SYSTM on a Chromecast with Google TV (Unsupported)

I use this one my Nvidia Shield:

Makes it a lot nicer to look at.

Thanks @TLa, I’ve just tried that one on the Chromecast too and no joy either. All the app permissions seem to be correct but for some reason SYSTM insists on opening in portrait even when I’ve set the global orientation to landscape…

Have you selected autostart in de app and restarted the Chromecast?

Yeah, I’ve set it to start on boot and restarted everything but it still loads in portrait

Then you’ll be stuck with portrait mode (unless Wahoo decides to do a Google TV version)

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Thanks for the tip @Sandy_Thomson 10 days later and someone apparently has restarted our TV and SYSTM won’t load again.
Because of your tip I installed Sideload Launer from the Play store and the problem is fixed! Way better than having to reinstall the apk :+1:
Once I have started SYSTM from the sideload launcher it is furthermore working again from my native Android TV launcher. Probably until the next reboot :slight_smile:.
The sideload launcher also uses the appropriate blue Android Icon for Systm instead of half of a black systm logo. It displays the first wahoo screen correct and does not start the App fresh every time but resumes it and is therefor way faster at launching.

Motivated by this and the information in this thread about a screen orientation app I installed control screen rotation from the App Store.

Since a necessary permission for activating it was missing and not selectable I installed Android Platform Tools, activated USB debugging and ran “adb connect < ip address >:5555”. Next I listed all installed apps with “adb shell pm list packages” to get the package names. Now I could run “adb shell appops set < package name > SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow” with my app name this leads to “adb shell appops set ahapps.controlthescreenorientation SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow”.

Now control screen rotation had all necessary permissions and I executed it, enabled “Start Service”, “Automatic start after reboot” and set the Orientation to Landscape.

Next I was greeted by SYSTEM in a splendid Fullscreen display in Landscape! :fireworks:
After starting a cycling session I sadly discovered that Bluetooth asks for the necessary permission, is displays as ON but can detect neither my KICKR, TICKR nor Cadence Sensor :frowning:.

Well at least I can finally do Yoga, Strength and MTP without having to connect my Laptop via a HDMI cable in all it’s Android glory on my Smart TV.

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Hello,

I manage to install and start everything and the only issue seems to be connecting the sensors. Kickr is connected but it’s almoat impossible to connect HR and cadence sensor. It worked once after turning off all other BT devices in the room but the connection dropped right after.

The TV is a relatively new model so I wonder if it is the BT hw in tv or sw issue.

Any hints on how to fix appreciated.

Hi @Szymon_Kowalik, are you using a Chromecast or is it a TV with Android built-in?

I can get a Wahoo Kickr and Tickr to connect to a Chromecast without any problems but I don’t have any experience of trying SYSTM on an Android TV. @Thomas has but I think also has problems connecting sensors.

Hi @Szymon_Kowalik
I’m using a KAGIS U55IP7UHD which is a CHiQ rebrand with Android TV 9.
I can’t connect my TICKR v2, Wahoo cadence and KICKR. But the KICKR is behind the couch and ~6m far away.

When I find the time I will perform further Bluetooth tests if this is a Android TV limitation, permission problem or whatever.
Until then I will plug in my Laptop on cycling days and do Strength and Yoga on my TV on the off days. My time riding is limited and tinkering even more :wink:

My next steps would be

  • Check if BLE 1) scanning and 2) connecting for/to devices is working with other Apps. For example nRFConnect
    Maybe there is an Android TV App that supports this.
    ** connecting BLE remotes to the TV is working. Up until now I think I never scanned from the TV and connected something.
  • Check if all location and ble permissions are given to SYSTM
  • Search the net for similar Android TV problems
  • Lookup the built in ble chipset in my TV and search fir similar problems
  • Contact TV support

Today I wanted to update SYSTM on my Android TV from 7.5.0 to 7.8.1 but I get a error at the end of the installation. Anybody having similar issues and maybe even overcame them?

Yes, I’m having the same problem on the Chromecast but haven’t found a solution for it yet which is frustrating.

SYSTM now seems to have multiple apk’s depending on your device. I did not check if this is due to different supported resolutions and/or ABIs (CPU architecture).
Apk Extractor on my mobile gave me a ~66,7 MB Version of 7.8.1 while previous Versions up to 7.5.0 had ~90 MB in size which were probably multi-arch/-resolution. This seems reasonable, since one of the benefits of doing this is a smaller apk size.

I checked on apk sources and apkpure has a different version of 7.8.1 which still is ~90MB in size and runs on my smart TV.
https://apkpure.com/wahoo-systm/com.WahooFitness.SYSTM/versions
A word of caution: Everybody has to decide for himself if he is going to trust the source of the apk.

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Thanks @Thomas that works for me too

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Hi @Thomas, the files on apkpure for 7.11 and 7.12 have been uploaded as xapk which I haven’t been able to install on the Chromecast. Have you had any success with these?

Hi @Sandy_Thomson, sorry for getting back so late but family work etc. kept distracting me quite a lot :slight_smile:
I think you have to use the apkpure app or another “xapk installer” to install xapk files.
Since 7.12 is still working I did not invest any time yet but maybe I find some time in the next week.

Thanks @Thomas, I installed apkpure on the Chromecast and a couple of other similar installers but none of them were able to install any of the apkx apk or apks files I tried.

I’m stuck down at 7.8 which still works ok but it would be nice to get these newer versions working…

My experience of running Systm on Chromecast with Google TV has been fairly good, thanks to @Sandy_Thomson’s instructions above. I bought a cheap Bluetooth mouse to supplement the remote and the only “problem” is that the application starts in portrait mode, although it switches to landscape when starting a workout. I’ve tried to find a screen rotation app that is compatible with the device with limited success - the only one I could find is all in Spanish, which I don’t speak! Otherwise everything seems to work ok.

I’ve had the same problem installing the newer versions of Systm on my device. It seems that the XAPKs only provide support for certain hardware(?) architectures which unfortunately don’t include that used by the Chromecast with Google TV.

So, like you, I am stuck on version 7.8 but it is a better experience than screencasting from my phone to the Chromecast with Google TV. When doing that I found that the picture on the TV would freeze randomly for anything from a few seconds to 2 to 3 minutes, or longer, several times during each workout. This appears to be a bug related to my phone (OnePlus 8) albeit not something I have seen when casting from other applications like YouTube or GCN Racepass, etc. The other benefit is it frees up my phone to use for a different audio source for No Vid or drill workouts with no soundtrack.

Systm developers - any chance of supporting Chromecast with Google TV please?

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Congrats on getting it to work @charlesaberger.
For the screen rotation you could sideload an apk you downloaded with your phone. I used control screen rotation. This way you can get a English one. I’m using APK Extractor for this job. I have a description here a bit back in this thread. There is also a workaround described I needed.
The App is in English and working om my Android TV.
Edit: Sorry I forgot the context. I was talking about the Screen rotation app.

I’ve tried extracting the APK from my phone (and chromebook). It used to work but doesn’t any more. I suspect @charlesaberger is right about the architecture on the Chromecast not being included in the later APKs.

@Sandy_Thomson sorry I forgot to mention the context. I was talking about a screen rotation app for his problem.
Sideloading SYSTM is atm indeed not working due to a split apk from wahoo. Sadly I still did not find time to check further on this.

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