See Tips page for details.
See Tips page for details.
Operating System
Applied the OTA system update [has all of the latest Security patches for 2020 - equates to Android 10/11 ?]
N.B. The first attempt to install failed due to "insufficient space available" so removed a few old Apps and tried again. This time it worked but the download file was best part of one Gig in size. Decided to expand the main storage with a USB device in an external ethernet/power/USB port adaptor, as per the set up used by Vloggers.
Additional 'Internal' Storage
Downloaded "Mini Tool Partition Wizard" and formatted a Sandisk 32 Gig USB drive using the recommended format of exFat32 - labelled the drive as Shield32Gig.
Put it into the Shield and it prompted to reformat it to make it a part of 'Internal' storage on that device [i.e. can not be used elsewhere] - so took the option to proceed and it worked in a few seconds. It followed up with a prompt to allow it to move some files to the new 'Internal' drive [else it would not function properly] so agreed and it took a few minutes to set up.
Checked Settings to view Storage and it shows as 30Gig [which is more than the 28.6 Gig it showed as being when formatted to exFat32] so everything looks fine.
16/01/2018
See this video for instructions for sideloading popular Apps that do not come pre-installed. The video shows you the 3 steps that are necessary, the first two are ‘one-offs’ to get you going, the third is an example of a typical installation - in this case Firefox - but you can follow the same process for anything that you require :-
[1] the local Android settings that must be made before you start
[2] the installation of the ES File Explorer that you can use regularly
[3] the use of the trusted site APKMirror for obtaining just about any App
19/12/2017
See this video for tips on customising the entries on the Home screen
Customised Home screen for selected Applications, including :-
Mobdro
Terrarium TV
Spotify
Google Play
Google Music - Albums (large collection)
Google Movies & TV - Library (media owned by me)
18/12/2017
17/12/2017
Looked at Chrome browser installation videos :-
1st video option using ES File Manager / Explorer.
2nd video option using ES File Manager / Explorer [Android N]
N.B. ES file Manager no longer recommended.
16/12/2017 - Keying in text
When using any app that required text to be input a “non UK” keyboard was displayed on screen by default which made text entry difficult. This was changed under ‘Settings’ by selecting the “Google Indic” keyboard which works a lot better.
However for large amounts of input it can still be a bit tedious using the remote to select one character at a time {from the Indic keyboard} so I used a small kidney shaped remote keyboard that makes entering text must easier.
15/12/2017
Hooked up all the cables and powered on - went through an initial install procedure during which I linked it to my Google Account and configured the Remote Control app on smartphone - all easy and quick.
Followed prompt to apply some system updates to the Shield box, then took the option to install 12 recommended Apps followed by a prompt to update the s/w for the remote control handset.
Everything ready to rock !
Used Play Store to install ...
SPB TV Free (over 200 stations - not sure how good)
TVPlayer (free and paid for)
Web Browser for Android TV (no sign of Chrome) - didn't seem to work - got stuck and had to get out by using the "Home" button on remote.
Puffin TV- Fast Web Browser
TVWeb Browser for TV
Above browsers seem to be ‘canned’ and no good for watching the likes of the TVCatchup site - see video's for installing Chrome browser.
14/12/2017
Arrived today - looks physically smaller than I was expecting, but very neat. Requires an HDMI cable [not supplied] to plug into a TV or monitor.
12/12/2017
Have been looking at the SHIELD since seeing it advertised during the Black Friday sales. It looks pretty powerful, and a good buy, although it currently only has Android 7.1 installed. However after doing a bit of checking it seems the makers have a good name for keeping software up to date. Their customers say “it's highly likely that it will be updated to Android 8 ‘Oreo’ within the usual 3 to 4 month window that they take to apply operating system software updates"
Purchased from Amazon when reduced from £179 to £143 {as per the Black Friday sale price} plus p&p.