Buy an LG Smart TV and use the WebOS version of Jellyfin. That’s the best I’ve achieved.
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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What about android TV?
I went down this rabbit hole about a year ago, and didn't have much luck. In the end, the best results I was able to get were from Steam's Big Picture Mode on a Windows device, mostly launching Firefox (might have been Chrome?) with different launch arguments to immitate a smart TV.
Most available software either doesn't support Linux well, doesn't support streaming services and outside software, or doesn't support non-kb&m input methods. You can get two, but never all three. You could try SteamOS, now that its out, but unfortunately my hopes wouldn't be high for it to have all the apps you needs functioning.
Kodi
Honestly, none that are all that great. I tried Kodi in various forms, LibreElec, OSMC, MythTV, Steam Big Picture, and KDE TV (or whatever its called), but you're just never going to get a great experience with stuff like Netflix and YouTube on Linux.
In the end, I bought myself an Nvidia Shield, switched out the launcher for one without ads, installed Smart Tube Next for ad-free YouTube, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I've got my apps for Nebula and Dropout. I've got Kodi and Jellyfin for my home library. It has barely any power consumption, it boots fast, it runs a huge variety of emulators, the included remote works great (plus there's a remote app for your phone that controls the entire system), and the wife acceptance factor is exceptional.
I'm really big on self-hosting and building all my own stuff; I use lots of repurposed hardware salvaged from companies I and my friends work at and I try to avoid off the shelf products. But I'm genuinely kicking myself for not buying a Shield sooner. It really is the best TV solution for a self hoster.
Pssst, take these: .,
https://plasma-bigscreen.org/ from KDE? I'm not sure if they've replaced that since. Wikipedia says it's unmaintained. Depending on your use-case, you might want to have a look at Emulationstation, Steam Big Picture and Kodi Plugins, as well.
Some files on Plasma Bigscreen's Gitlab were updated 2-3 days ago, so I think it's still being maintained.
On the other hand, the Emulationstation website reads:
This website is for the original EmulationStation, last updated in 2015!
Without having tried it, I think ES-DE may be a better choice nowadays, since that one seems to be maintained.
RetroDECK bundles ES-DE with relevant tools and emulators if you want to use it for emulation of games.
Thanks! I've updated the link. I always just use Batocera or something like that, which has Emulationstation and Kodi set up for me. So I don't pay a lot of attention to the included projects and their development state...
I didn't include this, since OP wasn't mentioning retro-gaming. But Batocera, Recalbox, Lakka, RetroPie are quite nice. I picked one which includes both Kodi and Emulationstation and I can switch between the interfaces with the gamecontroller. I get all the TV and streaming stuff in Kodi, and Emulationstaation launches the games. And I believe it can do Flatpaks and other applications as well.
There are a few things about Kodi that might help:
- There are themes thay completely change the UI, so it doesn't have to be outdated. I use Arctic: Zephyr – Reloaded and it is much better, though I did change the noises to something else.
- The Jellyfin plugin works pretty seamlessly if you set up the UI correctly. I only use Kodi for Jellyfin and it acts as if it's all local files, other than the occasional syncing notice.
However, I feel you on Netflix, YouTube, etc. - it is not ideal. I ended up either logging into a separate partition or moving to a Chromecast for those things. I'd love an all-in-one solution but I haven't managed to find one that I'd be happy with.
I'll note that I use LibreELEC as that handles HDR (I couldn't get other Kodi installs working with HDR)
Don’t have any recent experience to help you, but your question reminded me of Boxee and I had a little flash back to a simpler time.
MythTV is the OG.
libreELEC, but that's just a distribution shipping kodi.
you might be able to utilize steam big picture/steamOS with different browser shortcuts and applications added as non-steam games to open streaming services in kiosk mode or other mediaplayers , that way you'd have good controller support, if you create control schemes for various things.
Steam Big Picture Mode allows you to install non steam apps.