MrMC on Apple TV as MythTV front-end

[NashGuy]

Hi all, I'm new here! I just recently set up MythTV 0.28 (via MacPorts easy install) on my Mac to serve as an OTA DVR with my HDHomeRun tuner. I purchased the MythTV app for my Apple TV 4K so that I can watch and delete recordings on the big screen. So far, the Myth TV app is pretty good but I'm curious whether MrMC might be better. If anyone here is using MrMC in that way, with MythTV, I'd love to hear your thoughts. How is the UI, playback controls, video quality, feature set, etc? Is it simple to set up? I've never really used Kodi or any of its offshoots.

The MythTV app for Apple TV is very simple. No live TV, it just lets you watch and delete recordings. The UI is simple and elegant. Playback controls are pretty responsive. But unfortunately, it does not allow for browsing the program guide or scheduling of upcoming recordings (so I use the MythTV frontend app on my Mac for that). It also does not support CC subtitles and the app is not compatible with Siri commands (e.g. "Skip ahead three minutes.") And while the app does offer thumbnails on the playback timeline when you pause/rewind/FF, the thumbnail is wrong more than half the time so far in my experience, with the thumbnail remaining stuck on the initial frame of the recording. All that said, playback of the recorded native MPEG-2 .TS files looks quite good (unlike, say, the InstaTV app for live TV) and it does a fine job of de-interlacing 1080i.

Would love any feedback that would help me decide if it's worth the time and $6 to instead use MrMC as a MythTV frontend app on my Apple TV 4K. I have no need for software to manage other media such as music, photos and DVD rips, as I'm happy with my existing solutions there. Thanks!

[cosmoxl]

try out MrMC Lite - it's free.

[NashGuy]

Wow, thanks so much for the suggestion! I didn't realize that MrMC Lite is essentially a free trial version of the software.

I did install it and (after a bit of stumbling) got it working with my MythTV backend.

Kudos to the MrMC devs for putting their time and talents into open source software like this. However, for my specific use case and preferences, it became clear after a few minutes of playing around that the MythTV app for Apple TV that I was already using is a better solution than MrMC.

[Shredder83]

Can you give some details on how you got this to work?

I've gone to the Add-ons, configured the MythTV addon with my DNS name for the backend server (also tried the IP address), made sure it says enabled, but it never connects. I don't see any tries from the AppleTV to connect to my backend.

I have done this on an iPad and it works just fine, but not on the AppleTV.

I'm thinking it doesnt load the client as in Settings -> System Information, PVR Service is greyed out. Where on my iPad, it is not.

Thanks,
Shredder83

[amet]

after enabling an addon, did you enable TV service?

[Shredder83]

Haha. Didn't realize I had to enable another section.

Thank you for this. It is working now.

Shredder83