Where are iPlayer and ITV hub apps on new A90J 2021 OLEDs?

[Toadio]

All the common UK catchup tv apps appear to be missing for the tv and they cannot be installed from google play store.. spec clearly states YouView support and specifically iPlayer.. surely i cant be the only one that has noticed these are not there?!

[Hummmmmmy]

Any Sony insiders on this forum that can offer any further updates?

[jcameron22]

I bought my telly thinking these apps were just not available at time of tv release, NOT that these apps would never be available! Come on Sony, we loyal customers paid a LOT for these TVs, we deserve to know when these basic UK apps will be available. Give us an update, please

[HannahEd01]

Hey jcameron22, what's the model of the TV? If it's a 2021 model the apps are coming soon.

[cjguk1970]

Unfortunately Sony have been saying they're coming soon since the TV launched in March so don't believe we're ever going to see them. This is like the LG 2020 models, most of which still don't have all the catch up apps over a year later

[royabrown2]

@cjguk1970 

Don't give up hope. The apps have been trickling in on the 2020 LGs, even into 2021, and now we are only short of All4.

Which we get from a Roku Express4K, with only one more click than if All4 were native.

[cjguk1970]

@royabrown2 Thanks for the reply, here's hoping they do arrive soon. I know I can plug in another device to get them but it's the principle of buying a tv for £3.5k that doesn't have the basic functions for a tv in the uk, when I can get all the missing apps from a £20 dongle

[jcameron22]

Thank you for your response Hannah, my model is A90J. 

Are you a Sony representative? It would really be good customer service for Sony to keep their loyal customers in the loop on the actual reason why these apps are not yet available and the steps that are being taken to resolve the problem. Is it due to legal/licensing or software compatibility? If so, which is it and does it involve google Android or Sony? Or both? Is there a team (legal / programmers) actively working on this or are Sony just shrugging it off and sweeping it under the carpet, now that they have our money? We currently have no way of knowing! As much as I love my tv, as we all know it didn’t come cheap and it has been five months now with absolutely no news. Does Sony think it is fair to keep their loyal customers in the dark for what is for uk customers a major issue. BBC iplayer, itv hub, All 4 and My5 are among standard apps that uk users expect on their devices. I am sure that the majority of uk customers would be grateful for a link they could subscribe to for updates on this issue?

[CyberWoogy]

@cjguk1970  Ooh he won't like that response.

You're right, buying a dongle is an unacceptable workaround and not a solution.

[CyberWoogy]

@jcameron22  Nobody here works for Sony

If you wish to address Sony directly you'll have to deal with their customer service reps based in Egypt.

Good luck with that.

Anyone suggesting the apps are coming soon, doesn't know when they are coming. Being promised something by Sony means FA.

Just ask the owners of 2020 Sony TVs if they've got the promised VRR update yet. Have they hell.

Lesson learned, never buy anything on the promise it will come.

[royabrown2]

@CyberWoogy 

If ‘he’ is me, then I do like that response, and I completely agree with @cjguk1970 

I’m on record in the Community as suggesting that all Sony retailers should be supplying a Roku (the £40 one so there is no compromise compared with what a properly app-equipped Sony TV would provide, and not any lesser £20 one) along with any 2021 Sony TV costing over £1,000 (say), rather than lose the sale. Which Sony, recognising that retailers may be perfectly happy to sell an alternative manufacturer’s TV, would do well to underwrite.

Unlike you Sony 2021 set owners who have been stiffed over this, though, I had the choice of the 2020 LG set, known to be light on a few apps, versus the 2021 model, north of mine by about £1000, with Freeview Play and a couple of display tweaks.

So, with my eyes open, I went for the cheaper set plus a £30 Roku to fill in the four missing apps. Of which three have now arrived, native on the TV.

I hope Sony comes good for you, though, like LG has for me. But I still have the scars from my 2015 Sony Android set, where we were promised and promised that recording on YouView was coming before the end of the year, and it didn’t, then or later.

But it’s only 6 years since that promise was made, so we still live in hope 😢