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Television Android IOS IT

Samsung's Older Smart TVs Are Losing Remote Control App Support (engadget.com) 66

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Samsung is killing its Smart View app for Android and iOS, which serves as a remote control for its older smart TVs. From a report: The company has updated the application's descriptions to announce that it will no longer be supported starting on October 5th. Android Police first spotted the changes and noted that, in addition to its capability as a remote control, Smart View can also beam music and media to the company's TVs. It's unclear how Samsung defines "older" -- hence which all models will be impacted.
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Samsung's Older Smart TVs Are Losing Remote Control App Support More

Samsung's Older Smart TVs Are Losing Remote Control App Support

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  • it includes my 7 series samsung..
    • Was that one of the ones that was built with the cheap caps? I had one, had to install new ones in the power supply board. I mean like WTF

      • Is that veritcal lines, and whonking the back of the Samsung TV gives you some glorious nostalgia for the 1970s?

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by sixoh1 ( 996418 )

          Did you try turning the "vertical-hold" potentiometer?

          And why does that make me sound like a cheesy MST3k sci-fi movie ("Did you try turning the intensifier disk 15 degrees to the left"....)

  • More like DUMB TV better to have an box then tv run any apps.
    Also an box has more sound out choices

  • Retroactive Feature Abortion (Score:4, Insightful)

    by raydobbs ( 99133 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:14PM (#59918520) Homepage Journal

    Samsung really needs to not partake in this practice - it makes people think they didn't make a good choice when they purchased a Samsung whatever. I know I already have that feeling about buying HP printers ever since they started removing features to sell newer network-attached printing devices.

    • I dunno what cruel mastermind manage to take over the Printer industry, but some of the stuff I read about from there is nuts. Was HP the one with DRM on their cartrages or something? And some sort of messed-up anti-refill technology?

      • Re:Retroactive Feature Abortion (Score:5, Informative)

        by IWantMoreSpamPlease ( 571972 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:51PM (#59918626) Homepage Journal

        You are correct about HP. I had a client wreck a $10k HP colour printer, because they put in aftermarket carts, and the printer ate itself. HP flatly stated this was by design so you had to buy "official" HP carts and would not honour the warranty.
        i never recommend HP printers, or PCs for that matter, because of schemes like that.

      • Re:Retroactive Feature Abortion (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Voyager529 ( 1363959 ) <voyager529@yahoo. c o m> on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:58PM (#59918646)

        I dunno what cruel mastermind manage to take over the Printer industry, but some of the stuff I read about from there is nuts. Was HP the one with DRM on their cartrages or something? And some sort of messed-up anti-refill technology?

        Yes, but as much as I have fundamental issues with the system, I don't think HP was technically in the wrong in that case. HP tried turning printing into 'printing as a service', where users would subscribe for a few bucks a month and HP would send out cartridges on a monthly basis that would time bomb, regardless of how much ink was left. Old cartridges would be sent back, and the cycle began anew.

        I don't like the idea of subscribing to anything that time bombs like that, including printing. I generally try to avoid SaaS platforms expressly for that reason. However, if people are going to opt into a subscription model, I'm not going to crucify HP for using DRM to enforce it.

        • honestly where I will use the SAAS setup is if I'm evaluating something? e.g. currently wanting to learn about mongoDB---I don't want to have to mess around with setting it up, so I'm using their atlas evaluation? If things pan out and I want to proceed further, I will switch over to something that is fully under my control?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by epine ( 68316 )

          Yes, but as much as I have fundamental issues with the system, I don't think HP was technically in the wrong in that case.

          The implication is that by installing the wrong carts, the printer turned itself into a very expensive brick. Did it really need to go that far? Or was HP just being the asshole corporation they lost their original founder's moral compass?

          No other IT company to my knowledge has ever fallen so far, so fast, from such a high place as HP, which once used to be synonymous with "the HP way",

          • The closest thing remaining to the "real HP" is Agilent, not either of the companies that still bear the HP name (HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise).
    • From a US perspective, wouldn't this fall under similar consumer protection violations that led to Sony having to settle the Other OS case? And doesn't the EU have much stronger protections that could really hurt Samsung? I seem to recall digital goods as part of a purchase having some pretty consumer friendly language regarding negatively altering functionality

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Why can't they just keep the old version of the app available for people who need it? Is there some technical reason or is it just that they can't be bothered?

      • It may not work on newer versions of mobile OSes without being updated. It's also possible that the app requires some server-side support to work, so the old one will stop working if they shut down the server software that works with it. And they just can't be bothered to provide an update that continues to support their older devices.

        Even if you use a separate streaming box, as everybody who owns a smart TV will eventually be forced to do as the streaming features in the TV get old and obsolete, there are

  • Smart TVs always miss the mark (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Neitokun ( 882224 ) <nmalynn@gmail.com> on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:20PM (#59918544) Homepage
    I'm not exactly averse to IoT products (I really do enjoy my smart lights), but it seems like Smart TVs always miss the mark on this kinda stuff (Too slow to update, to slow to USE, pointless buttons on the remote for long-dead services, wasn't Samsung the one caught slipping ads into shows or something using their Smart TVs or did I just hallucinate that?) Like, the only product I'm less willing to buy than a smart TV would be a smart lock.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by waspleg ( 316038 )

      I have 2, they absolutely put ads in the fucking task bar app selection thing. This is the same bullshit Roku does, by the way (I've had an XS 2 for a very long time, which is basically useless to me at this point), they're hardly alone.

      I do like the support for Netflix/YouTube/Plex etc but other things are certainly left to be desired. Like this bullshit and artificially dropping support to try to force upgrades, shady product variations in SKUs and shit makes actually buying what you need harder, but ag

    • Re:Smart TVs always miss the mark (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ardmhacha ( 192482 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @04:41PM (#59918770)

      I have a Samsung Smart TV but I never use the apps on it. I use either the apps on my Tivo box or Fire Stick
      .
      If I was to do it again I would buy the biggest "dumb" TV I could get and keep all the "smart" stuff for the peripherals

      • Yes, do that. I've never bought a smart TV, and I've never understood the point of them. The interfaces I've seen (when visiting family with smart TVs), are just so flippin' slow. And then you have to worry if it supports the things you want, or if they will into the future. Or if it's collecting data on you or using your internet connection for things you don't want or know about.

        Just get a dumb TV, plug your preferred device into the HDMI slot and you're set. And if that device ever fails or doesn't

      • Good luck. I tried to find a dumb TV the last time around, and there weren't any I could find. There are a few large monitors, like you would use for a trade show available, but they are incredibly expensive. I gave up and bought a new OLED for the picture quality. I'm happy with the interface now, but who knows in five years. I sandbox it with my pi-hole, and haven't had anything annoying pop up on it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I have a Panasonic and an LG smart TV and use YouTube on both of them. The Panasonic is 8 years old now and the app chugs a bit but is usable. Main issue is that it doesn't support 60 fps which is essential for games. The LG one is responsive enough and supports 4k60 so I don't see a reason to upgrade at the moment.

      If/when I get fed up with either I'll get an Nvidia shield or something. For now though the smart functionality works fine, gets updates (even on the 8 year old Panasonic the YouTube app is regul

    • It's getting increasingly difficult to avoid buying a smart TV. Nearly all TVs on the market now have some smart features built in. There is nothing, however, that compels you to use them; you can unplug the TV from the internet and use a separate streaming device with it.

      The TVs with Roku or Fire TV built in aren't bad; at least their smart features work well. But you still have to expect that you will have to buy a new streaming box in five years and use the TV as a dumb display for the rest of its lifeti

  • Step 1: How many people do they need to buy new TVs to hit sales targets.

    Step 2: Line up TVs still in use from oldest to newest and kill all models before the line calculated in Step 1.

    Step 3: Profit No ? needed

  • The TV should be infrastructure for all the shorter-lived featureful devices. I want it to look good, be reliable, and otherwise not make me think about it. I can replace an obsolete older Roku/AppleTV/FireStick/whatever multiple times for a fraction of what a big TV costs.

  • why not root and replace the OS on a TV?

    then:

    sudo apt install kodi

    sudo youtube-dl -U

    sudo apt install vlc

  • I dread the day my dumb TV dies (Score:3)

    by sinij ( 911942 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:38PM (#59918600)
    I have no idea how entire industry can get so anti-consumer, but I absolutely do not want to have a network-connected TV or any smart features.

    • I have no idea how entire industry can get so anti-consumer, but I absolutely do not want to have a network-connected TV or any smart features.

      There are still a few non-smart tv's around, check at your favorite retailer. Or just make sure it can't do any networking when installed.

      You can mess around with settings on your router to block your tv....

      • Re:I dread the day my dumb TV dies (Score:4, Informative)

        by FaxeTheCat ( 1394763 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @04:53PM (#59918808)
        No need to block the TV. You just do not give it the WIFI password.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by antdude ( 79039 )

          Eventually they will require Internet, include cellular, etc. :(

          • It's almost impossible to find a "dumb" TV these days. Mine is about 10 years old, no apps whatsoever, just a standard remote. The only inputs I have are OTA (over-the-air) antenna ATSC 1.0 and HDMI for the blu-ray/dvd. I love it.

            The next great disruption coming is ATSC 3.0 OTA. Everyone will have to buy new TVs (or--blast from the past--converter boxes). Instead of digitized video streams the video will now come OTA as IP packets just like Netflix. Plug your TV into the network and the broadcasters will kn

    • So just do not connect the TV to the network, and ignore the smart features. Works great.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by slazzy ( 864185 )
      My TV is pretty old and I'm not sure how the new ones work, can't you just use the HDMI input on the new ones and not connect to your wifi or ethernet? If not, I'm tempted to go buy a few used dumb TVs for the day mine breaks. I use Linux on an old intel box for the "smart" in my TV.
  • I have this at my home. its basically a master pod with rf adapters attached to it that send the signal al la universal remote. if you link your phone to an account you can control the master pod.

  • If a TV needs a cloud service (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @04:17PM (#59918680)

    to maintain features that it had out-of-the-box, then it's a dumb TV, not a smart one. Anyone who buys a 'Smart TV' should be prepared for the eventual loss of some of its features, and should also be prepared to be spied upon so long as those features are active, and possibly even after they've been disappeared. Either that, or deny it a network connection, ignore the built-in TV functionality altogether, and plan from the get-go to use it only as a monitor.

  • Android box + Kodi will always have supported remote control apps.
  • Samsung made the switch to the Tizen OS starting with their 2014 Smart TVs [cnet.com]. I have noticed problems with various apps become worse over the last several years on the older Samsung Smart TVs. I certainly wouldn't expect a Samsung TV *not* running Tizen OS to have any of its connected apps to continue working indefinitely . . . and it's kind of surprising that some of the connected stuff still works at all.
  • I've had my TV since 2012, an early generation of "Smart" television. In the past few years, more and more apps (Amazon Video, Amazon Music, EuroNews, BBC News) have become unusable. I expected this, as most manufacturers stop supporting an "old" TV after several years. In the next few years or so, I expect my TV to effectively be a dumb TV as no apps will function anymore. Good thing I got a Roku Ultra a couple years ago, as that should be supported for some time. And when that becomes obsolete (even Roku

  • So glad I didn't buy a Samsung (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I have never trusted any corporation, but they seem like one of the worst in terms of commitment. These big corporations are so corrupt and the senior people so incompetent, that if they couldn't buy talent, they'd have zero future, but as it is, they just buy their way to continued survival using other people's money. What surprises me is how many people buy into the corporate parasitic economy and actual revel in it. No wonder the world's going to hell.

  • "It's unclear how Samsung defines "older" -- hence which all models will be impacted."

    Exactly 1 minute past the warranty expiration for the product or service warranted to the first purchaser.

    Then you're fucked.

    (and you probably agreed to the TOS (the fucking) before the product would function as it was offered, as you didn't return it at that point)

  • Any product/service/brand/human that calls itself 'smart' is lying.

  • THIS is why I moved to vizio (Score:5, Insightful)

    by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @05:13PM (#59918868) Journal
    I used to use samsung, but about 5 years ago, they quit updating one of the my expensive blu-ray players, such that it could only play DVDs. That was a $250 blu-ray converted to a $25 DVD player. What it told me was that Samsung would continue to play games.
    Vizio has chromecast as their main OS, which is a thin layer on a stripped android. From a security POV, this makes it harder to crack. From a maintenance POV, it makes it easy to stay up. As such, vizio is able to allow google to do the core item while they focus on improving things providing on-line channels.

    Funny thing is, I switch from Sony to Samsung, because Sony had dropped their customer care and their TVs were not impressive after several years. Hopefully, Vizio learned from their mistakes.

    • You moved from Expensive Sony to less expensive (at the time) Samsung. Then you moved from expensive samsung to less expensive (at the time) Vizio.

      Even if you have to leave vizio for greener (and less expensive) pastures, at least you are wasting less money with each move, which is nice. Which is a sensible move.

      Congrats on the strategy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Vizio has its own issues. Their apps are so slow and buggy like YouTube!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kaenneth ( 82978 )

      You were a fool to buy into Blu-Ray in the first place. Way too much DRM and revocation ability for you to say you 'own' anything on that format.

      • You were a fool to buy into Blu-Ray in the first place. Way too much DRM and revocation ability for you to say you 'own' anything on that format.

        How else do you get a physical disc with 1080p (or 4k or 8k)? I've seen too many streaming services remove titles from their catalog or go belly up.

  • This includes my Series 6 that I bought in Christmas 2017. Simply amazing that a barely 2 year old TV is "older" and obsolete.

  • Just hack the firmware ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by psergiu ( 67614 ) on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @10:33PM (#59919938)

    https://www.samygo.tv/ [samygo.tv]
    SammyGO - jailbreak your Samsung Smart TV.

  • How about just letting the current App, which still works in the appstore (or add is as a new separate version so people can still keep using it). There isn't a reason why it shouldn't keep working as it has always worked before.
  • They newer app they are pushing on people as a replacement is cost the user $20 to use ad free. If you don't pay, the ads are incessant. This is nothing more than trying to squeeze extra money from people who haven't bought a new TV.

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