@scottsweb wrote:
What a thread! 629 pages and still going. I feel compelled to add my frustrations about the KD-43X8305C (2015) Android TV.
My issues are largely all software related:
- YouView. It is super slow to do anything. I have pretty much given up on using the guide which continually says "Information is not available". Scrolling back through the week, the problem gets worse which undermines one of the big selling points of YouView. I decided to disable YouView as the default Freeview guide seems much more responsive and gives me the ability to record, but disabling it removes ALL the catch up TV apps (iPlayer, All 4 etc). I really wish I could use them with the standard guide.
- All 4. When the TV has been not been restarted recently, All 4 stops working. The app will start, but when attempting to watch something, the last prompt asking you to accept the terms and play the programme cannot be navigated. Only the cancel button works. Restarting the TV (as with most issues) make it work for a short time.
- Unresponsive/Crashes. The longer the TV goes without a restart, the slower it becomes. It gets to a point where it exhausts its resources and requires another restart. Sometimes it will restart itself. Rebooting takes ages. Upon restart some apps will fail to start. I feel like I need to warm up the TV for 10 minutes before wanting to use it.
- Forced Apps. I have a truck load of apps that I do not want and cannot remove.
- Updates. They are irregular at best. On one occasion I was updated the EU firmware (which took all the on demand apps away) and had to wait until the next UK firware for it to be fixed (a six week wait). I am hoping we will continue to get updates but they are becomming less frequent.
It has been a very disappointing purchase and we are not seeing any signs of improvement from Sony. My last TV lasted over ten years, I can see this one being obsolete/abandoned in two.
Hi scottsweb
There have been many things wrong with these sets, and indeed there are many things still wrong.
But much of what you mention is not included in the generally agreed list of current faults, so we need to look to see if your set can be fixed, or if you should be reporting it as individually faulty.
Firstly, you should check if you have the very latest software update, and accept the update if not.
Secondly, I strongly recommend a full Factory Reset.
Thirdly, disabling YouView should only remove the ITV Hub and All4 players. If you are losing the BBC iPlayer and Demand 5 as well, this points to a problem with your internet connection, as seen by the TV.
All4 should not behave as you describe - quite apart from failing, the terms dialogue should not be coming up each time, which suggests the the All4 app is not remembering you as it should.
These sets indeed used to be notorious for slowing down, and even freezing/stalling/crashing, with accumulated use, but these problems should be behind us now. It sounds like you might be stuck on an old release of the software - which version are you on?
The sets are likewise infested with all sorts of apps, running or not. But they are designed to be there, and the set's memory and capabilities allow for these apps. You will find that you can go into quite a number of them, and force stop, though there are many that you can't. And probably just as well, as they are required for the sets to run.
But even by analogy with non-essential apps, I don't see you ripping off the aerial on your car if you never listen to the radio, so why are you worried about these?
Re the EU firmware, nobody got this who hadn't been 'adjusting their regional settings hem hem'. Though Sony perhaps need to allow an update refresh when we change our geographical indicators, and come back in from the cold 🙂
it is, of course, to be hoped that updates will not cease until every issue with these sets is fixed, over the six-year lifetime that both law and common practice decree, which should give us until 2021.
But yours still seems to have the issues these sets were facing a year ago; please carry out all the steps above, and see if things don't improve, even if they are still by no means perfect yet.
YouView Superuser, but not an employee of YouView, nor retained by them for this purpose. It's purely me speaking
