YouTube on Smart TV

[Petrushka]

A recent update on the Smart Hub of my Samsung Smart TV resulted in the deletion of the YouTube app. I'm very disappointed if it is no longer supported on my TV as I much preferred it to watching on the laptop and was one of the major advantages of having the TV in the first place.

Has it gone for good or do others still have it there?

[Dave2002]

This page might just give a few clues - https://productforums.google.com/for...be/R8BCylhQyMg

Why you should have lost something you already had is not clear, but there is a suggestion in the linked thread that there were licensing issues. It seems rather poor. Complaints to Advertising Standards and Trading Standards would be in order, though I doubt that they'd have much effect. If the TV is a new one you could perhaps ask for compensation from your supplier, though I doubt that the supplier would accept that your sole reason for buying the TV was to watch YouTube videos.

Would it be possible to "downgrade" your TV to a previous version? However, that wouldn't help if the upgrade was intended to remove other problems.

This is a great example of why vigorous marketing of "innovative" new products with "new features" is not necessarily completely in the interests of the customer. Once "they" have your money you won't get it back, even if the product doesn't live up to reasonable expectations. "You" have to decide how much of a problem that is for you yourself.

[richardfinegold]

You could also try hooking an HDMI cable from your laptop to the TV. That is what my son does

[Stunsworth]

Google have removed an old API that the TV was probably using to access YouTube...

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/04/google-youtube-versions-upgrade-smart-tv

[Dave2002]

Google have removed an old API that the TV was probably using to access YouTube...

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...grade-smart-tv

The last two paragraphs of that article express similar sentiments to what I wrote earlier:

In the face of this sort of systemic indifference from all the companies involved, the best option is clearly to spend as little as possible on anything with built-in processing power. Don’t buy a smart TV; buy a dumb one, and add a cheap set-top box or HDMI stick (Google’s Chromecast or Amazon’s Fire TV Stick or the Roku TV are about £40; the Apple TV is £59). Grit your teeth and scrap it when the hardware or software or API gets outdated.

But if companies wonder why we don’t buy their big promises – 3D TVs spring to mind – this is an object lesson. When a smart TV costing thousands can be hobbled by a third party’s tweak to a software interface that brings no obvious user benefits, it erodes our trust in the edifice of the technology world.

In this respect this is somewhat like the fairly recent changes to BBC R3 distribution via the Internet, which affect some users rather more than others.

[antongould]

Having just shelled out a note or two on a brand new Samsung Smart 2015 TV - I find iplayer is not available but the screen says it is coming soon!!!!!!

Still Deezer works fine so thank you Samsung for the music.........