I’ve set up Netflix on my Steam Deck and PC through the Steam UI, by installing Netflix as a PWA in desktop mode and adding it to Steam as an external game. Steam Input recognised that it should map to mouse and keyboard, so the directional buttons navigate quite smoothly and the controller’s stick works as a mouse. A is enter and B goes back, so selecting stuff is quite easy. Not quite the console experience (how I wish Netflix would make a native Linux app…) but it works a lot better than through a fake mouse.
All smart TV replacement options were too frustrating to use last time I tried. Kodi got close, but getting Netflix to work on there was too much of a pain. The Jellyfin integration was also unstable and unreliable and the way to cast Youtube onto the thing was bothersome and broke every update. I just went with a Chromecast, the open source stuff doesn’t cut it.
If you want a more private alternative, there’s a Smart TV build of LineageOS that you can flash onto certain Android TV boxes. It’s basically Android TV but without Google’s apps (or any other apps, for that matter). I can’t tell you if it’s any good, but it’ll get you the full Android TV experience with none of the bloatware, all open source. Make sure you wipe any cheap Android TV box though, many of the cheap models come preloaded with malware.
I’ve set up Netflix on my Steam Deck and PC through the Steam UI, by installing Netflix as a PWA in desktop mode and adding it to Steam as an external game. Steam Input recognised that it should map to mouse and keyboard, so the directional buttons navigate quite smoothly and the controller’s stick works as a mouse. A is enter and B goes back, so selecting stuff is quite easy. Not quite the console experience (how I wish Netflix would make a native Linux app…) but it works a lot better than through a fake mouse.
All smart TV replacement options were too frustrating to use last time I tried. Kodi got close, but getting Netflix to work on there was too much of a pain. The Jellyfin integration was also unstable and unreliable and the way to cast Youtube onto the thing was bothersome and broke every update. I just went with a Chromecast, the open source stuff doesn’t cut it.
If you want a more private alternative, there’s a Smart TV build of LineageOS that you can flash onto certain Android TV boxes. It’s basically Android TV but without Google’s apps (or any other apps, for that matter). I can’t tell you if it’s any good, but it’ll get you the full Android TV experience with none of the bloatware, all open source. Make sure you wipe any cheap Android TV box though, many of the cheap models come preloaded with malware.