or phone & display it in hi-def glory. Probably the easiest (& cheapest) option is a Chromecast USB device that’ll plug directly into your TV.

From there, you fire up Show Time/Popcorn Time on your device, select your movie/tv program/music video, mirror it to the big screen through Chromecast then kick back and enjoy video entertainment as it should be! Where you want it, when you want it, how you want it, and, the best bit – free.

Whichever of the two dominant mobile OS you prefer, TV the way you want it is now yours for the asking.

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