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Apple TV Go: iPad Pro Modded Into Portable tvOS Device

So daft, I mean with all the stuff stuck to the back to make it all work, it’s almost like having a CRT monitor.
 
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Why not? If nobody tinkered with anything hot rods wouldn’t exist. IMG_3507.jpeg
 
Mcsnee said:
The linked article explains that he specifically wanted to be able to portably test tvOS functionality for development purposes, which makes a lot more sense than going through this rigamarole to watch TV (as iPadOS already allows via app).
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This raises more questions than it answers. It’s not like the ATV is exactly desk bound. The effort seems to huge for what would be, at best an occasioning use scenario.
 
Why? - because I would like the ability to mirror my Apple TV to my iPad. Currently I have to turn on the TV to select music and other non-video apps for the ATV. Our TV is rarely on during daytime when I like to play music. The ability to view the Apple TV display on an iPad would be useful.
I am hoping that one day Apple will enhance the Remote app on the iPad to mirror the Apple TV.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Is there any? Maybe the guy just wants the ApoleTV interface? Maybe he wants a “little TV” while “on the go” (a novel way to get “front row” and remote control back onto a mobile screen), maybe he likes proof of concept… or the narrow celebrity in doing something different?

I recall the story about the guy who got USB-C working on iPhone long before Apple. That too was met within “but why?” and “what’s the point” and passionate loyalty to Lightning, and “just wait until Apple lawyers…” go after someone doing whatever they want with something Apple no longer owns as soon as the sale is complete.

It’s his stuff, not ours or Apples. More power to him!
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Like I said in a previous post, people are free to waste their time and money any they want within the law. My question was simply what does he gain for his efforts to make the bulky, kludged together device worth the trouble. Maybe it is the remote control, although I’m sure there are other options to add a remote to the iPad. Maybe he just prefers the interface, although it seems like the iPad’s interface seems much more useful and powerful as it adds a touch interface and millions more apps. The “but why?” is a legitimate question even if the answer is “because he can”. Criticizing someone for asking the question is to be willfully obtuse. In my case at least, I’m just trying to learn something. Maybe that something is: “this guy is a nutjob” or “he was bored and wanted to see if it was possible”. Or maybe it’s: “the Apple TV can do x and y” or “the iPad can’t do x and y”. That’s kind of what the comment section is for.
 
roland.g said:
I refuse to watch TV of any kind on an iPad or iPhone with the exception of streaming sports so that I can play the audio through a speaker and have something to glance at for replays in the garage. If I want to watch movies or shows I have big screens for that.
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I get what you’re saying. As for me, I use the iPad for watching tv in bed because in practice, it’s a much bigger screen than my 55” tv I have on the wall of the bedroom. I have the iPad on a swing arm by the bed and when I put both together in my visual field, the iPad is much bigger and a lot more useful. And with my vision getting worse with age, it’s better to have the screen closer for reading text. And it serves more functions than just watching tv, such as reading, sending texts, controlling smart devices around the home, etc. but mostly I started using it more than the big screen tv in the bedroom because it was easier for me to see.
 
Treq said:
Like I said in a previous post, people are free to waste their time and money any they want within the law. My question was simply what does he gain for his efforts to make the bulky, kludged together device worth the trouble. Maybe it is the remote control, although I’m sure there are other options to add a remote to the iPad. Maybe he just prefers the interface, although it seems like the iPad’s interface seems much more useful and powerful as it adds a touch interface and millions more apps. The “but why?” is a legitimate question even if the answer is “because he can”. Criticizing someone for asking the question is to be willfully obtuse. In my case at least, I’m just trying to learn something. Maybe that something is: “this guy is a nutjob” or “he was bored and wanted to see if it was possible”. Or maybe it’s: “the Apple TV can do x and y” or “the iPad can’t do x and y”. That’s kind of what the comment section is for.
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No criticism intended at all. Sorry if you took it that way.

Both of your replies seem to take what he’s doing with his stuff negatively. It’s his stuff. He can do what he wants with it. It brings no harm or pain to others… and it’s no longer Apples property for them to have any say too.

If you want “he's a nut job”-type responses, I personally don’t see much point either. Maybe he wants the attention he’s getting? People will do about anything for attention. Try a search for “stupid people tricks” and similar on YouTube. That well is an endless gusher of ‘what’s the point” and ‘nut job”, etc. 15 minutes of fame may be the entire prize here.

Hardware hacks have long been a thing… with perhaps most met with “what’s the point?” and “this is stupid” and all variants of that kind of response. Years ago, many faulted the insanity of the guy hardware hacking an iPhone with USB-C replacing Lightning. Now they all come that way. That guy then showed that AirPods could also be hardware hacked to embrace USB-C. Now THEY are coming that way too. Why does the ridicule moderate when it’s Apple making the change instead of “some guy” beating them to it? Where’s the “Apple is a nut job” when they adopt the “crazy/useless/pointless” we ridiculed when others had gone there first?

For what seemed like about 4+ years, there was near universal disdain/contempt around here for phablets when Apple clung to 4" as "perfection" and 3.5" as former "perfection" before that. Words like "abomination" were commonplace with thousands of posts of "what's the point?" and "who wants", etc. And then Apple went there and its as if none of us ever wrote a negative word about phablet sizes.

This “nut job” (or not) has at least won a few minutes of fame (or infamy) among Apple people. And perhaps there is some other benefit to it through his own lens. Good for him. I see no articles about tens of millions of people doing nothing different/special than intended by Apple with Apple hardware. Hallelujah! That would be some boring threads!

If- like the “pointless” USB-C hack in iPhone- this leads to Apple making Front Row 2 to bring the AppleTV interface to iDevices & Macs, I suspect that would be welcome with overwhelmingly open arms. Do I expect that to come from this? No. Do I think iPhone went USB-C because that guy showed how readily it could be done? No. But again, some people hack for fun and 15 minutes of fame or attention. Good for them.

There's probably no logical benefit/rationale to this hack to make it superior to using iPad as a regular iPad. If everything needs a logical basis, a lot of what entertains/intrigues us would likely not come to be. And there's rarely 15 minutes of fame in fully complying with the as is.
 
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Mcsnee said:
The linked article explains that he specifically wanted to be able to portably test tvOS functionality for development purposes, which makes a lot more sense than going through this rigamarole to watch TV (as iPadOS already allows via app).
Click to expand...
If he didn't need(?) 4K for testing, he could have just bought a sub-$100 portable HDMI monitor that would have been a cleaner signal path than having to mess with video capture, etc., and probably taken less power overall.
 
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