ring-to-android-tv

A nodejs application that acts as a bridge between ring-client-api and the PiPup Android application in order to view Ring Doorbell camera events on Android TVs like the Nvidia SHIELD.

Updates

Update - July 01, 2021

• I no longer have access to a Ring device, so this project will not receive updates in the future. If you wish to maintain this project, please open an issue. Thank you!

v2.0.0 - Oct 01, 2020

• BREAKING CHANGES: Use of token.txt and script variables are deprecated. These values are now stored in a .env file. See .env.example for an example.

Requirements

• Android TV
• nodejs Server (a Raspberry Pi works fine)
• Ring API Token for 2FA Bypass (instructions below)

Setup

1. Install PiPup on your Android TV. Follow instructions on the PiPup page to gain access to the public beta.

2. Use ADB Shell to grant overlay permissions - see instructions below in ADB Shell over Network section.

   adb shell appops set nl.rogro82.pipup SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow

   Note: if using the Remote ADB Shell app, you must omit adb shell

3. Install node and git on your server, if not already.

4. Clone the ring-to-android-tv repo.

   git clone https://github.com/stevenflesch/ring-to-android-tv.git

5. Run npm install in the ring-to-android-tv folder.

   cd ring-to-android-tv

   npm install

6. Copy the .env.example file to .env to configure your installation.

   cp .env.example .env

7. Open .env in your editor and replace the R2ATV_IP_ADDRESS variable with the IP of your AndroidTV.

8. Generate an API token and save it to .env. Copy the key value only, no quotes. Note: keep this secret, as it allows complete access to your Ring account.

   npx -p ring-client-api ring-auth-cli

   Save token to .env line like so:

   R2ATV_API_TOKEN=MYAPITOKEN

9. Test the script using --test flag.

   node app.js --test

   Note: If you want to test a different camera, you can use a different camera by specifying a location,camera like --test 0,0. List your locations by typing node app.js --list.

10. Run the application!

    node app.js

11. Optional: Install the app as a service with instructions below.

ADB Shell over Network

If you'd like to execute the adb shell command with your Android phone, you can do so with a free app called Remote ADB Shell. Follow these instructions to do so:

1. On your Android TV, open Settings.
2. Open Device Preferences -> About.
3. Scroll down to Build and click on it several times rapidly to enable Developer Mode.
4. Press back button, scroll down to Developer options.
5. Scroll down and enable Network debugging.
6. Open Remote ADB Shell on your phone.
7. Connect to your Android TV.
8. Execute the following command: appops set nl.rogro82.pipup SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow
9. You can now disable Network debugging if you desire, for security purposes.

Run as a Service

In order to run ring-to-android-tv as a service, you'll need to install the forever and forever-service npm packages and edit your crontab to run the script at startup. Follow the directions below.

1. Install forever.js and forever-service.js. In this example, we are installing it globally, which requires root priviledges.

   sudo npm install forever forever-service -g

2. Navigate to script directory.

   cd ring-to-android-tv/

3. Install service with provided JSON configuration.

   sudo forever-service install ring-to-android-tv

4. *Note: you can check that the script is running by entering: sudo service ring-to-android-tv status

Updating the Script

To update the script, simply cd to the app directory and run git pull.

cd ring-to-android-tv/ && git pull

Configuration

Option	Explanation
R2ATV_IP_ADDRESS	Address of the IP address of the Android TV running PiPup. Required.
R2ATV_DISPLAY_TIME	Time, in seconds, to display popup notifications.
R2ATV_API_TOKEN	API Token used from Ring

License & Contributions

License

This application is released under an MIT license.

Contributions

Please submit contributions with a pull request, they are very welcome!

Acknowledgements

A huge thank you to both rogro82 for the PiPup application and dgreif for the ring-client-api library.