[phatskat]

I can’t stand TV keyboard input, it’s wildly frustrating. I’d be happy even with “abc” style, T9 would be even better ofc.

I can kind of understand how we got here - a fractured system of various vendors, TV makers, and customized android implementations led us to apps having their own keyboards, even if the TV offers a native on-screen keyboard, and for some reason most of those are laid out in a keypad style with A in the top-left which goes against everything the majority of users have known, even back to typewriters.

I know my comment got longwinded, it’s just…things could have and should have gotten better by now, but I’ll be arsed if I’m gonna pull out my phone to type the four letters needed to scroll to the movie I’m looking for.

[jimmaswell]

Have you tried plugging a usb keyboard into your TV? It's always worked for me. My lifelong habit of connecting keyboards/mice to random devices to see what happens has been overall fruitful - hell, even the Wii supported keyboards iirc. Used my Android to test an Apple Magic Mouse at a yardsale recently too.

[phatskat]

Nice! I’ll be honest, it’s not worth it. I’m just at the point of “if I can’t do it more easily with the remote, I’ll settle with doing it frustratingly with the remote”. I could probably get my Bluetooth keyboard paired up to the tv, but how often am I going to use it compared to how often it’s sitting in the living room unused?

It’s really more that I’m frustrated with the poor UX choices that will never go away, or at least don’t appear to be going anywhere.

[dspillett]

> I’m just at the point of “if I can’t do it more easily with the remote, I’ll settle with doing it frustratingly with the remote”.

This is one of the reasons that, while I actually pay for Netflix & Prime, I still torrent most of what I watch and play it of my little media array via an rPi plugged into the TV. Finding things is easier, there are a couple of extra steps getting the content if I don't already have it locally, then interacting with it is easier.

From GP comment:

> Have you tried plugging a usb keyboard into your TV?

On the rPi, my remote is a mini USB keyboard, though with wireless comms between it and the USB dongle.

The TV I have now could probably have a keyboard plugged in directly too, but I've had this setup since before I had a TV that claimed to be smart.

[igigxicicu]

ps2 even supported usb keyboards and mice.

silent scope with a mouse is cheesy but fun