Android
DROID DOES
Welcome to the Android community on Lemmy. Here you can participate in amazing discussions and events relating to all things Android.
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True โ a good set-top box will usually be easier to use than a computer.
But, the point should be made, they're all computers. tvOS, on the Apple TV, shares a lot of code with iOS, which itself is derived from macOS, which goes back to UNIX (via OS X and NeXTStep before that). On the Android side, of course, all Android devices are running some form of Android, but Android TV devices are using a special launcher for TVs. The remote is typically just a Bluetooth device.
My point makes the most sense on Linux because it's a modular OS. It should be possible to use a desktop environment that favours couch control. In fact, Steam OS has such a thing, Big Picture mode. That's not a proper desktop environment though, it's just a program that is launched, but it's good enough for what it's for.
System 7 (Mac OS Classic, before the UNIX/NeXTStep stuff) had At Ease, which was aimed at kids in classrooms, but was sort of a "10'/3m interface". So it was possible in the old, old Mac OS. It's probably possible now. In fact, I'm pretty sure Big Picture mode, in Steam, exists on the macOS version.
Then of course you have things like Plex and Kodi which are designed to be 10'/3m interfaces used in computers. There's also EmulationStation which is bundled with Raspberry Pi emulation setups, but it's also available on its own. There are definitely ways to go about it.
But sure, a curated system like a Shield or Apple TV is going to be a little easier, but you're also going to have to deal with its limitations, like for example ads in YouTube. Of course you can pay that problem away... every month... without end. And it'll go up every year or two.