this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2024
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I don't know if this is the correct community to post this. I have a Smart TV from a Greek manufacturer named TurboX. Not Android TV, Smart TV. This means that it has Internet access, has some pre-installed apps, but I can't install any other apps on it. The menus thankfully don't have any ads. However, the Youtube app has. I highly doubt there is any way to remove those, but if you guys know or found any, can you let me know?

Thanks.

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[–] satanmat@lemmy.world 25 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I have 2 “smart” tvs. IMHO I don’t connect them to the internet.
Use a device (, pi-running Plex or kodi?)

Edit. Removed roku

[–] RiQuY@lemm.ee 18 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Do not recommend Roku please.

[–] satanmat@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Done. Honestly it was one of the first that popped in other than roll your own…

I like Plex Ymmv

[–] Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Get yourself a small pc like a intel nuc and use it instead

[–] VitabytesDev@feddit.nl 5 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I already have a Raspberry Pi 4 with 2GB of RAM lying around. Can I somehow connect it to the TV and use it via the TV remote? If so, what OS would I need to install to it, and what software would I use?

[–] OneRedFox@beehaw.org 3 points 4 months ago

LibreELEC with a FLIRC dongle and a cheapo infrared remote. If you have any bluetooth console controllers laying around, you can use those too so long as they have good Linux support. There's Kodi addons for popular streaming services and LibreELEC also offers an SFTP addon in case you want a local media server setup instead.

That's a really hard problem to solve. But my advice, and what was working for me last time I tried, was using the Pi-hole as an exit node and forcing as much traffic through it as possible. The only downside to this is that your Pi-hole dashboard will be less interesting because your devices will show as the Pi-hole itself. If you're already doing that, then my only guess is getting obsessive about domain blocking until it stops, and even that will have its limits.

[–] x1gma@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

If you can not install anything, your only choice is probably to set up a pihole or something similar on your network.

Edit: Some models seem to have advanced settings, where you can change the DNS - you could try to use adguard dns servers, or any DNS adblocker you want to use.

[–] VitabytesDev@feddit.nl 5 points 4 months ago (4 children)

I already have, but piHole doesn't block YouTube ads.

[–] venoft@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Weird how people are saying it should work, lol. Blocking YouTube ads with pihole most definitely does not work. Cannot work even, it's just how YouTube works.

I'm afraid that using something like a googletv stick (or nvidia shield etc) and installing smarttube is your best bet.

[–] Bronzie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Yupp that works well with CCWGTV for now.

Probably a smoother experience than the built in OS too. Hoping for a new Shield with the upcomming Switch so I can leave yet another Google product behind

[–] mynamesnotrick@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Can confirm. Pi-hole does not block YouTube smart TV app ads. Hasn't for a long time (2018ish?)

I use sefiniks (sp?) lists which has a YouTube list but no luck.

[–] x1gma@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Check your blocklist and keep in mind that YouTube is testing server side ads muxed into the media streams, which will not be blocked by traditional adblocking techniques.

[–] terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 months ago

My pi-hole has almost 1.4mil+ domains blocked. It doesn't work on most streaming services. At least in my configuration. It absolutely works everywhere else. And I do have a Roku device in one of the kids rooms. It's one of the biggest offenders with blocked requests. Telemetry I'd assume, attempted at least.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago

Maybe not with your default lists enabled, you may need to expand. You could also try AdGuard and see if you get any better results with their defaults if you already have the Pihole in place.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Are you sure it isn't Android?