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It could be doing dns over https (DoH).
yeah probably doing this, or using a secure vpn/tunnel or both.
I'd read reports of some smart TV's having internal resolvers, hence my guess at that.
I'll have to take another look though. If there's a DoH host I could block, that'd be nice.
Yeah so annoying. And very hard to block.
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Yup. People always complain that the AppleTV is too expensive vs the competition, but stuff like this is exactly why.
I’ve had Roku, FireTV, and Chromecast, and I have had hdcp and/or performance issues with everything but Apple TV. I hate that I’ve turned into something of an fanboy but Apple TV follows the same old story from Apple: expensive but it consistently just works.
Not to mention at least you know where they're hitting you - up front, on the hardware. It's like the people that complain about a Macbook being 20% more (or whatever), buying a PC-something, and then coming back complaining that Windows is loaded with ads or Linux has all kinds of issues on it.
I'm with you - I went from being a die-hard Linux desktop, Kodi, Android, etc, etc user to just saying "the hell with it" and plunking down for Apple products.
They're expensive and they're not perfect either but my life is much less stressing and annoying as a result.
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The FireTV is not an actual television set. It's the "something else" that you use to stream content to a screen with no internet connection.
No, in this case it is actually a full size TV that has the same OS as the FireTV stick.
The trick is to never give your TV access to the internet and to pair it with an Apple TV. If you buy a TV and it won't even boot or work without an internet connection - return it and get a different one.
Or, they could just include a little cellphone radio. Probably only need to phone home once every couple months to get the new ads.
And remember: hard drive space is cheap nowadays. You might not ever connect your TV to the internet, but it can at least record fingerprints for everything you watch. Maybe your kids will connect it to the internet some day, or you’ll hand it down to somebody else, and then that poor trapped taste-profile information can finally make the trip back to Amazon’s servers.
Are there any Smart TVs that aren't stuffed with ads? Apple TV might be the least bad, but it still allows apps to display recommended nonsense on the home screen when they are highlighted.
My wife and I bought a Fire TV for a particular use case: - The hot tub room in the winter - The outdoor patio in the summer It was so cheap, we don't mind the ads on the home screen. If it dies from the moisture, we'll just buy another one. The apps are the key anyways, as I use a few totally ad-free apps to stream stuff: - JellyFin - VLC - HDHomeRun (for my antenna on the roof) PlutoTV is not ad-free, but has so mu…
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1629173-REG/nec_e658_...
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Do Apple TVs not display ads? I have Google TV devices, in part because I can install what er I want on them, including 3rd part launchers that don't have ads.
Apple TV advertises its own content when you are on the homepage (even as a non-Apple TV+ subscriber so it's a little more aggressive than like sitting on the Netflix homepage as a subscriber) but as far as I can tell nothing more than that. Been a user for the last 7-8 years and I love the UX.
Even then I don't quite consider it quite ad-free. Content I've purchased in iTunes Movies or iTunes TV Shows will always show the store on launch or will switch to the store if you pause content for some amount of time.
The trick is to never give your TV access to the internet and to pair it with an Apple TV. If you buy a TV and it won't even boot or work without an internet connection - return it and get a different one.