[swiftcoder]

This depends heavily on how customised the linux is. Back in the day Amazon had to fork Android to add kernel-level support for DRM, otherwise the studios weren't going to permit streaming video on Fire tablets. One could imagine Valve adding an optional kernel DRM module to solve the same problem.

[walletdrainer]

You still lose because the dev team has to split their attention.

And anyway I (and many other people!) have valid keys for basically all widevine streams extracted from supposedly secure android devices. That DRM approach ended up failing miserably and torrent sites are full of WEB-DLs.

[ethmarks]

But you can still stream video on normal Android devices, no? My Motorola phone supports Disney+. Why did studios object to streaming on Fire tablets unless it had kernel DRM but they're fine with streaming on easily-rootable phones?

[swiftcoder]

Not at that time, no - this was several years before Google decided to ship Widevine in Android

[walletdrainer]

FWIW rooting the phone is not enough to get you the widevine keys.

Also some services will just downgrade you to a lower quality stream if your device doesn’t have the appropriate keys.