Tizen Why isn't Emby available in the Samsung store for all countries?

[Luke 37188]

We've just submitted an update to Samsung. Unfortunately over the last 1-2 years their typical turnaround time has been 6-8 weeks, and that's if we get through on the first try   . They used to be much faster. We'll see what happens. With any luck, maybe you'll have the update by Halloween.

[SamES 893]

58 minutes ago, jonnyzap said:

It's not showing in the store for my 2 day old 2023 UK CU8500, though it was in the UK store for my old Samsung who decided to die in the Middle of the Rugby world cup!

 

[skobkin 7]

On 9/14/2023 at 7:10 PM, Luke said:

Just fyi Samsung no longer accepts app updates for 2017 models, so unfortunately, we can’t publish an update for your model. That means over time it will fall out of date and may get to a point where you have you consider the usb install again. Well hopefully it doesn’t get to that anytime soon.

Let me get this straight. We waited for all these years, got very old version and will not get update for it from now on?

I think I'm stopping recommending Samsung Tizen TV's even considering their good performance since Samsung is managing their ecosystem so poorly.

[Luke 37188]

5 minutes ago, skobkin said:

Let me get this straight. We waited for all these years, got very old version and will not get update for it from now on?

I think I'm stopping recommending Samsung Tizen TV's even considering their good performance since Samsung is managing their ecosystem so poorly.

It started with 2015 models a few years ago where they’re only accepting updates for models from the last five years. 
So if that pattern continues then that means as soon as 2024 models start coming out then we’ll no longer be able to update for 2018 models.

[k0Lm. 32]

5 hours ago, skobkin said:

Let me get this straight. We waited for all these years, got very old version and will not get update for it from now on?

I think I'm stopping recommending Samsung Tizen TV's even considering their good performance since Samsung is managing their ecosystem so poorly.

I highly disagree with you on this. I have been using Plex due to Emby's unresolved issues on my samsung and sony televisions and Plex f.e. is always up to date.

Edited September 18, 2023 by k0Lm.

[Luke 37188]

19 minutes ago, k0Lm. said:

I highly disagree with you on this. I have been using Plex due to Emby's unresolved issues on my samsung and sony televisions and Plex f.e. is always up to date.

They're a Samsung partner, and not only can partners release worldwide without the hassle that we went through, but I would imagine they can also submit updates for older models to ensure a consistent experience no matter which unit you have. I don't think there's any technical issue preventing Samsung from accepting updates for older models, but rather I just think they don't want to allocate the manpower to reviewing and testing submissions for them. 

[Painkiller8818 203]

11 hours ago, Luke said:

They're a Samsung partner

And you don't wanna become a samsung partner?

[Luke 37188]

32 minutes ago, Painkiller8818 said:

And you don't wanna become a samsung partner?

That's not something that you can just check a box and opt into.

[FrostByte 5055]

I'm sure being a partner comes with a hefty price tag.  They even have a link to your bank account on there

https://developer.samsung.com/tv-seller-office/guides/membership/becoming-partner.html

[skobkin 7]

17 hours ago, Luke said:

It started with 2015 models a few years ago where they’re only accepting updates for models from the last five years. 
So if that pattern continues then that means as soon as 2024 models start coming out then we’ll no longer be able to update for 2018 models.

That's sad. And not very user-friendly.

I think I'll stick to Android TV from now on. At least you can somewhat automate updates there without user data loss even if you can't install them from the store.

Also Emby for Android feels better than Tizen and WebOS versions.

@LukeCan you at least add some kind of option to disable or make less frequent app update notifications on Tizen? Yeah, it's not so long when you're doing it one time, but every time doing manual removal, then manual install then typing all credentials is frustrating. I can live without updates for several months if I know that it's me who opted out from them.

Edited September 18, 2023 by skobkin
Added a question

[FrostByte 5055]

The app is compiled on Samsung servers and the expiration is added by Samsung during compiling by them.  The whole premise behind it is to prevent developers from distributing their apps this way.  USB distribution is only meant for testing. 

[k0Lm. 32]

13 hours ago, Luke said:

They're a Samsung partner, and not only can partners release worldwide without the hassle that we went through

Look, i get it, they have been on the global market longer and Emby has just entered that, which deserves a big congratulations!! 
But, nonetheless, for us users we see a version that has been released over a year ago, i hope that it makes it easier for you (and us) to update (globally) to a more recent version in the near future.

1 hour ago, Luke said:

I don't think there's any technical issue preventing Samsung from accepting updates for older models

Ofcourse there isn't, it's the same for apps like whatsapp not 'supporting' older phones and needing to buy a new one.
It's how tech 'works', right?
But please don't ignore the current issues with Emby and stop blaming Samsung for everything because that's what it feels like it for me, correct me if i'm wrong.
For example, i bought a new TV (SONY Bravia KD-43X80J) just to enjoy Emby and the version released in the store doesn't play a single videofile (with or without encoding, just a black screen), which does work on my Samsung TV's using the USB installation method but those holds other issues themselves..

Edited September 18, 2023 by k0Lm.

[Luke 37188]

18 minutes ago, k0Lm. said:

Look, i get it, they have been on the global market longer and Emby has just entered that, which deserves a big congratulations!! 
But, nonetheless, for us users we see a version that has been released over a year ago, i hope that it makes it easier for you (and us) to update (globally) to a more recent version in the near future.

Ofcourse there isn't, it's the same for apps like whatsapp not 'supporting' older phones and needing to buy a new one.
It's how tech 'works', right?
But please don't ignore the current issues with Emby and stop blaming Samsung for everything because that's what it feels like it for me, correct me if i'm wrong.
For example, i bought a new TV (SONY Bravia KD-43X80J) just to enjoy Emby and the version released in the store doesn't play a single videofile (with or without encoding, just a black screen), which does work on my Samsung TV's using the USB installation method but those holds other issues themselves..

I haven't pointed fingers or blame at anyone. I've just been stating facts, and the facts are, they don't allow all app developers to release worldwide, nor do they allow updates to models older than five years.

[Luke 37188]

1 hour ago, skobkin said:

 

@LukeCan you at least add some kind of option to disable or make less frequent app update notifications on Tizen? Yeah, it's not so long when you're doing it one time, but every time doing manual removal, then manual install then typing all credentials is frustrating. I can live without updates for several months if I know that it's me who opted out from them.

You don't want to do that, because our update notification comes 1-2 days before the Samsung 30 day usb expiration will kick in. If you suppress our notification, then when the usb expiration kicks in you'll get a cryptic error message from Samsung and you might have no idea what's wrong or what to do.

[k0Lm. 32]

33 minutes ago, Luke said:

I haven't pointed fingers or blame at anyone. I've just been stating facts, and the facts are, they don't allow all app developers to release worldwide, nor do they allow updates to models older than five years.

Well the 5 year mark is 'normal'. And for example, this is just one of the comments which makes me think this way:

 

 

On 4/28/2021 at 9:50 PM, Luke said:

We're doing the best we can given the cards that have been dealt by Samsung.

But this is becide the point. Like i said. I hope that everything goes smoother being (almost/fully) global.
Including other brands like Sony (which i bought to use Emby more) clearly made things even worse from my perspective.

Don't get me wrong, i'm still rooting for Emby, that's why i am still here.

Edited September 18, 2023 by k0Lm.

[skobkin 7]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

If you suppress our notification, then when the usb expiration kicks in you'll get a cryptic error message from Samsung and you might have no idea what's wrong or what to do.

What exactly are you talking about? I am not updating Emby app each month not for a first time already and no cryptic messages so far

Some time ago I had it outdated for ~3-4 months.

2 hours ago, k0Lm. said:

Well the 5 year mark is 'normal'.

It's normal not to expect firmware updates after this time from Samsung. But they're making artificial barriers for their clients. There most likely is no technical limitation to release this app if it's build from the same source code as for latest models. Yes, there could be some SDK/API changes in the new TV OS versions, but if that'd be the case, Luke would've told that.

Imagine not being able to install an application to your 5 year old Android phone not because the developer dropped old Android versions, but because Google just decided to disable updates for you.

Edited September 18, 2023 by skobkin

[k0Lm. 32]

7 minutes ago, skobkin said:

Imagine not being able to install an application to your 5 year old Android phone not because the developer dropped old Android versions, but because Google just decided to disable updates for you.

Ever heard of a thing called 'whatsapp'?

[FrostByte 5055]

Samsung tests app updates with at least one TV in each tier for every year.  So that's at least 3 TVs per year for every time Luke submits an update.  If your TV is no longer supported and no longer in warranty, then they aren't going to pay someone to test apps for it unless you pay them a little extra by being a partner.  After all Samsung also wants you to buy a new TV.

[FrostByte 5055]

2 hours ago, skobkin said:

What exactly are you talking about? I am not updating Emby app each month not for a first time already and no cryptic messages so far

Some time ago I had it outdated for ~3-4 months.

 

Were you updating from usb or did you change your region? 

The usb has a hardcoded expiration date inserted by Samsung when it's compiled so that it disables itself at 30 days.  Luke is referring to the message Emby adds which starts a couple days before the time bomb occurs so that people have time to update before the whole app disables itself and spits out a different message inserted by Samsung. 

The store version will never expire.  Samsung just isn't going to update it after 5 years unless the developer is a partner.

Edited September 19, 2023 by FrostByte

[skobkin 7]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:16 AM, k0Lm. said:

Ever heard of a thing called 'whatsapp'?

Yeah, but I'm not using that piece of s...oftware.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:12 AM, FrostByte said:

Were you updating from usb or did you change your region?

Yes, before recent updates in this thread I was using USB updates for several years. AFAIR, I'm using the same region (Russia) where this TV was bought.

I tried to change the region to US or something else for some time to be able to install Emby, but ended up reverting that. Do not remember exactly why. Probably because of a lot of ads on the panel or some local apps being unavailable.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:05 AM, FrostByte said:

After all Samsung also wants you to buy a new TV.

Well, they achieved the opposite. Earlier I was saying to my friends that Tizen TV's are quite good especially when compared to WebOS TV's from LG. I was also planning to buy new model of smaller size to my study room.

But now I'm not doing that anymore. I bought Xiaomi TV to my study room and checking out how Android TV / Google TV will perform. And for now it performs quite good.

BTW, now I'm rooting a bit more for new EU DMA laws about "gatekeepers" and 3rd party stores on devices.

[miniliQuid 85]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:03 PM, skobkin said:

Well, they achieved the opposite. Earlier I was saying to my friends that Tizen TV's are quite good especially when compared to WebOS TV's from LG. I was also planning to buy new model of smaller size to my study room.

But now I'm not doing that anymore. I bought Xiaomi TV to my study room and checking out how Android TV / Google TV will perform. And for now it performs quite good.

BTW, now I'm rooting a bit more for new EU DMA laws about "gatekeepers" and 3rd party stores on devices.

I agree as I have been moving away from Samsung for quite a while now with my devices (not gonna replace them while they still work though, but some of my devices have indeed been replaced by now). But I doubt they really care for the few consumers they lose, compared to how much they cut on costs with this. And I also doubt everyone suddenly stops buying their stuff just because of "minor" things like this.

Neither do I though, because since I switched some of my devices I notice they are a lot better than Samsung devices in many ways.

[Naderh10 0]

Nothing yet in Canada for S90C

[Neonblue 3]

I couldn't find it for my brand new samsung TV in the US samsung app store either.

[SamES 893]

1 hour ago, Neonblue said:

I couldn't find it for my brand new samsung TV in the US samsung app store either.

It's with Samsung for review/release so it should be there in the very near future

[JulesC 44]

20 hours ago, SamES said:

It's with Samsung for review/release so it should be there in the very near future

Yes, I helped a family member who has a 2023 Samsung Smart TV who lives in the USA and Emby was not available in their app store. I finally installed it via a USB drive and it works. Any concerns with this approach (i.e. will they have to reinstall every 30 days)? TIA

Edited September 26, 2023 by JulesC