Keep your tv disconnected from the internet completely like you did, and get a dedicated android box like the nvidia sheild for example. You can pick these up second hand for cheap.

Then uninstall any apps you do not require from the Sheild and you should be okay.

Now if you hold your own 4K media collection on a NAS you can install something like Plex and/or Jellyfin and keep your Nvidia Sheild completely offline only to access your local content. Though this really depends on your desired threat level or privacy level.

I've recently bought a Vero V and it's been playing anything I've thrown at it without any issues. That includes 4K, HDR10 and AVI videos.

This is the best media player I've had over the decades.

I've had a Nvidia Shield before. I was just not happy with the advertising platform it really was. Which is why I upgraded to the Vero V.

Use Kodi to pirate shows and movies. TroyPoint has lots of good articles on how to set it up. Use RealDebrid and the Umbrella addon.

A 2GB RPi5 works great, install LibreElec (Kodi OS that's FOSS), put it in a Flirc passive case (they also have a Kodi variant that they then donate some proceeds towards), and hook up a small wireless USB keyboard.

Get a mini PC with Intel N200. $200 more or less. Install your preferred Linux with KDE Plasma Bigscreen. Use Waydroid and Aurora Store to install streaming apps. That's the best I got.

If you don't require DRM maybe a Raspberry Pi and https://konstakang.com/.

You have 3 options:

1. Android TV/Google: bad for privacy, some devices can be customized for slightly more with tweaks, ADB, etc

2. Apple TV: pretty private compared to Google, no ads out of the box on Home Screen, nice hardware that lasts awhile.

3. Wilderness of roll your own on a mini-PC, raspberry pi, etc: no ads, private. But pain in the ass, no 4k, no full HD (720p max), no HDR, no atmos sound because not locked down with DRM for streaming services so not approved. Choose this only if most of your content is self provided Blu-ray’s or yo ho type stuff and/or YouTube. Otherwise miserable experience.

As far as 1) goes there are some better options like Dune-HD (make sure to get a Netflix certified model so you get 4k support from streaming services), and some customization via changing launchers and such for more privacy.

However only options 2 and 3 are really more private IMO and “fixes” for Android TV devices mostly are in the form of blocking ads and allowing side loading of say a custom version of YouTube with ad blocking so don’t and can’t address the under the hood spying Google is more aggressive about.

As to getting away from American. Good luck, both major platforms are American companies. Only other option is Chinese fork of Android and it’s no good for western streaming or use outside China. Otherwise roll your own but also provide your own content and that gets you away from them. A mini-pc is great for that with an air mouse but it’s not the same finely polished experience though can be decent with a little work.

Why will using your PC "run it into the ground"? Unless you're trying to use it for something else simultaneously, it seems like you've already got a solution there.

I don't think that's possible. I think streaming in practice (not in theory!) is nowadays monitoring everything you do with the content they provide. In fact you yourself blocked your own TV from accessing the Internet.

Anyway I saw quite a few technical solutions (general purpose computers) but I didn't see any service to then use those with. There are quite a few streaming services I would trust though, e.g. public services like Arte.TV or PBS (well... I did, not I'd be cautious) that can be accessed without an account.

So it depends in the end of what kind of content you mean to stream. You don't have to answer that specifically but... if it's not something that is genuinely public, available on services like PeerTube but instead rely on surveillance capitalism, e.g. YouTube, Netflix, etc then I'd argue the kind of streaming itself you want is not compatible with your privacy requirements.

Edit: I'm not streaming except public radio (specifically fip.fr that's all) on my desktop. I just download the content I need what from whatever sources provide it DRM-free. It's both a technical alternative and a healthier practice IMHO.

Apple TV, or some kind of dedicated, Linux-based HTPC.

Even if you don't use Apple stuff, Apple TV kills it with no ads and a dead simple interface. Having an iPhone just means you can type from your phone. But you can use your voice with the remote regardless of who makes your phone (it's unrelated). Controlling my ATV from my wrist is a neat trick, but it's hardly a sales point.

LibreELEC on a raspberry pi. If you also put tailscale on the pi then you can travel with it too.

Buy an N100 mini pc from aliexpress and install Steamos on it. SteamOS has a great TV UI, and I figure there are some good app options for kodi/jellyfin/youtube/web browsing on Linux. SteamOS is also bringing support for waydroid Android emulation, which would let you run Android TV apps like SmartTube and Jellyfin without Google Spyware.

Onn / Thomson sticks seem to be the best available option.

They use the Google TV OS but you can turn off the tracking (Advertising ID / Usage Data / Personal Results) and enable apps only mode to disable Google's crap and have a clean UI with just your apps.

If it's just streaming (from big providers or home server) and that the device doesn't not really do transcoding, try to find an used mini PC with decent specs (the only problem will be to find a PC that uses 4k@120hz but it's really not a problem to have 60Hz cause most of the movies are going to be 24 or 30 fps...) And you've got it for 50$

I’m in the same boat as you and have tried time and time again to make it work using standard PC stuff. And yeah, it works but having to faff about with Kodi, torrents, or drivers got really annoying very quickly. If you actually want to use any of the big streaming providers (think Netflix, Prime, Disney, etc) you’re at best going to get 720p, if anything at all on linux, without extensive tinkering. Running Windows or getting a cheap M4 Mac Mini are also valid choices but I frankly just want to sit down and watch something and not have to wait for Copilot or any updates, aside from the rather clunky desktop experience.

For me the easiest compromise to make was to get an Apple TV. It — mostly — just works. All the big streaming apps work without hassle and I’m still able to watch my media collection through Jellyfin.

The way I see it, if you want to use any streaming apps, you have to play by their rules — DRM and all — no matter if it makes any sense.

Raspberry pi. You can install whatever you want. Put a disk and use samba to share the files. On the tv install kodi - The current tvs have no problem decoding x265 or av1 so no transcoding required

If you want to go the expensive route, go for a NAS.

z cause most of the movies are going to be 24 or 30 fps…) And you’ve got it for 50

but I don’t want to run my desktop into the ground streaming on it all the time.

What?

I use a nvidia shield with adguard as my duck/dns server to block most of the tracking stuff, if you like android tv it's good.

maybe an android phone with usb-c to hdmi? would be very easy to use for non techie family members too.

I went with an onn4k not logged into a google account because I got one that was patched to keep you from replacing the os with lineage but if you get the right version you can change it to lineage and put the apks for any services you want onto it

I like cloudstream personally and jellyfin is also pretty good

I used kde connect to load the apps onto it by downloading f-droid and loading apk files that way