[zimmerfrei]

> Nvidia released the first Shield Android TV in 2015

> it took about 18 months to [create] an entirely new security stack [...] Android updates aren’t actually that much work compared to DRM security, and some of its partners weren’t that keen on re-certifying older products.

> In February 2025, Nvidia released Shield Patch 9.2 [...] That was the Tegra X1 [security] bug finally being laid to rest on the 2015 and 2017 Shield boxes.

This is a real engineering marvel. Everybody else would have just given up entirely long time ago. DRM bugs are in most case practically unrecoverable for products that shipped already (and physically in the hands of the adversary). The incentive to tell to consumers "Ditch that product you bought from us 2 years ago, and buy the more recent hardware revision or successor" is extremely strong.

This really feels like a platform that is maintained with pride and love by the nvidia engineering teams (regardless of one's opinion about DRM per se).

[altano]

They added auto-playing, full screen video ads to the home screen. I threw mine in the garbage.

Pride and love, lol…

[zinekeller]

> They added auto-playing, full screen video ads to the home screen.

I'm pretty sure this is actually Google's fault (even Sony televisions suffer from this bullcrap). Unlike phone Android, Google TV (yes, that's the official name now) enforces certain "standards", one of them is this bullcrap.

[embedding-shape]

> I'm pretty sure this is actually Google's fault

Who cares who delivered the actual bytes or who initiated the change, the matter of fact is that people buy a device from one company, then the company is responsible for the experience they deliver while it's supported. Since they chose Android, they're responsible for the experience you get when using the stuff you buy from them.

I'd never complain to the maker of a compressor when it dies in a fridge, I'll complain to the one I bought the fridge from. Not sure why we're so adamant on thinking differently regarding computers. NVIDIA might blame Google internally, but feels like consumers are right to be pissed off about NVIDIA changing (or being OK with someone else changing) their experience in a product they bought from NVIDIA.

[fragmede]

Because you're on a forum called Hacker News and we pride ourselves on being smart enough to understand the details of systems, and using that to our advantage. Nvidia as a corporation isn't some nobody compared to Google, but do you really think their engineering team has the clout to get Google's advertising arm to bend to their will?

[parentheses]

What the commenter is saying pertains to the _decision_ to use Android. That is why this is happening. That is NVidia.

[sheepscreek]

Such decisions cannot be reversed on a whim.

[vee-kay]

I use an old Amazon FireTV Stick on an old LG LED TV (semi-smart), and neither of them bug me with such fullscreen ads, unless I opt to watch MX content on Amazon Prime (MX is basically third-party ads-funded free OTT content; Amazon Prime requires subscription, and even its standard subscription has occasional ads for Prime content, though Amazon Prime also has a premium pricing tier for ads-free content).

I don't face such third-paety ads nonsense on Netflix and Disney+ (yet), at least on this old FireTV and old LG TV.

Unskippable irrelevant annoying ads and privacg concerns are the main reasons I still steer clear of "smart" TVs.

[umanwizard]

My Sony TV doesn't do this, thankfully

[sheepscreek]

My Samsung Frame TV shows ads in the app bar and you cannot disable/remove them. They can’t even use the Google excuse because the TV runs Samsung’s OWN TizenOS.

They’re lucky it’s a good (beautiful) TV..

[expedition32]

This doesn't really bother me. I just use my TV to watch Netflix.

Ofcourse Samsung has "sponsored" apps everything does.

[yonisto]

You could just have download a different home screen... sad.

[xattt]

I did end up switching to Flauncher for a while before getting an Apple TV.

[paulryanrogers]

Does Apple TV have ads for Apple shows in its UI?

[mkozlows]

No. The Apple TV _service_ does, and you can configure that service to be some kind of weird god service if you want. But you can also treat that service like any other normal service, one that only comes up if you launch it. In that case, the home screen is just a straight icon grid with no kerfuffle.

[brookst]

Yes, one or two, and not annoying (not trying to grab your attention). No ads for toothpaste or cars.

Apple TV is not the solution for purists who cannot handle anything that can be construed as an ad. It’s a great solution for those who just want to browse and watch content without distracting ads everywhere.

[sheepscreek]

Amazon started this trend among major streaming services - showing self promotion ads.

Apple took notes and decided to outdo them. The F1 movie ads famously popped up in inappropriate places.

[sfRattan]

The Apps in the home row on Apple TV will have fullscreen promotions when the home row is along the bottom of the screen. If you set your home row apps with care, the fullscreen previews will not be ads (i.e. Photos will do a slideshow of your photos, Jellyfin just pulls random images from its/your own movie library metadata, etc.).

[aidenn0]

You can make them still images by going into the accessibility settings

[Agingcoder]

Full screen video ads on the home screen ? I don’t see this on mine.

[ycombinatrix]

Yep. I had to switch to an alternative launcher to get rid of them.

[guilamu]

This is Google. Just change the default launcher and you're good.

[paulryanrogers]

Nova Launcher just added advertisements, unless you buy Pro. Ads come for everyone.

[guilamu]

Try https://github.com/spocky/miproja1, it's awesome and will never get any ads.

[JoshTriplett]

Can confirm, it works very well. You can set it as the default launcher, and never have an issue.

[SECProto]

That's because Nova launcher sold to new owners (whose presumed only goal is to serve ads)

[Fnoord]

The only customers who care about DRM are the suppliers; not the users. Force the user to not be able to play DRM content, and they'll end up pirating.

Furthermore, I never demanded a new Android TV version. All I wanted was security fixes, not Google's new shitty launcher. I'd never have bought the product if it contained the current launcher.

[Waterluvian]

This is the story I’m really interested in. How have they prevented MBAs from ruining this product?

[rvnx]

Infinite money.

Like Apple, SpaceX or Tesla.

(though I suspect that Apple hired some MBAs to work on Liquid Ass)

[int0x29]

They did this with the switch 1 too they were just less well remembered because that subsequently got re-hacked. They lost the ARM trust zone keys and rebuilt the entire DRM stack on the HDCP keys which had been provisioned but they were not using.

[functionmouse]

Nvidia doesn't make money on hardware, they make money on ecosystems.