Vizio now testing SmartCast 3.0 with AirPlay 2, final release coming in the spring

Vizio has launched a sign up for the beta of SmartCast 3.0, its upcoming TV interface — which also weaves in support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.

Anyone in the U.S. or Canada with a compatible SmartCast TV can sign up via vizio.com/apple, according to an announcement. That should include all D-, E-, M-, and P-Series sets shipped since 2017, and 2018 and 2019 P-Series Quantum models.

The company also announced down the timeframe for the beta release of SmartCast 3.0, promising it will be a free download in the second quarter of 2019 after the beta later in Q1.

Vizio was one of the first TV makers to reveal AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support during this month's Consumer Electronics Show. People will be able to push audio, photos, and video, ask Siri to play specific content, and use Apple's Home app to control power, volume, and inputs. By extension HomeKit will let people integrate their TV into automations, for instance powering it on and dimming the lights for a "movie night" scene.

Samsung was the first to debut compatiblity, surprising the industry with not just that but a native iTunes app. The software lets people access any movie or TV show in their iTunes library without having to use an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. So far it's the only third-party company with such an app, even though LG and Sony are also rolling out AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.

10 Comments

commentzilla 769 comments · 10 Years

About 5 years ago

We bought and returned one of their $750 TVs (The Wirecutter's Top Pick for a TV in this range). It was total crap compared to a $500 TCL ROKU TV in the same size.

The interface software is basically spyware, because you have to agree to share everything you do on the TV with Vizio. The TV was dog slow when navigating the menu system and It must have updated 10 times (rebooted) before we could even use it, and even then it was still dog slow. The picture was good but the beachball of death in-between navigating the menu was annoying and the blacks looked bad. The OTA HDTV tuner channel guide was crap with no channel overview. Limited apps, not that there was an easy or obvious way to add them. Should I go on?... We returned it after one day.

Buyer beware!

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 5 years ago

commentzilla said:

We bought and returned one of their $750 TVs. It was total crap compared to a $500 TCL ROKU TV in the same size.

The interface software is basically spyware, because you have to agree to share everything you do on the TV with Vizio. The TV was dog slow when navigating the menu system and It must have updated 10 times (rebooted) before we could even use it, and even then it was still dog slow. The picture was good but the beachball of death in-between navigating the menu was annoying and the blacks looked bad. The OTA HDTV tuner channel guide was crap with no channel overview. Limited apps, not that there was an easy or obvious way to add them. Should I go on?... We returned it after one day.

Buyer beware!

I bought a Vizio also (mine was one of the smaller ones... I don’t have room for one of those massive screens people seem to like these days) and agree the TV system software is total crap. The company never guessed a consumer looking for a new TV would want to use one with no Internet connection whatsoever (I only watch over-the-air content using a digital antenna). As a result, even the simplest of things cannot be changed because the system expects updates that are never going to happen. The time zone and the current time have no way to be programmed manually and it drives me crazy because it constantly changes on its own! Even my “dumb TV” I used to own before the US transitioned to digital OTA signals I could set the time. Shortsighted and customer-hostile.

mac_128 3452 comments · 12 Years

About 5 years ago

commentzilla said:

We bought and returned one of their $750 TVs (The Wirecutter's Top Pick for a TV in this range). It was total crap compared to a $500 TCL ROKU TV in the same size.

The interface software is basically spyware, because you have to agree to share everything you do on the TV with Vizio. The TV was dog slow when navigating the menu system and It must have updated 10 times (rebooted) before we could even use it, and even then it was still dog slow. The picture was good but the beachball of death in-between navigating the menu was annoying and the blacks looked bad. The OTA HDTV tuner channel guide was crap with no channel overview. Limited apps, not that there was an easy or obvious way to add them. Should I go on?... We returned it after one day.

Buyer beware!

Spyware aside — I think it’s impossible to buy a smart TV these days that doesn’t collect data, even if you think you’ve opted out of everything — my experience with Vizio was that every retailer I visited telling me that Vizio had a higher return and repair rate of any other TV they sold. That’s not a desirable quality for. 65” TV where even a minor repair is a hassle. In the end, the lack of a TV tuner for this cord cutter was the determining factor.

I have to say though, the fact Vizio is planning to offer AirPlay back to 2016 models makes me jealous with my Sony, which doesn’t even seem to be offering any backward compatibility at all. Fortunately I don’t really need it with my AppleTV 4K, but it would be nice.

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 5 years ago

mac_128 said:

commentzilla said:

We bought and returned one of their $750 TVs (The Wirecutter's Top Pick for a TV in this range). It was total crap compared to a $500 TCL ROKU TV in the same size.

The interface software is basically spyware, because you have to agree to share everything you do on the TV with Vizio. The TV was dog slow when navigating the menu system and It must have updated 10 times (rebooted) before we could even use it, and even then it was still dog slow. The picture was good but the beachball of death in-between navigating the menu was annoying and the blacks looked bad. The OTA HDTV tuner channel guide was crap with no channel overview. Limited apps, not that there was an easy or obvious way to add them. Should I go on?... We returned it after one day.

Buyer beware!

Spyware aside — I think it’s impossible to buy a smart TV these days that doesn’t collect data, even if you think you’ve opted out of everything — my experience with Vizio was that every retailer I visited telling me that Vizio had a higher return and repair rate of any other TV they sold. That’s not a desirable quality for. 65” TV where even a minor repair is a hassle. In the end, the lack of a TV tuner for this cord cutter was the determining factor.

I have to say though, the fact Vizio is planning to offer AirPlay back to 2016 models makes me jealous with my Sony, which doesn’t even seem to be offering any backward compatibility at all. Fortunately I don’t really need it with my AppleTV 4K, but it would be nice.

That’s not completely accurate. Vizio TVs do have built-in tuners to receive over-the-air digital TV broadcast signals, one only need buy a digital antenna. Most TVs don’t ship with a digital antenna because of the added cost and MOST people are typically connecting their set to cable, satellite or Internet.

tzeshan 2350 comments · 14 Years

About 5 years ago

I had a Vizio 50" TV for ten years now. The picture quality is still good like new. The problem it has now is occasionally when the over the air tv signal is not good it might reboot itself. I would not say Vizio TV is worse because my son replaced his ten years old Samsung TV too.