What is the actual problem that stops us watching Apple TV on a Sony set?

[Kevin_W]

I have a Sony Bravia KD32W800 (2021) tv.

2 years on since buying it as what the salesman described then as Sony's latest state of the art set, and that the set was so new that there wasn't an Apple TV app for it yet but "it would be made available shortly" - but there is still no app to enable us to watch Apple TV programmes.  Who might know whether it is ever going to happen?  Clearly no point in asking Sony salesmen...

[daveyh64]

I doubt very much that your KD32W800 in 2021 at only £300-00 was ever Sonys latest state of the art TV.

Do you have an Apple TV device.

Does your TVs remote control have a Google Assist button, if so press and hold and say Apple TV.

[royabrown2]

@Kevin_W @daveyh64 

‘State of the art’ Sony TVs don’t have to throw away their terrestrial tunings when you choose satellite tunings, and vice versa.

Which retailer did this salesman work for, so I can avoid them?

Oh, and did you not walk past TVs costing ten times that, or even same-size TVs costing twice that, in the store, and not wonder what corners Sony had to cut to meet that price point?

But don’t sweat it. Get a Roku Express HD, £25, or even the 4K one at £35 for a bit of future-proofing, and start watching Apple TV on your Sony TV the same day.

[Kevin_W]

Actually the set cost £449.
I don’t have a separate Apple TV device.
The Google store does not show the Apple TV app as being available.

[Kevin_W]

I bought it in John Lewis.

I particularly needed a 'small' 32" set and there seem to be very few available.

The Sony 32" was probably twice the cost of the other makes available elsewhere at this size.

I mistakenly thought Sony was one of the best!

In fact, I could have bought a big set for quite a lot less than the smaller 32" one. 

I could try an external box to get Apple TV but really wanted to know whether an app is likely?

I've since been told by a techo friend that there is some sort of feud between Apple and Android so they don't cooperate - but it is the customer who suffers...?

[daveyh64]

£300-00 at John Lewis,

https://www.johnlewis.com/sony-bravia-kd32w800-2021-led-hdr-hd-ready-720p-smart-android-tv-32-inch-w...

Does the remote control have a Google Assist button if so press and hold and say Apple TV, this will start the Apple TV app on my Sony TV, an app which I never downloaded.

[Kevin_W]

Yeah, I know. It is £299 now.  It was £449 when it first came out.  I was told "This is Sony's latest super new Android set.  Android is the very best OS.  It is so new you'll have to wait a few months for all the apps to catch up.." etc.  Never trust a TV salesman!  And Android, in comparison with my other TV (an old Lowe) it is really SLOW at even simple things like changing the aerial TV channel - it seems to have to wait for internet information each time even when live TV using the aerial?

[daveyh64]

 I can only go on today prices.

The TV is an entry level TV so will have the least expensive/ fastest features and components.

Your TV is still under warranty with John Lewis so you could maybe get advice from their support team.

Have you updated the firmware on the TV since you bought it.

There was an update for your TV in November 2022 which includes Android 11, which may help you.

You can download it from this link, read the instructions and follow them to the letter.

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/lcd-tvs-android-w80x-series/kd-32w800/software/00262461

[Kevin_W]

Yes thanks, the set has already updated itself to the Android 11 OS.

And I spoke with the John Lewis "support" shortly after buying the TV.  Once they had got my money they gave a new meaning to the term "useless".  It was John Lewis who told me it was the "very latest state of the art TV using the new Android system...etc"

The fact that the Apple TV app doesn't show on the Google App Store for the TV I wonder whether it is because there isn't one or maybe it's a territorial licensing thing that excludes the UK? 

Basically I can't get a sensible answer from Sony nor John Lewis...  and Apple just said the solution was for me to buy a separate Apple TV box at £149.

So I tried watching Apple TV as a webpage on the TV as a workaround and it worked sufficiently to show me the film titles but as soon as I tried to watch one it came up with an error message saying copyright permissions for the device were blocking it.  So I've given  up...   But thanks for your suggestions.

[daveyh64]

You still haven't confirmed if there is a Google Assist button on your remote control

Apple TV is available in the UK, do you really think Apple would have restricted itself in the UK.