Samsung TV smarthub apps disappearing

[Fluke]

Has anyone else noticed that the Channel 4 and My5 streaming apps have disappeared from the smart hub on their Samsung telly? I use them quite a lot along with iPlayer, YouTube, and when I'm subscribed Netflix. I've no idea what all the others are. When ITVhub went over to ITVX I got warned in advance that it would no longer be supported and eventually it disappeared but no such warnings have been given about C4 and C5, they've just vanished. I've tried resetting the smart hub but that's just resulted in even more apps I don't recognise.

It's an older model and I daresay like other devices the hardware becomes less able to support newer versions of apps but still you'd expect some kind of notification.

[mc2fool]

Well bugg*r!

I use those apps on my YouView boxes rather than on my Samsung F5500, but I thought I'd check it out so switched on and got the Featured/Recent bar across the bottom and the Channel 4 and My5 apps were still there. Tried them both and they both worked fine.

Then went into the full apps list and up pops a messages saying words to the effect of "Wait for expired apps to be deleted" and quickly lists Channel 4 and My5 and now they're gone.

Seems bonkers considering they were still working....

[doolally]

I wouldn't rely on any piece of hardware such as a TV maintaining all of its apps. I use a phone/tablet/laptop and a Google Chromecast to cast the picture to the TV. Works well, and the apps are always up-to-date
doolally

[Dicky99]

Catch up for C4 and C5 disappeared from my Panasonic a couple of years ago so I bought a firestick to get them back along with lots of other benefits. Then bought a second firestick for a bedroom TV where there is no aerial socket.

[mc2fool]

I wouldn't rely on any piece of hardware such as a TV maintaining all of its apps. I use a phone/tablet/laptop and a Google Chromecast to cast the picture to the TV. Works well, and the apps are always up-to-date
doolally

It's not the "hardware" or the hardware manufacturer that maintains the apps, it's each app's developers that do it, in this case the Channel 4 and My5 app developers, who've decided, it seems, to "expire" their apps on 12 year old Samsung TVs.

They'll probably do the same on Windows 10 and Android 12 (and the browsers that run under them) at some point too ... although I do agree that they'll have greater impetus to keep those going for longer. However, what's really happening here is that TVs tend to generally be longer lived and longer used than phones/tablets/laptops/PCs.

[Stompa]

Well bugg*r!

I use those apps on my YouView boxes rather than on my Samsung F5500, but I thought I'd check it out so switched on and got the Featured/Recent bar across the bottom and the Channel 4 and My5 apps were still there. Tried them both and they both worked fine.

Then went into the full apps list and up pops a messages saying words to the effect of "Wait for expired apps to be deleted" and quickly lists Channel 4 and My5 and now they're gone.

Seems bonkers considering they were still working....

Out of curiosity, which YouView box? I may need to avoid updating mine!

[mc2fool]

Well bugg*r!

I use those apps on my YouView boxes rather than on my Samsung F5500, but I thought I'd check it out so switched on and got the Featured/Recent bar across the bottom and the Channel 4 and My5 apps were still there. Tried them both and they both worked fine.

Then went into the full apps list and up pops a messages saying words to the effect of "Wait for expired apps to be deleted" and quickly lists Channel 4 and My5 and now they're gone.

Seems bonkers considering they were still working....

Out of curiosity, which YouView box? I may need to avoid updating mine!

DN372T but that's fine, it's from my Samsung F5500 TV that those apps have "expired".

[Stompa]

Out of curiosity, which YouView box? I may need to avoid updating mine!

DN372T but that's fine, it's from my Samsung F5500 TV that those apps have "expired".

Ah OK thanks, apologies I misunderstood,

[Fluke]

So at this rate it won't be long before my smart tv is just a regular tv, not much smart about it. It's still a really good telly and I don't want to replace it. I doubt many people appreciate that there is no guarantee that your favourite apps will always be supported. As you say Mc2fool, people don't expect to have to replace their tv's every few years like phones and laptops.

I'm going to look into fire sticks which I only recently heard about and the YouView box which I hadn't. I don't much like the idea of hooking the laptop up to the telly when I want to watch something, apart from occasionally maybe.

[mc2fool]

So at this rate it won't be long before my smart tv is just a regular tv, not much smart about it. It's still a really good telly and I don't want to replace it. I doubt many people appreciate that there is no guarantee that your favourite apps will always be supported. As you say Mc2fool, people don't expect to have to replace their tv's every few years like phones and laptops.

I'm going to look into fire sticks which I only recently heard about and the YouView box which I hadn't. I don't much like the idea of hooking the laptop up to the telly when I want to watch something, apart from occasionally maybe.

I don't believe YouView boxes are available any more (other than 2nd hand on eBay etc). It was a project primarily promoted by BT and TalkTalk, who supplied boxes to customers who signed up to their broadband + TV bundles, and certainly TalkTalk hasn't supplied them for several years now, switching instead to "streaming" service boxes.

While I get and mostly agree with what you say, casting to the TV from your laptop does have its uses. Maybe your TV has the ability already, or maybe like mine it has a capability but was before the Miracast standard so doesn't actually work with Windows & Android etc.

I got round that by buying a Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter, which plugs into the HDMI socket of the TV (and USB socket for power), and I got it mostly for casting Zoom onto the TV, as many places are now doing public talks and classes over Zoom, e.g. the National Gallery and many others. I also use it for casting ITVX catchup as ITV decided not to bother to provide an ITVX app for either the YouView box or my TV when they closed down ITV Hub....

[Infrasonic]

Decent Airplay v CC v MC comparison here...https://www.avaccess.com/blogs/guides/a ... hromecast/

[dionaeamuscipula]

+1 for firestick. The reviews vs Roku were a bit sniffy, but using it has made a massive difference to our TV watching, since it brings together in one home page all the streaming subscriptions and web platforms we use, many of which had never made it natively into our now elderly Samsung TV.

Still slightly learning how to use it but no regrets, especially as bought in recent sale. Picture quality very good.

DM

[kempiejon]

+1 for firestick. The reviews vs Roku were a bit sniffy, but using it has made a massive difference to our TV watching, since it brings together in one home page all the streaming subscriptions and web platforms we use,

Yup me too. I still use radio waves in the sitting room but in the spare and main bedroom firesticks, it can also stream from my laptop. We have a chromecast with the main TV, gets used occasionally for mirroring.