Hello All, my Picopix just arrived today.
I downloaded the only app that I bought this for (football) from the Aptoide store and I get the error message that the app doesn’t work without play services.
Is there anyway to get around this? Screen mirroriny just showed a black screen.
Thanks in advance
No easy way to do it unfortunately. Someone was able to “hack” the PPM and install google play services but that’s not something you can do without big risks.
Sadly, this is a result of some companies controlling some aspects of our digital life. The same exact problem with PPM is being faced right now by Huawei because they can’t used google play services anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Philips pulls back from launching this to a retail market without fully overhauling the OS on the Device. I’m not too sure what they have done with the OS because I don’t have one yet, but looking over the forum it is very clear it’s far from fit for purpose and would pose very damaging to their Brand if released. It’s still early days and I wouldn’t expect them to launch the Product to launch till 2021, so they have a lot of time to build a profession Smart Projector. My understanding is Philips already uses Android TV within other product lines so why have they decided to go down a custom Android.
Hi @Krjstian_Domovina could you tell us which apps are crashing or problematic? We will help you solve it. Could you also clarify your meaning with ‘watered down Netflix and Youtube’ (as both these apps support Full HD resolution, in fact it’s one of the only projectors with Netflix in 1080p).
Also if you don’t need left/right keystone or BT audio, you can plug in another streaming player like FireTV or Apple TV to enjoy apps that are not available on PicoPix Max.
I read these comments and I’m thinking “What device are they talking about? It can’t be my precious little PicoPix Max, cause I don’t recognize any of these issues really…”
Hey IvoG maybe you can summon @Philips_Support_N to get him to at least clarify as to the hurdles they encountering and give us an update as to the problems they face, for nothing else it will show they are on top of the problems they are dealing with
Unfortunately I don’t own his lamp or bottle, so I can’t summon the genie out of it.
Hey ivoG I know you don’t. Nevertheless thank you
First of all: I do not get paid by Philips or Screeneo to beta test. Everyone is free to sign up as a beta tester, which you can only do AFTER you got a PPM to even test with. I backed this projector just like you (backer 456) and got mine February 1st, and only then could I start to test. So I can not have failed as a tester as I’m just a backer like you who got his device via the regular means: by backing this project with my own money.
I have this perspective simply because my PPM does NOT exhibit ANY of the things mentioned above or in your post.
NONE.
So again, how can I have failed at testing when I have a device that simply does NOT exhibit these flaws or issues that you wrote about? 
What’s the exact name and version of this app that you downloaded and crashes?
In fact, please list the name of all the apps that crash with their version numbers, and please also list your firmware version.
I never said nor insinuated that. If that’s what you got out of it then that’s a shame, cause i was genuinely wondering what you’re struggling with that I’m not.
All apps that can be downloaded aren’t created equal, sometimes apps are buggy themselves. I have one app that doesn’t fully work because it shows free content but for premium content wants to use the GPS / Geolocation services, which (understandably) aren’t fully available on this device, and when it doesn’t get a proper coordinate or location just crashes. Is that the fault of Philips/Screeneo? I hardly think so.
How do you think Apple, Microsoft, and other tech giants find out about the bugs that they produce patches for, AFTER having already sold you their products? 
Answer: the users find the issues and report them 
This is even more the case in a user backed project like this. Wen this campaign started the specs weren’t even finalized nor the first production unit even made, so I think your expectations were simply not correct if you thought you’d be buying a final product that was finished and completely bug free. In my opinion nothing made by humans is.
Thanks for your info
I have to say this: I use my LG Pico projector more than my Philips. Why? Because LG made their’s “dumb” . I plug in a Fire Stick into it or my iPhone to play videos.
Philips ASOP build is not a pleasant experience. It is slow, chunky, and unable to access the many benefits of Android TV. New projectors are coming out or are out with Android TV built in. They have approvals from Google. The things that Philips stated that touch screen or something else needs to be present for approval is not completely accurate.
The things I do like about the Philips is the brightness (lumens), resolution (1080p), USB-C connection. These are some of the main benefits I like about this by not carrying extra adapters.
Agreed. I don’t see why I should need to plug in an external media player to use Google apps etc. They might aswell of not made this half baked Android projector.
I fail to see how Kugi’s reply and my first two comments have any relationship with each other.
As I said before, my device does what I want it to do, without crashing apps: it allows me to enjoy hours on end of entertainment and even work now and again.
The fact that it doesn’t have Android TV, Google certification, or the Google Play services does not affect any of the apps I use on it, nor makes my apps crash. So that’s why I said I don’t recognize these issues.
I’m not calling you a liar and you’re entitled to have your views and expectations, as well as to choose who to respond or listen to. I’ve been engaged and tried to have a conversation with you about your frustrations, tried to get you to share not only the frustrations but your actual list of problems in detail so I can try stuff out for myself and see if I could replicate these issues and work towards a solution if possible. I’d still like to know that actually despite all you’ve said about and towards me, not only to help you but to help the whole community and ultimately myself to a better product.
Hi @Krjstian_Domovina please refrain from this without being aware of all facts. These are decisions made by Google and Netflix.
We have repeatedly tried to negotiate with them since late 2018, long before the campaign was launched (not only for PicoPix Max but also for other products), but to no avail. This has been common knowledge through the entire campaign.
For Netflix, despite their active attempts to block this, we have preloaded a modified version of Netflix so that you may enjoy Full HD quality on the projector. This is why you are advised not to update it. Once you say No the first time, it shouldn’t nag you again, but if it does, please contact Netflix.
If you would like more details, feel free to get in touch with me, I will be happy to give you a call and explain.
Any other questions where you feel we are not being completely honest, please feel free to ask, I will answer as best as I can. Thanks.
Yeah I don’t even have Netflix. Can I have Android TV?
We aren’t on the Netflix whitelist anyways so we will never have official support. Seems silly to hinder the whole OS just for a hacked version of Netflix.
I’ve resorted to plugging in an Android TV box but this kind of defeats the whole reason I backed this projected. What we wanted and expected was an all in one Android projector. Not to have to plug anything in to get decent Android support.
Knowing what I know today, and I even have GMS on my projector, I would not have backed this projector.