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My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

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Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#171

Post by anonymousab »

Adirael wrote: post #17

Since there doesn't exist a good panel without Smart TV capabilities, what I do is just don't give them access to the network. Everything runs through an Android Box connected to an HDMI or a PS4 when I want to use Netflix (I never managed to make it work on the Android box)

Eventually they'll just ship with some sort of connectivity out of the box.

If consumers are 'lucky' it will surface as something they can use. But the bare minimum of a persistent connection to load you ads and track your usage seems inevitable.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#172

Post by zeep »

TheCoreh wrote: post #144
tehwebguy wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it dangerous to open a modern TV? Might be worth finding the network chips and disconnecting or breaking them off.

Or just don't connect them to the network?

Any of them automatically connect to open wifi networks or maybe cellular networks?

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#173

Post by rapnie »

butterfi wrote: post #20

I have a Samsung TV with built in apps and a suspicious privacy policy, so I plugged in a Roku and never use the built in apps.

everything Samsung touches becomes an absolute privacy nightmare. when i got my GearVR i had to accept a 58 page (!) privacy policy [0] through the glasses (not 100% sure if that was for Samsung VR, or for an Oculus thing.. is FB, so figures)

Love VR but feel bad ever since.. going to ditch it, I think

[0] https://www.vrheads.com/vr-and-your-privacy-how-are-these-co...

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#174

Post by friedman23 »

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #162
skrebbel wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain this tweet to me? > But when @netflix and other content providers decline the use of their apps outside of integrated devices this is the hell we live in. I don't understand. I can just open a web browser on a little media center PC, connect it by HDMI, point it to Netflix and play a movie, right? (Admittedly I haven't tried because our Panasonic has Netflix and no ads or spy apps that I've notice…

You can definitely watch netflix on a computer connected via hdmi, running either windows or macos. You can watch netflix with a chromecast, with nvidia shield, there are endless choices. I like these external devices because i feel they are less likely to spy on me than crapware in a tv.

But netflix is tracking the same exact information that this Samba app is tracking

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#175

Post by skrebbel »

buro9 wrote: post #168
skrebbel wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain this tweet to me? > But when @netflix and other content providers decline the use of their apps outside of integrated devices this is the hell we live in. I don't understand. I can just open a web browser on a little media center PC, connect it by HDMI, point it to Netflix and play a movie, right? (Admittedly I haven't tried because our Panasonic has Netflix and no ads or spy apps that I've notice…

Content owners dictate in contractual terms the availability of their content in high definition (UHD, 4k, etc) be determined by the app securing access to the content. The result is that the higher quality content is only available on apps on closed platforms. So if you got a dumb panel and wanted high definition content, you'd still need to hook up something like the Nvidia Shield... essentially a closed platform (…

Right! Ok this makes sense. Any clue on why content owners do this? It seems a bit arbitrary.

Fortunately I'm the opposite of a videophile - I don't even know how High the Definition of our TV is. But I see your point, so indeed, a 4k dumb TV won't be able to show most Netflix content in 4k, correct? That's a major shame and pretty ridiculous.

edit: I just noticed that Netflix actually supports UHD on the Windows 10 app and on Microsoft Edge[0]. So running Windows on the media center PC appears to be a practical option.

[0] https://help.netflix.com/en/node/13444

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#176

Post by Spivak »

corrigible wrote: post #164
skrebbel wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain this tweet to me? > But when @netflix and other content providers decline the use of their apps outside of integrated devices this is the hell we live in. I don't understand. I can just open a web browser on a little media center PC, connect it by HDMI, point it to Netflix and play a movie, right? (Admittedly I haven't tried because our Panasonic has Netflix and no ads or spy apps that I've notice…

High-quality streaming doesn't really work outside of their dedicated apps, IIRC

So run tbe app on whatever device you want and play it on the TV. The web browser wasn't really a hard requirement.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#177

Post by corrigible »

kmeade wrote: post #118

We are recent "cord-cutters" with a brand new Sony 4K, Android-enabled TV. On our other TVs, we have a Roku and an Amazon Firestick. We use the builtin Sony apps because they were (essentially) free and are the only way we currently have to get 4K content. I noticed the Samba nonsense when I set up the TV and have declined to participate -- but guess what? The TV still regularly connects to the domain flingo.tv, whic…

If you could provide some packet captures from the TV, analysis is pretty straightforward...

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#178

Post by buro9 »

friedman23 wrote: post #174
NotSammyHagar wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can definitely watch netflix on a computer connected via hdmi, running either windows or macos. You can watch netflix with a chromecast, with nvidia shield, there are endless choices. I like these external devices because i feel they are less likely to spy on me than crapware in a tv.

But netflix is tracking the same exact information that this Samba app is tracking

Take a look at the Samba patents.

Samba have patents for how to communicate and track across the boundaries of security sandboxes for example.

Whereas Netflix on my Android that has NetGuard really is just talking to netflix.com and apparently not doing anything else bad.

I have zero expectations that an app won't track in-app use for that app... but Samba is (with the consent of the hardware provider who owns the local instance of Android) tracking everything it can across apps.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#179

Post by xvf22 »

polpo wrote: post #51
xvf22 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, I remember going through this debate awhile ago and settled on Vizio.

I don’t trust Vizio since they watched people’s viewing habits without people’s permission: https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14527360/vizio-smart-tv-tr... That’s worse than the Samba.tv app in the OP since Vizio didn’t even tell people they were doing it.

Ahh crap, didn't see that. Well I'm glad I kept the thing off the net.

What a mess, I'm really curious to see if there are any good choices. The trouble is what is good now may turn into a turd somewhere down the line.

Re: My Sony "smart" TV has updated itself and tried to force me to use a new app

#180

Post by na85 »

secabeen wrote: post #71
gambiting wrote: post #25

Yep, I used to use the Netflix app on my Sony TV (bravia W8) but after an update couple months ago it stopped working completely, Netflix just closes when I try to play anything. I actually have completely changed my opinion on OTA updates over the last few years - I don't want any updates. I want the software my phone/TV/car shipped with and I don't want to to change for the sake of updating, it's universally more p…

I agree, but things will still break with Netflix (or whoever) deprecates and then discontinues the API that they're using to access content.

Not if you consume Netflix through a media box.
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