new tv cant download now app ....help

[lydia1]

hi i have just purchased a hisense tv model no-

50AE7000FTUK

however i cant down load the now app on to the tv in my bedroom. i currently have a smart stick in my loving room. 

how can i watch now tv in my bedroom or will i will have to purchase a stick? thanks in advance

[redchiz1 · Accepted solution]

That model does not appear to be supported directly by NOW, so you will need a separate smart device as you have with your other TV. 

[lydia1]

thank you so much for replying. no where seems to stock the smart sticks and the sky assessories are out of stick, unfortunatly! 

[redchiz1]

NOW no longer make their own devices. There are several third-party devices that you can use though, Amazon Fire Stick and Roku are both popular and well-regarded brands.

[Geluk]

"loving room" eh!!!!

[chilli2]

Loving room can be any room you want it to be.

As for a stick/replacement my personal preference would be a Roku stick+

I have a Fire stick, a Roku streaming stick+ and ( recently) a Roku streambar

 the Roku UI  beats the overly complex fire UI thats geared to selling amazon content

plus if your used to the Now software the Roku will be familiar

[lydia1]

It was meant to say living room!

thanks for info, much appreciated x

[RoyB]

@lydia1 @chilli2 

I endorse the choice of Streaming Stick+, the most capable Roku Stick if the most expensive, and I use one where I can’t get line of sight to it from a remote, which the remote being RF (radio frequency) rather than IR (infrared, which needs line of sight) lets me do.

However, it does mean I need two remotes to use it with the TV it is connected to, as the IR-only TV remote won’t work it.

The cheaper Express Roku devices are IR, so I can work these with my TV remote, all except for the * button (which I don’t need very often). These devices aren’t sticks, but I have one stuck neatly under one corner of the TV, with the double-sided tape Roku supply, to give it line of sight.

It depends on whether using a single remote is important to you, or if you don’t mind using two to get the advantages of the + Stick.

[chilli2]

The Stick plus has a TV control on its remote - volume up/down mute and power

[redchiz1]

Totally agree about Roku Streaming Stick, not that dear @RoyB 4K model on Amazon at £39.95 presently.

[RoyB]

@redchiz1 

Interesting. That’s the latest Stick, which supports Dolby Vision,RRP £49.99, at the bargain price you quote.

The + is now £44.99, but Amazon doesn’t seem to have got the memo. Curry’s did, and were running out stock at £30.00, but that offer is gone now.

You can compare all 4 players here:-

https://www.roku.com/en-gb/products/players

[redchiz1]

@RoyB I did. 🙂

The base model with no 4K seems a tad lacking and not to be recommended.

[RoyB]

@redchiz1 

My sentiments exactly. Maybe that’s why Roku recommend giving it as a gift, an anyone buying for themselves would pony up the extra £10 for one of the 4K versions.

[chilli2]

Wouldnt it be great if you could just buy a Dumb Tv with it being upto the end user to get a "smart"  device to plug into it, then instead of getting upset that an app has vanished form their once expensive TV they could just get an updated streaming/smart device such as a roku .

 The sad thing is i know of a few people who have replaced an entire TV at a significant cost as the smart functions have slowly stopped working or have become laggy

[redchiz1]

Ah @chilli2 those were my sentiments exactly not so many years ago! Which is when I first discovered the joys of Chromecast - not so much now - and the original Roku. Smart TVs have overall caught up with the times, but apps still vary from device to device, governed by market penetration and the cooperation of TV makers and content suppliers. There are still gaps, the "one device for all" still seems like Nirvana i.e. unachievable for earthly mortals like us. 

[RoyB]

@chilli2 

John Lewis used to have a disclaimer that the apps on a smart TV might stop at any time, and so weren’t covered by its 5 year guarantees. That wouldn’t play at all well today, and I think it’s reasonable that any app provider still in business should support any app they provide for five years from the date of purchase of the TV, or the date it was replaced by a later model, whichever is the earlier.

But even Sticks die; I have a Gen 1 Firestick that is now really too slow for general use, though it has been doing sterling service keeping a 2012 Samsung TV smart when its native apps died years ago.

OTOH, £30 for a new Stick gets that TV as smart as new again (smarter, actually).

[chilli2]

The disclaimer is still present:

---

A Smart TV is a platform that can run 3rd party Apps. 3rd party content providers may remove Apps from the Smart TV platform or stop supporting them at any time, and we cannot guarantee an App's availability. When new Smart TV products are launched, there may also be a delay before certain Apps become available. Availability of Apps is not included within the terms of the manufacturer's warranty, or the John Lewis 2-year Guarantee for audio visual products, or the 5-year Guarantee for TVs.

---

The problem is that some people will get a new TV and bin/take the old one to the dump once its "smart" functions stop working / apps vanish, or it becomes sluggish.

 While streaming sticks and boxes do, eventualy get slower as apps change, and dissapear for £40-£50 you can get a decent updated streaming device to make the TV smart again , and keep a perfectly good TV going for quite a good few years to come.

[RoyB]

@chilli2 

The 2021 Sony Android TVs were launched without the ‘big four’ terrestrial players, with Sony initially saying they were ‘coming soon’, and then as the months dragged on, ‘coming before the end of the year’. During which a steady stream of customer complaints came in, Sticks were advised, with some retailers supplying them free, but sets were nevertheless being sent back by those who wanted, needed, or simply expected, the seamless experience of the players natively on the TV, notably the deep linking from the backward EPG.

The trickle was threatening to turn into a rush on Jan 1 2022, but Sony came good in the nick of time, on Dec 21 2021.

But I would have liked to have seen John Lewis trying to wave that placard at its 2021 Sony TV returners on Jan 1, if Sony hadn’t come good….. 😛

[lydia1]

“Living room”