I've always seen Apple TV as the least-bad option compared to Roku/Fire/whatever Google is doing these days/literally any built-in solution.
If this was your original statement, I think we all would be on your side - I even use an Apple TV 4k personally and love it. It definitely is the best in the market for what it does.
> it's the one box I can (reasonably) trust to not be mining my viewing habits for data.
Instead, you framed it as the only privacy-friendly option and that is logically and factually incorrect.
They come with different tradeoffs wrt price, A/V quality, user interface, privacy, etc.
For me, the #1 thing is A/V quality. I don’t care about price, but most people do.
(There are also some boxes made specifically for this, usually sold as development platforms for STB products, marketed based on what SoC they contain. Though they’ll tend to be $200, while the random “finished product” streaming box will be more like $30. Both come with decent remotes.)
Is there any examples of this that isn't an obscure model last sold in 2015? This would be quite compelling as an alternative to a Linux box, especially now that hardware is expensive again. You don't really need Netflix et al if you can open a Web browser and head for the sea.
I'm also interested in alternatives, but LineageOS on a cheap box isn't really one.
You don't need Netflix, Prime, or Disney+. Don't be a sheep, build a collection of Linux ISOs and/or use your Web browser. There is plenty of content out there.
“Content”. Yuck. I’m a discerning series and film watcher.