When I was in university, one of the source materials required was at an absurd price. The lecturer made a point that it makes no sense to spend that much money on something we are unlikely to use beyond the module, so she encouraged us to use Z-Library and provided links. I really miss her, she was an absolutely fantastic lecturer.
You’re right in that you’d have to install an APK, from outside of the Play Store, however if you’re aware of the right sources of the right apps your security should be fine (you can disable the ability to install apps from unknown sources after you’ve got the YouTube alternative app, without affecting it, if you’re worried about that).
There are a few steps, which are usually straight forward, listed here: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTube
If you follow that link it should have further links for an installation tutorial (they also link a YouTube tutorial to make things easier).
If you do go down that route, it’s a much more pleasant experience imho. No ads, Sponsorblock for in-video ad segments, complete control over quality of video, audio, options to manually force specific codecs, etc.
Do you have the option to install Android apps onto your TV? Or if it has another OS with the option?
I did an upgrade, instead of a clean install, to the same version. I just had to reinstall my graphics driver and everything works as before, I just went through another step to remove some programs and it’s been smooth sailing since.
Massgrave.dev provided what I needed. Was a breeze.
I remember, in university, at the start of a Latin American History class the lecturer walks in with boxes and straight up asks, “SO WHO WANTS TO DO COCAINE?!?”
Then proceeds to take out coca leaf tea bags, offers everyone a cup, and explains how she was intentionally wrong in her statement to highlight a big issue. She explained the Native use of coca leaf, and how they have suffered from people using their sacred herb in concentrated and illicit ways.
She also gave me a box to take home, because I said it helped with my stomach cramps (medical issue), and it really did. No addiction felt either.
With some teachers you can really tell how passionate they are.
This is what I use. Stremio, Torrentio add-on for Torrent sources, and a bit of tinkering so I don’t see the paid options. Works pretty well for single episodes of some shows (for others I download the box set).
Edit: I mean it works for full shows, but when I really like a show enough I’ll have a hard drive copy.