[New App Shortcut]: Crave tv app

[PRProd]

App Name

Crave tv app

Can this app be freely downloaded through official means?

• Yes

Optional Comments

Requested by @clinds34 on Nov 11, 2022 in #6

[PRProd]

@clinds34 - Maybe it's because I'm in the US, but when I try installing the "Crave TV" app on my device, the download page says "Unavailable". Without being able to download it for myself, it might take a while to get this added. Would you be willing to help me with some testing?

If we are lucky, I'll only need you to do this:

• Launch the app on your device
• In Home Assistant, click on Developer Tools -> States
• Find your Fire TV entity by scrolling, or clicking the "set state" bar, and searching for it
• Reply to this post with the contents found in the Attributes column or the "State attributes (YAML, optional)" box

[clinds34]

Hi - Can verify that the Bell Fibe TV works like a charm. Thank you.

Here are the attributes as requested. I have removed the token. I assume that you can't access due to licensing issues. I hope I haven't created a nightmare for you.

source_list: Crave
app_id: ca.bellmedia.cravetv
source: Crave
adb_response: Starting: Intent { cmp=ca.bell.tv.firetv/ca.bell.fiberemote.tv.MainTvActivity }
Warning: Activity not started, its current task has been brought to the front
hdmi_input: null
device_class: tv
entity_picture: /api/media_player_proxy/media_player.fire_tv?
token=xxxxxxxx
friendly_name: Fire TV
supported_features: 22961

[PRProd]

Pre-release v1.8.1 is available for testing now. @clinds34 - please let me know how the testing goes.

[clinds34]

It is not working on the v1.8.1 version. I get the updated crave button but no action on tv when pressed.

attributes rechecked and same as above if load from screen.

[PRProd]

Pre-release v1.8.2 is available for testing now. @clinds34 - please let me know how the testing goes.

[clinds34]

1.8.2 is not working either

[PRProd]

Bummer. Thanks for the feedback. I'll see if I can figure out something else on my end.

[PRProd]

Pre-release v1.8.3 is available for testing now. @clinds34 - please let me know how the testing goes. Hopefully third time's a charm.

[clinds34]

sorry not yet. but there was this in the attibutes

adb_response: >-
Starting: Intent { cmp=ca.bellmedia.cravetv/awl.application.MainActivity }

Error type 3

Error: Activity class {ca.bellmedia.cravetv/awl.application.MainActivity} does
not exist.
hdmi_input: null
device_class: tv
friendly_name: Fire TV 192.168.1.198
supported_features: 22961
source: Crave
entity_picture: >-
/api/media_player_proxy/media_player.fire_tv?
token=xxxxxxxx
source_list:

• Crave
  app_id: ca.bellmedia.cravetv

If there is some enhanced bugging I can do (I have been digging around in ADB app but no luck yet), I would be happy to try to help.

[PRProd]

If you have an easy way to send ADB commands to your device, that would help A LOT! We can make this happen!

Ultimately, we need to come up with a command that causes the crave app to open and/or come to the top. We have tried two different methods that HA uses to talk to media player devices which didn't work in this case. On the third attempt, we tried to use the following ADB command:

adb shell am start -n ca.bellmedia.cravetv/awl.application.MainActivity

This command actually works for me on my sideloaded version of the crave app... well... sort of. It launches the app, and then the app crashes right away. Sideloading is a dangerous practice, but if you happen to have a copy of the .apk file for the crave app that your device is using, I could take it from there... I'm sure you didn't sideload it to begin with, so I'd assume you don't have the .apk file. Not a problem at all.

Since that didn't work on my end, here's how you can help out: First, open the crave app on your device, and then prepare your ADB tool to send a command to it. run the following command:

adb shell dumpsys window windows | grep -E 'mCurrentFocus|mFocusedApp|mInputMethodTarget|mSurface'

In that response, you will see a few clues that might help assemble the final working command. You are specifically looking for something that likely begins with "ca.bellmedia...." then a slash, and then some more. In my testing, I found "ca.bellmedia.cravetv/awl.application.MainActivity" (yours will be different)

The next step will be to send a command containing the thing that you found. You can test this command in two different ways. You can either use your ADB tool that you were talking about, or you can use the Developer Tools inside HA to directly send ADB commands to your device. ( Developer Tools -> Services -> Android TV: ADB command ) You'll ultimately want to send a command that begins with adb shell am start -n and then append the "clue" that you found to the end of the command.

For example: adb shell am start -n ca.bellmedia.cravetv/awl.application.MainActivity (yours will be different)

If you have something that works, then HOORAY! Let me know! If not, you might have to do a little more detective work.

In some more frustrating cases, I've needed to run the adb shell dumpsys window windows | grep -E 'mCurrentFocus|mFocusedApp|mInputMethodTarget|mSurface' command over and over and over again while I use my other hand and launch the application on the Fire device. If you're lucky, you might happen to catch one or more intermediate activities that you can try to use in your launch command. It's not always an easy process, but it is satisfying when you finally nail it down. :-)

Let me know if I can clarify anything, if you need help, or if you have some amazing success that we can celebrate together! Good luck!