VIZIO INTERNET APPS (VIA) Enabled LCD's Thread - Page 2

I got Ubantu working on 4gb usb yesterday night, and now I will start working on to get the basic widget ...!

First task would be to investigate how can I get all available yahoo widget on my Vizio...? second to develop one from scratch.

Please please post you exprience if you are trying to develop or load any widget which are not part of VIZIO...!

The Rhapsody widget is absolute crap. I am doing this weeks survey and I can't even get it to function. I added music to my queue, but it won't play the music. The menu is also so sluggish that its almost a joke. I think they need to go back to the drawing boards on this one. The amazon video worked a LOT better than this one and I was able to watch a movie with no issues so I don't think its my internet connection.

With today's announced purchase of Vudu by Walmart will this likely be the end of the Vizio Vudu app or more likely a rebranding of sorts upon sale closure?

Vudu has its own large group of third party apps that I don't think have been brought to Vizio. Too bad as I would like to see more content providers in the VIA and the Vudu apps would add a lot.

Considering Wal-Mart is a big seller of Vizio's, I doubt it would be the end, but a rebranding would most certainly come and then a big push by Wal-Mart to sell these with "their new internet app included"

Despite a few minor issues trying to switch songs, I was pleased with the Rhapsody app. Seems I'm in the minority.

Ok, noob question for anyone who has this set...

Can you stream movies (mp4/mkv/etc) and music (mp3) wirelessly from your pc to the tv? or is the functionality limited to hulu/netflix websites?

Thank you!

This is my first experience with Rhapsody, so any or all of the things that bugged me about it might be just the way it works, and this app is not one I expect to ever use after the free month trial.

The Rhapsody app works well while I use it, but exiting app locks up Widget Bar for at least 1-2 minutes before it returns control to TV.
Considerable lag time in response to remote commands. Frustrating.
Search function needs work: some results were "false positives" - clicked picture responses from search and got message "no results returned" several times.../shrug
Highlighting of the upper right corner controls is too subtle, often caused selection of unwanted function.

Was there a visualization option somewhere I missed?
Screen real estate seems wasted with only tiny cover art.

Overall it just made me want the missing Pandora app even more. Mentioned that fact several times on survey.

@Deric_ thanks for creating the thread and posting the specs!

Anyone notice the app called SyncTV Kids available in the widgets list now? I was able to install it, but then get an error saying unable to refresh data content, please try again later. I looked up the website and it looks like cartoons of some kind, but ones I never heard of.

https://kids.synctv.com/browse/shows


On another VIA note, I'm still waiting for the Pandora widget to show up.

Yeah....you're right....what the heck are those cartoons? -- I mean "Marvin, the dancing horse"?!

Fifth survey is out: VUDU app. You have to set up an account if you haven't yet and watch a movie. Pretty straight forward.

I haven't seen this widget. It's not in my list of available apps. I wonder if it's like the Facebook widget. Available for a day, then gone.

Anyone else beginning to think that a big part of the VIA VIP program is marketing to get users to sign up for accounts with the content providers? Amazon, Vudu, Rhapsody and Netflix have all been the same with each having their own survey to complete with a requirement being to open an account. The surveys are pretty short, without a lot of depth, so not sure how much value Vizio is getting from the responses. The content providers are getting new accounts each time though so the surveys are serving them pretty well.

I totally agree with you. I was especially bothered by VUDU's process because it forces you to provide a credit card during the sign up process. And, AFAIK, you can't remove it from your account thereafter.

When I joined the VIA VIP program I thought I'd be providing better feedback through the surveys. However, I've provided better feedback by contacting support a couple of times than all of the surveys combined.

P.S. I don't remember a Netflix survey, but the trend is definitely there.

Still no firmware update here. Hopefully I'll get it when I get back from work tonight.

Also received the update and addition of Pandora this morning. It showed 18 updates in all but just the one new app that I could find.

Where did it show the updates? My gf was there when the update was done on our tv but she says she didn't see much (she was instructed to turn the tv off and then the tv turned itself on, presumably after the update was complete).

Pandora and Rhapsody (once they fix the I/F) are good for music...but this is a TV, so they really need something like Yahoo's music videos (music.yahoo.com). Vizio's web site (vizio.com/via/) shows a Y!Video app, but unless under "More Categories" it doesn't include music... After the update, my dock went from very slow to painfully slow and even ignoring some scroll right/left key presses.

That's so weird. I was updated too, and have Pandora and Facebook. But no SyncTV.

Upon further review, the new widgets/apps today appear to be SyncTV/kids, Facebook (return) and Pandora. The widget dock also seems to be more responsive/faster. No problem accessing and using existing Pandora account as all previously established "stations" appeared right away.

I have the 552. Tonight it is a lot faster, but varies depending upon whether it reloads the graphics. Also still becomes unresponsive for a few seconds here and there.

Has anyone noticed that the TV's internal broadcast Guide only shows the current and the next show, though there are slots for 5 shows. And you actually have to go to the channel and wait for the info to load. Would be nice if the TV Guide App could control the channel since the TV's guide is near worthless.

Ah thanks.

I've noticed that navigating the VIA dock, starting/stopping apps is considerably faster.

For those looking for SyncTV, for me, it's the last app on the last page of apps.


For me, the shut-off/click sound still occurs a few seconds after turning off the TV.

I really expected the test to be more about the TV in general, not just the individual apps.

I would like to see the screen shrink down to the fit the free space when the VIA menu flies out. I think it's kinda crazy to navigate the options while it is covering 20% of the program that you're watching. I'd also like a faster way to change the screen size, maybe even an auto function that many ten-year old televisions have. But the surveys haven't offered me anywhere to provide that type of input.

The way the survey is being handled seems to be more of a way for Vizio to get partners for the product, rather than a feedback regarding the set from customers.