All things come to an end – and that includes smart TV services from Sony. And while we are more than happy to provide information on the best LED TVs for 2018, we also try to keep you up on the TVs that, well, fall behind. That includes Sony Bravia TVs from 2012, which are now useless for YouTube.
Yes, if you have a Bravia TV from 2012, Sony has announced that it’s smart TV system will no longer be able to access YouTube – at least not in any way that makes the service desirable. Users may have noticed a certain amount of freezing, black screens, and error messages when trying to watch YouTube videos through the service. Sony has basically said, “Yep. That’s not going to change.”
The reason, in a nutshell, is that Sony stopped updated its “New YouTube on TV” app some time ago, while YouTube continues to upgrade its video services and how they work. As a result, the app can no longer handle the current YouTube protocols, so you won’t be able to watch YouTube videos on any of these Bravia 2012 smart TV services.
If you allow us to turn this into a quick tech lesson for a minute – how many of you actually care about this? How many of you were using 2012 Bravia apps to watch YouTube videos in today’s world of tablets, consoles and smartphones? Sure, services evolve, but this is also a sign of the innate problems many smart TVs have: Their smart services are almost always unnecessary. It doesn’t matter how advanced their YouTube streaming or Netflix may be, chances are increasingly good that you are already getting those services from a set-top box, console, or other device. The TV apps themselves try to mimic services that you already get, often in a less attractive package.
So far, the burden of proof is on the manufacturers: Why should we buy a smart TV? Discontinuing services is not exactly a convincing argument. What do you think – is it time to ditch the “smart” in smart TVs for good?
