Samsung TV Plus Is Down Worldwide On Select Devices (cordcuttersnews.com) 29
New submitter ekimminau writes: On the morning of December 20, 2023, thousands of users turned on their Samsung TV to find that the Samsung TV Plus application was missing. Available for free on 2016-2023 Samsung Smart TVs, Galaxy devices, Smart Monitors, Family Hub refrigerators, and the web, for many it is their primary method of TV viewing. The masses began flocking to the Samsung community forums asking ... what was going on.
From Cord Cutters: At this time, Samsung has not posted any updates about the outage. Customer service has been telling customers they are aware of the outage and are working on fixing it. This news comes as Samsung recently added seven local FOX news channels for community stories, sports updates, weather forecasts and more. The new markets are Austin, Detroit, Milwaukee, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle and Tampa Bay. Right now, this outage seems to only be affecting the app on Smart TVs as the website is still working letting anyone stream Samsung TV Plus for free streaming online through the website.
From Cord Cutters: At this time, Samsung has not posted any updates about the outage. Customer service has been telling customers they are aware of the outage and are working on fixing it. This news comes as Samsung recently added seven local FOX news channels for community stories, sports updates, weather forecasts and more. The new markets are Austin, Detroit, Milwaukee, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle and Tampa Bay. Right now, this outage seems to only be affecting the app on Smart TVs as the website is still working letting anyone stream Samsung TV Plus for free streaming online through the website.
Minus (Score:3)
Is that the one that plays crappy ad-supported channels that nobody actually watches? Maybe they should leave it down.
Re:Minus (Score:4, Interesting)
Is that the one that plays crappy ad-supported channels that nobody actually watches? Maybe they should leave it down.
Depends for whom. My aging mother who has Alzheimer and doesn't need anything specific was enjoying watching the Bob Ross channel since she used to be a painter herself. It satisfies her needs and keeps the bill to needing internet instead of a costly combo with cable channels. I used to check out the Classic Doctor Who channel when it was available but they removed it. I also watch shows on RetroCrush, one of which I cannot even watch on the RetroCrunch application as it`s considered unavailable in my region. I'm not saying it has great value but there is some.
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Bob Ross channel was pretty good, not gonna lie.
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Haha, I literally came here to say the very same thing.
I've got a 4 year old 75" samsung "smart tv" and the very thing I hate is that AD driven drivel spamware thats installed on that thing.
The Television has numerous times tried to convince me to "please accept our updated terms", and even if I select my computer HDMI source
it will sometimes select Samsung TV PLUS as the start up, and keep begging me to "SUBMIT...C'mon submit!" And they don't get it...
we watch on our computers now.
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It does prompt me to set up a Samsung account when I first power it on, but only takes one button press to ignore, or wait a few seconds and it goes away. Certainly the tiniest of first world problems.
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The whatta-plus, now? (Score:2)
I have a bunch of Samsung devices (last additions were two smart washers), and I have never heard of this app. :)
If it's one of those "only available in the US of A" things, then I don't need to know, and it's fine. They can keep it down, too
Cloud-cutters? (Score:3)
We see talk of cord-cutters, but it feels like the next phase needs to be cloud-cutting, so our local experience is not held hostage to a cloud outage. Thinking of home IoT and solutions like Plex.
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My 'IoT' is a local-only Home Assistant installation. That, sadly, meant having to block outbound traffic for some devices... but if you stick to devices that communicate over non-routable protocols (433MHz and Zigbee are my preferred choices) it's not an issue. One day I'd like to add speech recognition to it, but my understanding is that still isn't entirely local no matter how many 'your privacy is respected' paragraphs are in the add-in description.
I haven't built a media centre yet... I just have a N
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It is good you have managed to do this. I just find it frustrating the amount of research you need to do to find out which devices can work without an internet connection, whether for setup or every day operation. I just wished this was written clearly in the spec sheets.
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Power management is the worst, because those devices - wall switches and outlets - are mostly wifi. While once set up they will usually work without Internet access, they still try to call home and have to be blocked. Setting them up without Internet? Usually not an option. They typically use an Android or iPhone app and require registration to Google, Amazon, or somewhere in China. You can put in a LOT of work to get around that, but it's so far beyond the average consumer it's not something you can r
Smart TVs , what a joke (Score:2)
Underpowered tablet innards running some crapified version of linux/android with apps that are a poor fascimile of the ones you can (but probably wouldn't) get for an actual tablet/phone/PC.
We bought a Sharp TV 2 years ago and 3 months after we bought it the ITVX app was "updated" to simply inform us it was no longer available for our set. Why bin the working old version simply to tell us the new version wouldn't run?? Fecking morons. All it did was occasionally play some TV content inbetween endless ads yo
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Because the old version required server resources they had to pay for, and it clearly wasn't making enough money to even pay for itself.
I have a Sharp TV I bought 10 years ago precisely because it had no "smart" features, and it's still going strong...
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Underpowered tablet innards running some crapified version of linux/android
Who cares. As long as they do what they need to do it really doesn't matter if it is running on a hamster wheel. The criteria any normal person applies to a smart TV are: a) does the app run, b) does the video play smoothly at maximum resolution, and c) does the picture look good.
Simple fix (Score:2)
Just wiggle the rabbit-ears.
Why not just HDMI in? (Score:2)
Am I one of the few people who turns off all the "smart" TV features, and uses something else to drive the TV? For example, I use an Apple TV because the "plus" subscription is a freebie with my ISP and cellular bill. At best "smart" TV apps are dated, and likely won't be updated. At worst, the device is phoning home with data it shouldn't be snarfing up. Heck, for smaller TVs, it might be better to just use a monitor because it doesn't have any real way to load spyware.
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I save a bunch of cash by buying non-smart TVs and using something like the Google Chromecast and my Raspberry Pi running Kodi. The TV is simply an HDMI monitor with no camera, smart apps or anything that gets in the way of *me* having control.
Most of my large collection of DVDs and Bluray disks have been ripped to disk and are available in a coiuple of clicks via Kodi. If the internet goes down. When the credit card I used to subscribe to Netflix and Prime Video expired I didn't even bother renewing th
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The ironic thing is that finding a new non smart TV is pretty hard. You can buy a monitor (limited by size) or digital sign (have to check details to see what limitations like refresh rate are present), but finding a TV that is large enough to hang on a wall, you invariably will be getting a smart TV, just because the ad stream and analytics (i.e. what you watch) are long tail revenue streams.
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I specifically chose a "dumb TV" and connected a RaspberryPI.
My reaction (Score:3)
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Does Pornhub work on it?
I never use their apps (Score:2)
I never use the built-in apps. FireTV works better
Samsung TV down.. (Score:1)