Welcome to the forum and sorry to read about your problem. It is truly frustrating when that happens, but the reasons could be that the app in your Samsung is already 1 year old (a day can be a lifetime in the compatibility of an app) and the problem lies there, or that SBS made a change that affects the app in your Samsung but not in the iMac. Computers and tablets and phones and even apps in PVRs tend to be more robust and longer lasting than those in TVs. The worst of it is when there is a worry with a TV it is common that nobody wants to know and help.
If the reboot, unplug, blah blah doesn’t fix it one should go the the vendor’s (in this case Samsung) support, or user forum and hope someone else has the problem. Also check for updated firmware for your model. Note that sometimes updates fix things, and sometimes they can break them, too. Good luck getting it sorted.
We had sinilar issues with our 4 year old Sony TV a few weeks ago…I suspect that SBS is rolling a new version of its smart TV apps.
How are you typing the information into the TV dialogue box? The reason for the question is we found using the TV remote was not that easy as there was a significant delay between button pushing and action on the TV. If yours is the same, try using a Samsung TV (which has a keyboard) app on your phone/tablet as it may prevent buttons being pushed more than once thinking nothing has happened.
The new app takes considerable time to load…about 30 seconds compared to the previous 10 seconds or so.
We have had similar issues although our smart TV’s are now both ancient. (More than 2 years). One is now a ‘dumb TV’. We rely on a Fetch for this one! The smarter one users Android so hopefully will hang in there.
Unfortunately it may be as good as it can be for a public government funded service given the limited level of funding and tight budgets they operate under. At least compared to the ABC Iview app, SBS has advertising revenue to help it along.
Perhaps more directly is it also not good enough of the government to adequately fund this part of service delivery for the SBS and ABC?
Viewers may choose to consider the trend to increased content streaming vs free to air TV, and where the SBS and ABC services may end, literally, if they are not given the ability to keep up?
Thanks. The problem was not an app or network problem - just a very simple lack of on screen direction as to HOW to get out of the keyboard over into that next dialogue box.
I went thro’ the routine recommended and got to the same point of trying to get out of the email box into the Pin code box below.
No way to get there until I tried going back to ‘a’ on screen and then clicking the ‘go left’ key on the controller e.g. out of the screen keyboard into the ‘void’.
THAT hunch worked and the lit up ‘NEXT’ box turned yellow - and I was able to enter the PIN which got me into SBS ‘on Demand’ again.
I was stumped as to how to get into that next box and the thought came out of the blue. It might be normal practice for iOS or android users but I am not a power user of either.
I asked SBS to - In your help section please address the lack of any instructions for this very simple action which is not an intuitive normal function for users like me.
Also some on screen direction when the email entry is completed to ‘go left off the keyboard’ is also needed to save everyone time and money.
Thanks for posting your solution. It will help others who get into that never never land of not so intuitiveness, and apologies for not picking up on the details of your problem, leading to some misunderstanding. You should consider also posting it on the Samsung community TV How To’s While that could be a US centric site it seems we have none dedicated to ourselves.
So-called ‘smart’ TV operating systems and apps join the list of software that isn’t very smart and whose interface is neither very intuitive nor well documented by the provider, in some cases not documented at all.
Just rush it out the door and let the user figure it out - or not.
This is where a app installed on a smart phone or tablet can help. If you have an andriod device, there are several Samsung TV remotes in google play which have keyboards which can be used when entering text on ghe TV screen. The keyboard should have functions like a computer keyboard and also have a mouse/trackball function to move the cursor around the screen.
We use one for our Sony TV which can be useful, especially if one needs to enter a lot of text. Find it useful to use from time to time…or when trying to do searches for programs within tv apps.
I had read something about using another device but had no idea, I’ll give it a go, the iPad and MotoG phone are always around when using the TV. Thanks for the advice.
Two main recommendations, depending on your current scenario.
if you already have a satisfactory PVR for recording broadcast programs, get an Apple TV v4 as it can supply everything else, such as all the free catch-up services (including ABC iView, which is my favourite too) and also all of the paid streaming I know of, such as Netflix, Stan, 10 All Access etc (you don’t want TOO many!) This works really well for me in conjunction with my (now obsolete but still functional) Topfield PVR.
If you ONLY have the TV (apart from a DVD/Blu-Ray player) then I would seriously consider the Fetch TV Mighty. This will give you access to all the catch-up services, plus one new free film every day, and also allow you to record broadcast programs. Many ISPs can add this box as part of their internet plan, for an extra fee of course. This setup has worked very well for my sister-in-law.
Totally agree. Always used my Humax 4Tune to record TV programs until it locked up permanently. Have now reverted to the ‘old’ Topfield which still works brilliantly, despite being technically obsolete. With an Apple TV to watch everything else (except for live to air) including all the catch-up services, Netflix, Stan, and watching all our favourite films and TV shows on iTunes, I think we have all bases covered! (YMMV.)
What annoys me that SBS require you to re-login at regular intervals WHY???
Plus you have to have a device with an internet connection to input an activation code. iView does not require this! Another form of establishment bureaucratic control of us plebs?
pH
I have a Humax 4 Tune PVR, or DVR and occasionally it locks up for no apparent reason.
I turn it off at the wall socket for about 10 minutes, and then turn it on again and it goes fine after that.
Another thing you should try is to reset the PVR to default settings, under “System Settings” and/or do a format of the hard drive. They are both very easy to do, and require no technical knowledge. The latter may result in any recorded programs and/or schedules being lost. Schedules can easily be re-programmed again.
But that’s not really the end of the world, in order to get it working properly again.
Hope this helps you.
We have a Sony TV (4 years old) and have noticed recently the SBS app (the smart tv one rather than the freeview application) is slow and also sometimes results in insufficient memory/unable to connect to network errors. It appears that the most recent version of the app may be a bit bloated and cumbersome.
We use the app as it has far more streaming offerings than the freeview application (red or green buttons).
Thanks for the tips. The DVR used to lock up occasionally, and powering off for a few minutes would fix it. However, this time it is permanent and does not respond to any power cycling at all.
