Baffled by apparently missing basic functionality

[_andy_]

Just bought my first smart TV yesterday. New to smart TVs but I have been fairly actively involved with computers and programming since the days of punch cards and paper tape. As well as using the smart TV as a TV I had intended to develop a couple of my own apps on it to control sound hardware. I am baffled by some of things that don't seem to be working at this early stage and suspect I may be missing something. Some examples:

Like many I have long random character passwords stored in google password manager. How do I get the TV to use them?

I painfully copied and typed one of these passwords into my amazon account in the web browser and got in on the second attempt. I could see my orders but when I clicked on a video the cursor changed to a cross in a circle but nothing happened. Where do I look to find the error message? Playing videos is fundamental to the function of a smart TV. I know there is a separate amazon app but I am checking the web browser. Is playing a video being blocked for some reason and some settings need adjusting?

So I went to the app section to install a different web browser like firefox, chrome, chromium, opera, etc... There appears to be no search function for apps. A quick google suggested there used to be one but it had been removed in an update. If this is true how does one search the app store by name (e.g. firefox) or function (e.g. web browser)? The top level search didn't appear to be searching the app store but it did throw up irrelevant hits (for an app store search) involving tv shows, films, and the like.

I went to the online manual to look for password management, google, web browsers, videos, video settings, etc... and after a browse couldn't find anything relevant. The top level search for an exact menu entry found with a google search produced zero hits. How does one search the user manual?

I suspect this basic functionality is present and I am not going about things in the way intended. Suggestions?

[Tourbillon De La Vie]

What model

[_andy_]

The software is version 1320 which is up-to-date according to the settings. I pressed the update button anyway and after a brief pause it stated it was up-to-date.

The hardware model code is QE55S90DAEXXU (UK version of 55" S90D).

[_andy_]

PS. Youtube within the browser worked as expected which is something of a positive sign. I checked amazon videos again within the browser and they still will not play. So the problem is not with all videos in browsers but some videos in the browser. An error message would be very useful.

[_andy_ · Accepted solution]

Doesn't look like a conversation is going to happen so to bring the thread to a close...

Broadly my expectation that a smart TV would be smart like a phone seems to be wrong (or at least Tizen TVs have yet to check Android ones). A more accurate description might be not-wholly-dumb TVs rather than smart TVs. I had assumed a smart TV would run most of the media control software but despite the capabilites of the hardware the approach seems to be closer to providing just a screen for control software running on external devices. There are pros and cons and since the loudspeakers for my project includes CPUs running linux it is supportable just not in the way I expected.

To answer some of my questions.

I cannot find a way to run the google password manager in the browser. I am not going to use multiple password managers and the TV is my only Samsung device. This reduces the value of the TV to me because I am quite often going to have to get up and use a laptop/PC or use the tiny screen on my phone when I want to use the web. It will be irritating every time I do this because the TV would be better suited to many of the tasks.

The failure to run amazon videos from the browser looks like a bug or perhaps an obscure permissions problem. The lack of error message is a bug though I didn't wait minutes to see if one appeared after a time out. The apparently random appearance of the mute symbol when navigating might be as well. The TV turning itself off when navigating is also likely a bug but I have yet to fully get the hang of navigating. It seems to involve the right arrow. I am likely to buy a wireless keyboard and mouse and perhaps may never master the navigation.

The global search does search apps. I was fooled because none of the apps I expected to be present (i.e. apps typically in a smart phone store) are in the Tizen TV app store plus the descriptions of the apps being searched seems to be rather limited (e.g. browser didn't find the installed web browser ) . Unlike the app store the search for the user guide is not in the global search but in the user guide itself. Until I get a wireless keyboard it is too painful to use and instead I get up and use google on a PC.

In low light the picture quality is good but in normal light reflections and loss of detail in the black areas particularly with low resolution sources is a significant issue. This is a pity because I had hoped to use the TV for some aspects of work which require normal lighting.

The model is perhaps a less than optimum choice for my uses though not to the extent of exchanging it. Need to learn a bit more about smart TVs first.