Up until now I’ve only seen suggestions for content offered by the various streaming services. Today I started getting ads for a Hyundai car!
I tried to log a support call with Sony but they said they couldn’t do anything without a photo of the offending ad. I now have a photo so will try again tomorrow. I know a single support call won’t do anything (though I intend to be very persistent), but if enough people log formal complaints maybe Sony will “talk to” Google.
I know this is deep first world problems territory, but I feel really betrayed having a device I paid $2,300 for being used to shove ads in my face.
Rule one of a smart TV is to never connect it to the internet.
Rule zero of a smart TV is to not buy a smart TV.
Except quite often they’re cheaper because the manufacturer expects to recoup some of their costs by selling your data and showing you ads. So it’s often more economical to just buy one and never use the “smart” features.
I wish there were more options.
You’re not wrong. Samsung has some “digital signage” devices that are just non-smart TVs.
Thanks so much for this. I didn’t know what to look for until now.
FWIW, they may not have OTA tuners, but if you’re dedicated enough to want to search out a not-smart TV, you probably don’t need one of those anyway.
Easier said than done these days. Last time I tried to find a “dumb” TV (3-ish years ago) anything above 30" was going for 4x the price of a similar-sized Smart TV.
Or setup a pihole or similar DNS blocker. My Samsung SmartTv would love to show me ads, if I let it.
Just hope you’ve also blocked all the other manufacturer telemetry
You can also install a different launcher then disable the default “leanback” launcher. Be sure to install the alternate launcher FIRST!!!1! You’ll need to google how to do it, but there are lots of articles and videos that explain it.
I’m using an NVIDIA Shield Pro with flauncher and it’s completely ad-free.
I didn’t know this! Thanks.
Are there any as glossy as the default? I had a look at F Launcher and Wolf screenshots but they didn’t wow me that much
There are some much nicer ones, but they all require sideloading and some require extra apps to supply widgets. Flauncher is definitely fugly but I appreciate its minimalism.
Yep - I’m aware of the options. That doesn’t stop me being angry about my device being abused like this.
I don’t know if the TV has the same functionality, but on Chromecast with Google Home, you can set the system to apps only mode, which cuts out all of the suggested content and ads that big down the home screen. Only downside is it disables Google Assistant, but who needs it honestly?
Crazy that Wario is shilling for Kia, tho.
Interesting… I too have a Sony Bravia and I updated recently, but I’ve yet to see the ad. If you don’t mind, would you pass along whatever contact info you got for Sony. I’ll make a stink with you.
It may be geography based - I’m in Canada. It also does not happen often. When I was trying to log a call with support it just kept cycling through content suggestions. Then I gave up on that, watched a movie and then the Hyundai ad came back.
I un-installed all updates to the android homescreen. It’s so garbage.
So, my LG smart tv doesn’t show me ads. I have the LG 65NANO90UNA and so far it’s been pretty good. It does however have Alexa built in which is not set up, but may be a whole other set of problems.
Google: “We call this Pure O2.”
