KDE's Android TV alternative, Plasma Bigscreen, rises from the dead with a better UI

I'm curious why you'd choose this over kodi or something like bazzite. What specifically are the advantages?

It would be nice if they would overcome the 720p/1080p limitation imposed by some stream services https://androidpcreview.com/netflix-hd-android-tv-box/

Alternative option for you. Drop streaming and set up Stremio with torrentio . Get a good vpn subscription as well. Highly recommend it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StremioAddons/s/zxlUZTN0qu
- My family can't live without Netflix algorithm showing on their face the new documentary or show of the week. I use Stremio, pretty good stuff.
Not possible, widevine L1 needs hardware-level DRM which depends on manufacturer support. So unless there are actual TVs / set top boxes being shipped with Plasma Bigscreen, we're SOL 🏴‍☠

So judging by the comments this is something you would install as a DE on a Linux distro, perhaps on a miniPC, not something running on the SmartTV itself?

and some games like SuperTuxKart are playable

shows a screenshot of SuperTux, an entirely different game

That does not look better than project ivy launcher imho.

From the 100 reasons to choose this over android tv, subjective thing like "better UI" is not one.

Does it support SmartTube? Jellyfin? Refresh rate and resolution changing based on signal? Bitstream? Codecs? Exo player is a great default player used by many apps, what's this ones alternative?

Is mostly a interface for linux distros, so AndroidTV apps won't work.
Jellyfin Media Player (desktop app) have a TV UI, which kinda woks, on the article mentions an YouTube app called VacuumTube.
Is more an alternative for DIY home theater PC (like Kodi) than AndroidTV
- Yeah, I understood, but the OP made it sound like something to replace Android TV.
  I wish the revive does well and we'll have a proper alternative, but the main thing they have to beat is what something like Android TV on Shield provides - otherwise it'll just be a thing to tinker with, not a replacement.

I just hope for a TV that is rootable where I can install whatever ROM I want, I just want to own my TV. KDE keeps making our future bright

This doesn't install on the tv
- Thats why it is not yet perfect

Never heard of this. So glad there is an alternative to android TV and Roku. Going to give it a shot.

Not currently available to download according to the official page:

"As of right now, Plasma Bigscreen isn't available for public use yet. This is due to not being developed for so long. The project has been revived, but it might take a while until it becomes stable and is available for public use."

That said, if this could run on top of the standard linux OS on my MiniPC (like Steam Big Picture), then I'd give it a go!

Arch (and derivative) systems can install it through the AUR, but I do not know any distribution that offers it through their normal distribution channels (packages sources) already.
- Of course nixpkgs has it. It was added a few years ago, I can't vouch for if it is up to date or still working.
- Arch (and derivative) systems can install it through the AUR
  Once installed, does it run as an application? I'm using Aurora, but it has DistroBox, and I'm almost certain that I'm able to get Arch programs installed through it.

Excellent. The umbrella of KDE is home to a bunch of my favorite applications. Kdenlive, Krita, Digikam. I've been hotly anticipating the day I get a phone running Plasma Mobile

This may be better eventually than Plasma Mobile for what I imagined as an ideal gaming frontend that isn't just Steam Big Picture

Maybe someday Waydroid and Android Translation Layer will make Linux as a HTPC+gaming great

So sexy. KDE ate as usual

itll be faster than android tv, no gplaysvc taking all resources

That's exciting. It looks very clean, but until it has the tv remote support aspect I think it'll wait

Gotta check if my GPU even supports CEC.
- Pretty much no GPUs do, but you can buy a USB to CEC adapter.

I'm incredibly hyped for this!

I had lots of problems with the previous version when turning the TV off/on while it's running, like losing keyboard access (no focus) until you use the mouse at least once and it updating the display settings every time. Hope it's getting better now.

TBH the keyboard focus issue is happening on most Login Managers and DEs, so it's not really their fault. I will try it out some time, until then I keep using my SteamOS install.

Nice! I wanted to use this, but my env already had plasma 6, I'd like to replace the TV os

Tried this 6-9 months ago and it was a shambles that I could hardly get working.

The main issue (once it was working) was program (Stremio) not supporting keyboard only options.

I also wanted to run android apps full screen (like a dog nvidia shield) but it was chaos.

I thought it was abandoned.

Does anyone know if there are any plans to port this to raspberry pi?

Right now it's not packaged up for easy use but KDE has supported Raspberry Pi's for ages so I wouldn't be surprised if you ran Plasma desktop, it'd be simple to build and install. I'd wait until they got it back onto the KDE release cadence with everything else though for simplicity
For anyone who wants to test this out, you can do as Devin did by installing Plasma Bigscreen on a Raspberry Pi using postmarketOS, though you would have to compile it yourself or pull from the nightly repos to get the latest changes.