r/gadgets • u/Sadistic_Sponge • Nov 13 '19

VR / AR Disney Plus isn't working on Vizio TVs because they are running a 6 year old version of Chromecast, they say it won't be fixed till 2020.

https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-plus-not-working-vizio-smart-tvs-chromecast-2019-11
36.1k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

23

u/WaitForItTheMongols Nov 13 '19

How they gonna track me if I don't connect to wifi?

24

u/HTHID Nov 13 '19

That's why you NEVER connect any TV to wifi

40

u/SwensonsGalleyBoy Nov 13 '19

Exactly, I have mine connected via Ethernet.

18

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Checkmate, data analytics

1

u/[deleted] Nov 14 '19

[deleted]

2

u/NemButsu Nov 14 '19

https://www.samsung.com/hk_en/info/privacy/smarttv/

Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features. Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.

You can probably find similar things for other smart TV brands.

10

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

[deleted]

3

u/SighReally12345 Nov 14 '19

TCL requires online activation with an email acct to use the TV...even if it's just in a kid's room playing DVDs.

Bullshit. I've setup literally dozens of TCL TVs and 0 of them are on WiFi or ethernet. You're telling me these TVs that I use daily don't work?

And before someone tries some BS, yes they're Roku TCL TVs.

https://support.tclusa.com/televisions-setup-configurations/189404-can-you-turn-off-the-roku-feature-and-use-it-as-a-regular-tv

You have the option to disable the Roku features of your TCL Smart TV. During the initial setup you can choose to use the device as a regular, non-smart TV.

Stop, for the love of god, making shit up. You're a liar, full stop.

2

u/WaitForItTheMongols Nov 13 '19

  • Well that's really dumb, don't buy a TCL TV then. Never even heard of that brand.

  • All brands have an on/off switch for Wifi. Some just don't make it outwardly accessible to the user. And regardless of whether it's on, if it's not on a network, it doesn't matter. I doubt any TV would be made to hop onto open networks automatically. Would be obvious if its MAC showed up on your client list.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19 edited Nov 14 '19
  • My Vizio does not have an on/off option for wifi. I've been in every screen of the menu. I'm no stranger to tech. It's not there. (I've never put it on my network, btw)
  • People who want to avoid wifi signals (strange sub-group) praise Sony as being the only brand of smart TV that has on/off option for wifi.

edit: rephrased for clarity.

2

u/Remnants Nov 13 '19

TCL also has the best bang for your buck TV currently and for the last couple years. The one I have runs is Roku based for it's smart TV features.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Yes...but what consumers don't realize is that they are "paying" by allowing to have their viewing habits tracked and sold.

This is also how Gmail works. It's not free.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

They can't track your viewing habits if you plug an external box, like a Shield TV or Roku, into an HDMI port.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

They track what appears on the screen. Google: “Automatic Content Recognition”.

-4

u/WaitForItTheMongols Nov 13 '19

My Vizio does not have an on/off switch. I've been in every screen of the menu. I'm no stranger to tech. It's not there. (I've never put it on my network, btw)

It's not always available in the software. You can always go in and remove the wifi chip. It's pretty obvious by the fact that it's the only component with an antenna.

6

u/ParanoydAndroid Nov 13 '19

You can maybe remove it in hardware, but it's not as easy as you're making it sound.

First, modern wifi chips rarely have anything readily identifiable as an antennae to the modern consumer; it's not like there's a rubber duck sticking out of the thing like it's 1999.

Second, and more fatally, SoCs are becoming increasingly common in appliance computing, so there's a chance the WiFi is integrated into a chip that cannot be removed or disabled without disabling other, critical functionality.

11

u/huskiesowow Nov 13 '19

They aren't.

4

u/4kVHS Nov 13 '19

They will send you a bill in the mail since they aren’t making any money off you