Over the holiday break, the team at FireCore released their long awaited flashing software, aTV Flash, giving Apple TVs everywhere the ability to stream local movies in any format, check the weather, and support for iPhone apps such as Remote HD. Here's how to get it onto your Apple TV 2G.
Ready to hack your AppleTV 2G? Just follow these 3 easy steps:
Things You'll Need:
- Apple TV 2G (small black model)
- A microUSB cable (get one here)
- Latest version of iTunes installed
- Disconnected all other iDevices from computer
- aTV Flash (black) software ($30)
Step 1: In order to hack your AppleTV, you'll need to 'jailbreak' it. Don't worry, this is completely legal. Just run over and download the latest copy of Seas0npass. Best to make sure no other iOS devices are plugged in at this point.
Step 2: Launch Seas0npass and select 'Create IPSW.' Connect your AppleTV into your computer with the microUSB cable when prompted (no power cable needed), let it do its magic, and then plug it back into your TV when it's finished.
Step 3: Install aTV Flash (black) and wait until it picks up your AppleTV 2G. This shouldn't take long. Once it picks it up, let it install the software package and then proceed to restart. Once it boots back up, proceed into the 'Manage Extras' tab and install whichever apps you want.
So what does all your hard work earn you? If you know and use MKV, AVI, MP4 files, your Apple TV now can play them. You can also use a built-in web browser for couch surfing and listen to Last.fm radio stations. And streaming files directly from any machine, Mac or PC, is made as easy as a few button presses. It's a big upgrade from the out-of-box Apple TV experience we can't recommend enough.
We also recommend checking out Media Player (streams pretty much anything you throw at it, and it even has subtitle support) and Remote HD (an iPhone remote app that makes typing anything into the AppleTV so much easier).
If you get stuck for any reason, check out FireCore's jailbreaking 101 for a more thorough walkthrough!
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Does this break any of the out of the box capabilities such as streaming apple lossless from itunes or renting/viewing itunes movies?
It is also easy to go back if you are unhappy with the results. This will not brick your Appletv in any way.
Luckily all of my movies are already compatible with this. And since I can stream multiple radio stations and music and podcasts, I'm going to pass. But this is great if you have multiple movie file types.
Nope, you can do pretty much everything you used to to, just now with a bunch of new features. Packages like aTV flash are great because it reduces the amount of hunting and pecking you have to do if you were to normally hack it yourself.
I've tried their latest update and it works pretty well. A few crashes here and there when you try to do too many things at once, but local movie streaming is awesome!
Is there a reason to go with aTV over xbmc?
This might be a stupid question, but with the built in web browser, can you play hulu videos?
In a nutshell, any HTML5 video can be streamed on the AppleTV.
Unfortunately since Hulu is still 100% Adobe Flash based, so it wouldn't be supported until Apple gets some contracts with them.
@Jose - the same reason I would give people for going with iPhone or iPad over a Windows or Android alternative - ease of setup. With xbmc (which is a great product), you still need to figure out what hardware to purchase to maximize the experience. With aTV, you kind of have all that taken care of for you (same can be said of a Boxee Box, I suppose, but I am kind of annoyed at them for their non-Boxee Box version support)
Hey Kaz. Thanks for the reply, but I meant on the apple tv 2 itself: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_Apple_TV_2
Can anyone tell me if this will finally allow ESPN3 access?
Oh and you can get hulu working on a hacked apple tv 2: http://www.appletvhacks.net/2011/03/02/how-to-watch-hulu-on-apple-tv-2/
I tried looking for the answer but couldn't find.
Will this allow Apple TV to play .wtv files?
wtf are .wtv files?
Oh my lord this is awesome.
I have tons of content in formats other than H264.
Another feature I've always wanted was the ability to edit the AppleTV menu. Now I don't have to see the TV and Music menu entries...nice and clean.
A bit unclear re the USB cable - can you not just use the one that connects the Apple TV to your TV? The article kind of says this when it says "and then plug it back into your TV when it's finished."
Thx
Oops ignore my question....