Smart TV's

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Let's say a TV doesn't come with My 5 for example, could you download that onto your TV or are the they restricted to what is there?

Yes you can do that. We did it, so it must be easy.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Let's say a TV doesn't come with My 5 for example, could you download that onto your TV or are the they restricted to what is there?

AFAIK all the mainstream apps are in all of the stores, so you can get them through Firestick, or a Samsung TV, Sony, Cheap TVs etc. Mine isn't android but all manner of apps are on there. I would check and see what app store the prospective TV uses and then google to see what apps are available on it. My guess is, 99% of what most people want to use are on most TVs.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Just purchased a LG “Magic” remote control as the one that came with our (2year old ) TV was the basic one.
While waiting for it to arrive I did a YouTube search for the model and found a UK bloke taking you through what all the buttons did, various shortcuts etc. One thing that grabbed my attention was the abilty to assign one of the TV’s built in apps to any number button on the remote control. Then by holding down the number for a few seconds instead of pressing it, the app is immediately loaded. I’ll have a play around with that, probably assign “5” to “Myfive” etc.
He also mentioned that that particular shortcut works on the original remote too.

 

[vickster]

2020 LG TVs don’t support any catch up other than iplayer I believe

 

[Tenkaykev]

There’s a couple of TV recommendations up thread so I’ll chip in with mine. We recently bought a new TV for our daughter. We got a “Hisense” 43” from John Lewis, £299 and absolutely excellent. It came with a 5 year JL warranty as standard.

 

[Chislenko]

My TV is a cheapo "Digihome" from Tesco, it's 43" 4K and was £269. It is fantastic in most respects. I use a Firestick on it, and it's hooked up to hifi speakers. As soon as you plug in or wake up the Firestick, it switches to that source. This can be chnaged in the Firestick settings if you want (so you can have the TV turn on to normal TV and not revert to Firestick unless you switch sources manually).

I have experienced quite a few budget TVs and they all seem to be very much the same. I was setting up my Dad's £600 Sony and although the picture was slightly bettter, the app menus etc were actually slower and more cumbersome than I'm used to. So even now, I'd rather get a cheap set and pair it with a Firestick and good speakers, than buy an expensive TV. I don't notice any issues with deep blacks or indeed any part of the picture (I guess it's what you get used to) from a cheap TV.

This was my preferred route Andy but Mrs.C accuses me of not keeping up with the times!

I am not much of a TV watcher to be honest that's why the simpler the solution the better as I really can't be bothered with modern technology.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

While waiting for it to arrive I did a YouTube search for the model and found a UK bloke taking you through what all the buttons did, various shortcuts etc. One thing that grabbed my attention was the abilty to assign one of the TV’s built in apps to any number button on the remote control. Then by holding down the number for a few seconds instead of pressing it, the app is immediately loaded. I

That sounds good. Have you a link?

 

[Sharky]

Glad you posted this about the apps. I appreciate you get the apps that come preloaded but can you download extra apps or is it all about who is in bed with who so to speak.

Let's say a TV doesn't come with My 5 for example, could you download that onto your TV or are the they restricted to what is there?

Just checked our Kitchen (sony) and it only has iPlayer, Prime and Netflix. No itv hub or my5, It has an automatic software refresh, but could not see how to download new apps and the software is up to date.
Also has Youtube which is very useful.

 

[Milkfloat]

My personal opinion is not to care too much about the smart apps on the TV. Within a couple of years the manufacturer will stop support and move on to something else and stop support. All our TVs are smart and have most of the apps, but they are all slower, buggier and worse quality than a FireTv stick, so we don't use them at all and have a FireTv on each TV.

 

[Mo1959]

Both my LG oled and my Samsung QLED have all the usual apps. Iplayer, ITV hub, channel 4 and 5 catch up, amazon prime, netflix, youtube, etc. I wanted STV player too and it was a simple search and download for that too. Sometimes when you first want to watch iplayer, itv hub, etc you have to register for a free account online first and you then get a code to type in and that’s it set up for future use.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My personal opinion is not to care too much about the smart apps on the TV. Within a couple of years the manufacturer will stop support and move on to something else and stop support. All our TVs are smart and have most of the apps, but they are all slower, buggier and worse quality than a FireTv stick, so we don't use them at all and have a FireTv on each TV.

We've just bought a new Sony, currentlythe Apps are as quick if not quicker than a 2 year old Firestick, whether that continues is another matter.

As to the Source question, with the Sony you press the button, all your options come up across the button of the screen you then navigate across to the one you want.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Sometimes when you first want to watch ipayer, itv hub, etc you have to register for a free account online first and you then get a code to type in and that’s it set up for future use.

Just on this, I was dreading having to remember all the usernames & passwords for all the Apps, as they are all random, but on most I just had to visit a page on the website, it gave me a code which I put in to gain access & they immediately knew who I was & what I had been watching, favourites etc.

 

[Mo1959]

Just on this, I was dreading having to remember all the usernames & passwords for all the Apps, as they are all random, but on most I just had to visit a page on the website, it gave me a code which I put in to gain access & they immediately knew who I was & what I had been watching, favourites etc.

It’s really great. Don’t know how we used to manage with 3 channels! It even remembers where you are in a series and asks if you want to resume from where you left off which is handy.

 

[Chislenko]

Both my LG oled and my Samsung QLED have all the usual apps. Iplayer, ITV hub, channel 4 and 5 catch up, amazon prime, netflix, youtube, etc. I wanted STV player too and it was a simple search and download for that too. Sometimes when you first want to watch iplayer, itv hub, etc you have to register for a free account online first and you then get a code to type in and that’s it set up for future use.

I would imagine STV player would be managed / incorporated into the parent company (is it the BBC?) so should not be a problem.

We have an equivalent called S4c clic which sits on the BBC platform.

 

[Tenkaykev]

That sounds good. Have you a link?

That sounds good. Have you a link?

Here's the link:

View: https://youtu.be/hCRQ9IvggwE


It gets even better. I was having a play around with my new toy I was researching the functions of the remote control and had assigned the number 5 to "MyFive". I'd assigned number 4 to All4 though we rarely use it and thought "I wonder..." I selected BBC iPlayer from the TV Apps and opened it up, navigated through the BBC channels to BBC4 and selected that, then assigned it to Number 4 on the remote. I have just tested it and the shortcut works! just press and hold the number 4 on the remote and it now brings up BBC4 on the screen without having to navigate through the iPlayer app