I recently upgraded my Fire TV to the latest 4K model. I was delighted to find this model could be easily rooted (thanks to XDA devs), but was disappointed that the microphone on the remote control (which I otherwise love for its simplicity) is still rendered essentially useless outwith Amazon content. What a total waste of an opportunity, with Android TV etc expanding every day!
Anyway, I was testing out an app I recently purchased called SoundSeeder Music Player which allows you to play back audio via multiple devices around your home (like Sonos). I have installed the Play Store on my Fire TV (following the instructions laid out here and at AFTV News) so the SoundSeeder app installed and seemed to be working well (it didn't work prior to installing the Play Store). The odd thing I noticed, however, was this: There is a Mic/AUX Mode within the SoundSeeder player, which allows you to stream a live feed from your microphone. I didn't think it would do anything, of course, since the Fire TV doesn't have a built-in mic like a smartphone, but I started the service anyway and noticed that the graphical audio levels seemed to be registering incoming sounds, so I tried pressing the microphone button on the Fire TV remote and, amazingly, it registered my voice (with a faint echo) for as long as I pressed the microphone button down. I did this for about a minute before trying to stop the service, but doing so crashed the Fire TV and I had to restart.
Does the fact that this happened indicate that there may be a way to utilise the Fire TV remote as a microphone for other apps?
The only pertinent thread I could find on XDA - http://goo.gl/21crhi - identified that one of the files being utilised by the Fire TV to control the microphone was "com.amazon.vizzini.apk", but there was no final conclusion as to how it might be utilised. The developer provided a small RAR file (search.rar) for download, but I wasn't sure what to do with it (flash it?) and I'm not keen on disabling key Amazon services, which was also advised.
It would be fantastic if someone could develop an app or a simple method of registering the microphone as a regular smartphone mic so it could be used for Google Now or Android TV or even as a wireless microphone in an audio application. I'm sure a lot of people have been over this, but I thought it was worth mentioning in case this anomaly opens up any new options as regards making the built-in mic a thing of beauty rather than the irritating, pointless feature it is now (those of us in the UK can't even make use of Alexa).
Anyway, I was testing out an app I recently purchased called SoundSeeder Music Player which allows you to play back audio via multiple devices around your home (like Sonos). I have installed the Play Store on my Fire TV (following the instructions laid out here and at AFTV News) so the SoundSeeder app installed and seemed to be working well (it didn't work prior to installing the Play Store). The odd thing I noticed, however, was this: There is a Mic/AUX Mode within the SoundSeeder player, which allows you to stream a live feed from your microphone. I didn't think it would do anything, of course, since the Fire TV doesn't have a built-in mic like a smartphone, but I started the service anyway and noticed that the graphical audio levels seemed to be registering incoming sounds, so I tried pressing the microphone button on the Fire TV remote and, amazingly, it registered my voice (with a faint echo) for as long as I pressed the microphone button down. I did this for about a minute before trying to stop the service, but doing so crashed the Fire TV and I had to restart.
Does the fact that this happened indicate that there may be a way to utilise the Fire TV remote as a microphone for other apps?
The only pertinent thread I could find on XDA - http://goo.gl/21crhi - identified that one of the files being utilised by the Fire TV to control the microphone was "com.amazon.vizzini.apk", but there was no final conclusion as to how it might be utilised. The developer provided a small RAR file (search.rar) for download, but I wasn't sure what to do with it (flash it?) and I'm not keen on disabling key Amazon services, which was also advised.
It would be fantastic if someone could develop an app or a simple method of registering the microphone as a regular smartphone mic so it could be used for Google Now or Android TV or even as a wireless microphone in an audio application. I'm sure a lot of people have been over this, but I thought it was worth mentioning in case this anomaly opens up any new options as regards making the built-in mic a thing of beauty rather than the irritating, pointless feature it is now (those of us in the UK can't even make use of Alexa).
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