From FireTV to AppleTV?

[GIZBUG]

Currently run 2 first generation FireTVs in my house. Main TV and Bedroom. My main uses are for watching MLB.tv in the bedroom, and streaming movies/mkvs from my Synology NAS to my main tv. I use KODI for that (which is installed on both fireTV's).

I am considering replacing the fireTV in the main TV with a new AppleTV. Why? I have a bunch of pictures on my iMAC, and right now, for me to share, people have to crowd around my computer to see. Would it be possible to access my iCloud photo library on the AppleTV, and view them on the television for everyone? Also, music. I have a huge itunes/icloud music collection. My main tv has a bose soundbar. On my iMac, i have to enable bluetooth, connect to the bose soundbar bluetooth, then stream the music that way. Kind of cumbersome to do with the iMac and iPhone. Would the AppleTV solve this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[benjitek]

Should work fine, has a 30 day return option if you find you prefer to stick with all FireTV's

 

[Fancuku]

You could also put your icloud photo library on Amazon cloud drive. It's free for Prime members and you can view them easily from the Fire TV.

 

[jdag]

The things you are talking about doing will work via AppleTV. But there will be some "inconveniences" as well. For instance, there is no native Kodi app, so you'd have to use one of the alternates.

Fact remains with all of the streaming boxes, each has pros and each has cons.

 

[jdillings]

For Kodi on Apple TV, I'd get MrMC. It's $6.99 and is based on Kodi. It's developed by the programmer who did the Kodi Android and IOS ports and he is very responsive to fixing issues:
http://forum.mrmc.tv/viewforum.php?f=6

It doesn't support addons but if you're just watching your own stuff (MKVs), then it won't affect you.

Another option is use Synology's DS Video which has a free Apple TV app which I assume plays MKVs.

 

[zarf2007]

For Kodi on Apple TV, I'd get MrMC. It's $6.99 and is based on Kodi. It's developed by the programmer who did the Kodi Android and IOS ports and he is very responsive to fixing issues:
http://forum.mrmc.tv/viewforum.php?f=6

It doesn't support addons but if you're just watching your own stuff (MKVs), then it won't affect you.

Another option is use Synology's DS Video which has a free Apple TV app which I assume plays MKVs.

Or if you have a Mac or can run a VM with OS X then you can sideload the full version of kodi here:

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-sideload-install-kodi-on-apple-tv-4/

 

[jdillings]

Or if you have a Mac or can run a VM with OS X then you can sideload the full version of kodi here:

http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-sideload-install-kodi-on-apple-tv-4/

But sideloaded apps expire after 7 days so he would have to sideload it every week. MrMC or DS Video would be much better options for him.

 

[GIZBUG]

I was thinking of trying Infuse. Would that be a good solution over kodi?

 

[zarf2007]

But sideloaded apps expire after 7 days so he would have to sideload it every week. MrMC or DS Video would be much better options for him.

Really since when? I have had it sideloaded for weeks now.

 

[archer75]

Doesn't really help you but what I do on my iphone or any phone I use google photos. I just like it better, my photos are backed up and available everywhere. Then I cast it to a chromecast or my shield tv if I want to show photos to people. Super easy. Just got a firetv stick and I am definitely not a fan.
I do also back up photos to dropbox so they are instantly sent to my computer as I take them and from there can be auto added to iphoto as well.
Also not a fan of kodi. I use plex. My primary viewing devices are an Nvidia shield tv and a roku 3.

 

[Ipadlover29]

I was thinking of trying Infuse. Would that be a good solution over kodi?

I use both infuse and the vlc app to stream from my nas on my Apple TV 4 with no issues. You can also side load kodi on your Apple TV 4 as others have mentioned. Side loaded apps don't expire after 7 days. There are also a number of other apps that work with for streaming form your nas. I've replaced all my first generation fire tvs with fourth generation Apple tvs.

 

[jdillings]

I use both infuse and the vlc app to stream from my nas on my Apple TV 4 with no issues. You can also side load kodi on your Apple TV 4 as others have mentioned. Side loaded apps don't expire after 7 days.

Yes, they do. It's a recent change. Once your current side loaded app expires, you'll be limited to 7 days on all future side loaded apps unless you are using a developer account:
https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/...free_developer_account_installs_reduced_to_7/

 

[cynics]

You'll need to find a replacement for Kodi however there are plenty of options available.

The app you use is going to depend mostly on the NAS you have. I found certain apps were unable to play sound due to copyrights around Dolby (or something along those lines) but I was able to find a couple that work (I'll edit this post with the app names).

Overall I still find it to be a better experience to encode and play movies from iTunes on my Mac. My NAS isn't powerful to do the transcoding however it handles MKV just fine.

Picture viewing from iCloud is easy. You can also AirPlay from your Mac/iPhone/iPad if you wanted to show videos/pictures that weren't on/in iCloud photos.