LG to offer subscriptions for already purchased appliances and televisions, evolving into a provider for “Home as a Service”::Subscription fatigue is a thing and regulators are circling, but Korean giant reckons you’re ready to cough up after buying hardware
I have an LG monitor, but never again. This is absurd. If money is all they understand then I hope they have a rude awakening on account of this.
This is fucking dystopian…
This thing with subscriptions has become insane. You can easily spend several hundred a month getting roped into all the subscriptions companies are pushing. It’s the latest way to squeeze as much money as possible out of the consumer.
I’ve gone into subscription boycott at this point. I had too many and said screw that. I still have Amazon Prime where I think I get my money’s worth. I shop there a lot and use their streaming so it’s worth it to me. Subscriptions for appliances? No way in hell.
It’s one of those things that was a shock at how prevalent it is on the Apple app store after so much talk of how much better the apps are compared to Android. There’s not even proper filter options to filter out apps that are subscription only. It was ridiculous how you could buy an app then get pop ups to get the subscription plan. It’s why I wish a foss app store like F-droid becomes available once slide loading becomes possible so I can avoid the appstore as much as possible when I need a basic app. Like a calculator.
Yeah phone apps are horrible, don’t know about iOS since I’ve always used Android, but they’re mostly bad. The apps geared to a company service are usually fine, but the rest are just ad support systems.
I actually don’t use third party phone apps that much, but the times I have it’s like an assault. You get a tenth of the screen for the actual function of the app with the rest of the screen gyrating ads. It’s especially a problem for me because I’m old and can’t see the screen that well. I don’t know how people put up with it. I can’t.
Good thing about at least paid apps on play store is that they usually don’t have subscriptions, and there are tags warning if it Contains Ads before you even install the app.
I don’t think Apple appstore even has ad warnings. Only in-app purchase warning. So using appstore was when I found out talking video ads exist.
Yep. I built a fully automated piracy machine that I can stream straight to any device with no hassle. Fuck subscriptions.
Can you expand a bit on how you did that? Sounds enticing and I do have a virtual server and a RasPi to play around with.
Sonarr, radarr, qbittorrent and jellyfin are what I use.
Prowlarr
Should also look I to ombi, it can tie into your jellyfish server to see what you already have, and you can have it send requests to sonarr if you find something new.
(Also has user management so family / friends can see what you got or submit requests)
Definitely! Don’t listen to the folks behind me - Jellyfin can only be viewed outside of your network if you build your own website and host it there, and that’s way more trouble than you need to go through. Use Plex instead. You can just download the app and login and view your media from anywhere in the world without having to be a web designer/programmer.
Jellyfin is cool and all, but the functionality is severely lacking compared to Plex. Plex is getting pretty commercial, so I get it, but it just fucking works haha. Jellyfin will hopefully be there someday, but trust me, save yourself that headache. It sucks in it’s current form. It’s mostly just hardcore nerds that use Jellyfin, and if you’re trying to share it with others, it’s very complex. With Plex, I can just have my elderly mother or whoever download the Plex app on their phone, smart TV, game console, or anything else with internet and you can cast it just like Netflix.
I use unRAID as my OS, which is a Docker-based Linux kernel. I use Plex, Prowlarr/Radarr/Sonarr for indexing and organizing my library, sabNZBD and qBittorrent to download the files, and Overseerr as a search engine and request system for movies and TV. Basically I’ve got Overseerr reverse proxied and myself and all of the folks I share my Plex with can access it and request stuff from any web browser.
I’m actually setting plex up within the next couple of days! I had to make some hardware changes first (mostly adding more storage)
Are there any good guides on how do to it the way you did so it can torrent the stuff you don’t have on demand? I assume that once you’ve torrented it, it keeps that torrented media downloaded for later use as well? Or does it automatically delete after a certain amount of inactivity on that file? Did you set it up with a VPN, and if so how did you get that working in Qbittorrent in docker?
Yep, this guide is a little outdated at this point, but still very solid. It does keep the file - Sonarr/Radarr actually have media management and you can clean up your media folder very nicely with them. There’s containers on the unRAID app store for both that already have your VPN integrated - you basically just plug in your VPN info. Highly recommend Private Internet Access for your provider - they’re the easiest one to configure and they’re one of the most secure. I’m at the office right now, but there’s two creators you want to look out for - hotio and linuxserver. Both of those guys make damn solid containers with this in mind.
Thanks! I’ll read up on that tomorrow, though I’ll have to do something slightly different as I used proxmox as my base OS rather than unRaid. But that looks like a good stepping off point!
No problem! I’m not super familiar with ProxMox myself, but if it’s doable, I’m sure someone on the internet has written something up on it!
Yeah, it’s bad enough that an LG TV makes you agree to have all of your data sent to them, but now they want you to pay for the privilege as well. Screw that!
I mean, i think all smart TVs do that now. Don’t know what I’ll do when my dumb one breaks.
Just don’t connect smart TVs to the internet. Get something cheap like a raspberry pi + wireless mouse/keyboard or an android TV box for the same functionality. (More functionality, actually)
Ugh I wish raspberry pis were still… anywhere… for reasonable prices.
Man I had no clue they went up in price. I have a couple laying around here somewhere.
But you know, if you look on newegg.com, you can just about buy a full cheap motherboard with CPU for the same price and get more ports and probably more speed as long as you can handle the size.
Haha I accidentally bought an extra right before prices skyrocketed, and am just saving that bitch for when the right project comes along. Came close to returning it, but am damn glad I didn’t.
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Did you start with Jellyfin or go there from Plex? I’ve been thinking about setting it just as a backup in case Plex gets shitty.
We have a group of friends who all pay for one family subscription service each, then we all share the passwords. If password sharing goes then I’m back to the high seas.
Just curious why the hate for spotify?
As for your phone you can buy an unlocked one and a month to month plan. I did that about 5 years ago. Phone dies, transfer sim.
What’s your issue with Spotify?
For the same price, Apple Music provides lossless audio quality, Dolby Atmos, 4K music videos (you can’t even get those on YouTube), karaoke (Apple Music Sing), and a personalized radio station that doesn’t feed you the exact same stuff every week. Plus you can use third-party apps like Marvis Pro with your AM subscription, so you’re not locked to one app’s GUI.
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I get the podcast thing. I never use it, and I don’t think most others do. I’m hoping they just kill the idea at some point but who knows.
The library used to be more straightforward, but in the most recent updates or at least since I’ve started using it again it’s seemed much more playlist focused. To me, this actually makes more sense - with iTunes the “universe” of music is what I have downloaded, with Spotify it doesn’t really matter what’s in my library, everything is already accessible. Rarely do I just browse by artist in my library when using Spotify.
That being said, I do like to add music to iTunes still and sync it to my iPod as I have no faith that Spotify will be around for my entire lifespan.
I use podcast addict. It works.
I’d love to switch to Apple Music. I wish it’s let you add an artist to your library instead of individually doing all their albums.
I also have no interest in the Spotify “value adds”: they add no value for me. Last year I did try to leave, with their focus on podcasts that seem actively harmful to society, but their play lists are just the way I like to listen to music. Apple Music kept annoying me with focus on albums, and iverly targeted play lists, so I did come back
The podcast thing is not Spotify’s fault, it’s an industry-wide thing.
As podcasting took off, the most popular podcast hosts wanted to be fairly paid for their stardom. An exclusive distribution deal is the easiest way for the podcaster, who otherwise would have to grind their audience with paid subscriptions or intrusive sponsorships.
Good explanation. Apple Music is still solid for me and I greatly prefer it over Spotify since I prefer listening to and collecting albums over playlists. Am also not a fan of what they’ve done with podcasts, the overall sound quality or the integration with the products I use.
While not ideal, I’ve found that most of the songs or music removed is due to some weird licensing issue and is still there. For example Wolfmother’s first album needing to be re-added as the 10th anniversary edition. Kind of annoying still but manageable.
Amazon music has held my attention for several years now
My fourth issue is just the number of tracks that are no longer available on Spotify from my library.
Yes this is what led me back to buying and downloading music again to keep a local back up of.
Curious, what’s wrong with Spotify?
They pay artists the least, fund the US war machine, inundate you with podcasts when you just want music, etc.
5 TV Streaming services? More like 25 at this point.
You know my story isn’t very different from yours.
As a teenager I massively pirated everything, became an adult with a paying job streaming was sensible so I paid for Netflix/Spotify eventually adding in Prime video + the occasional thing like P+/disney+ or whatever flavour of the month I wanted to watch.
Then earlier this year I realised I was paying for 6 different movie/tv streaming subs and when I went on holiday none of the services I had worked properly and I couldn’t continue watching the show I had been watching at night before bed and I just went nah fuck this. Blew about 2 grand on a Mac Mini m2 and a ton of hard drives and just went full on Arr stack + usenet + plex lifetime.
It isn’t even about the fucking money anymore it’s just how inconvenient they make everything, I’ve had enough and I don’t think I’m ever going back.
Disney Plus straight up refusing to run anything while we were on vacation just made me really mad. Here I am setting up the tablet for the kid, and then - nah wrong region mate. Even VPN didn’t help somehow.
Yeah Disney+ legitimately made me mad also. Fuck the streaming services.
I think they use the tablet location info to block you.
What about a VPN?
Even the OS (like MS Windows) will be subscription. I don’t give a flying fuck, as I use Linux. And I have 0 (zero) subscriptions. I feel free, without vices (other than smoking).
I use Windows exclusively because that’s my comfort zone. I’ve been thinking of installing a Linux distro on my unRAID server to get more comfortable using it, because I will never pay a subscription for Windows.
Sorry, I just want to make sure I haven’t missed anything - why don’t you want to use Spotify?
what’s the problem with spotify, i never used it, but it isn’t the first time i read about someone complaining about them
If corporations are gonna be greedy. It’s time to steal some of that value back for us. Huzzah!
For just a low low price of $15.99/month you can use the freezer functionality to keep things really cold! Or, you can use our free ad tier where the freezer only unlocks after you watch a 60 second ad.
Right! If you don’t upgrade service periodically the freezer temperature goes up by one degree a month. It’s for your convenience!
Nice a free simulation of the global warming.
Great. Gonna have to get rid of my LG oled now huh?
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I suspect they’ll include cellular radios in the near future so the appliance does not depend on the “consumer” to provide data access.
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With a cellular data subscription that we will then be required to pay a monthly fee for, to make sure the TV continues to work. You didn’t think they’d be giving this away for free, right?
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I may be lucky. I am an expat, and I bought mine in China. Now I am in Malaysia. So I may not have this issue. But your points are likely true.
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This post alone just told me that I am never buying an LG washer or dryer, that is fucking stupid. you can:t change the settings without being connected to the internet? Yea hard pass
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BUT HOW WILL HE SURVIVE WITHOUT THE ALERTS ON HIS PHONE TELLING HIM HIS WIFE’S BOYFRIEND’S LAUNDRY IS DONE?! We don’t want Craig smelling all mildewy whilst digging out this dudes wife.
“Also, I depend on phone notifications so I don’t forget about the load.”
You know you can set alarms on your phone to remember to check on stuff.
I dread replacing my 15 year old TV, i need dem SCARTS
Oh, SCART. We hardly knew ye. Truly France’s greatest gift to the world.
Commenting from an LG phone (last one produced) next to an LG tv. Will never purchase another one of their products in my life, even before this article.
I have a dumb LG TV and idek how I’ll replace it when it’s finished. Do they even sell dumb TV’s anymore?
Don’t buy LG?
I don’t plan on it after my current TV goes. This one was given to me when my parents got a new TV.
You have to buy a “smart tv”, never connect it to wifi and plug a proper media device to it.
What I’ve done.
Are there really only smart tvs nowM
Search for the ones that are meant for retail use. I don’t recall what they’re called, but that class of tvs will get you a decent dumb tv.
Digital signage? They’re basically monitors but often have a basic onboard OS like Android for running DS apps, but like you said they’re otherwise a dumb TV without the aerial port.
Do they even have good image quality?
I have a dumb tv now, I plan to replace it with a computer monitor. Sound and video go through my reciever already, which sends the video to my tv. Chromecast and a rpi to do any smart things.
I think those are called “commercial displays” now.
After seeing this post and the article, I just blocked my LG C1 from WAN at my router. LAN still available for automation purposes, but fuck letting that thing out to the internet now. Funny enough, it turns on faster, and no more notification splash at the bottom. Nice.
This is fucking ridiculous! Do you have to buy a subscription in order to use the appliance? If so, it seems to me that this would constitute unfair trade practice. Some shit just does not belong on the internet. Can you imagine the serious and life threatening situation that could develop, if say, somebody hacked into a system and turned gas stoves on and a fire developed? No, it’s time to draw the line at IoT!
You’ll own nothing and be happy.
The people who downvoted you are either unaware of where things are going, or they have no ability to comprehend humor.
Fuck it! I’ll be old fashioned and use an outdoor grill.
Sigh. Our latest TV is an LG precisely because LG did not have ads in its OS whereas its main competitors do. Once they introduce ads, they’ll have completely lost me as a potential repeat customer.
Guess our next TV will just be a large monitor, with no “smart” shenanigans whatsoever.
I tried that: they are difficult to impossible to find. I thought I was generous to be willing to pay double, but I couldn’t find a monitor with my tv’s specs for any price
I ended up getting a Vizio and to my surprise I actually use the spyOS over my streaming devices most of the time. It’s actually pretty good —- except for the ads. Even then, it mostly needs an extra click or two to open the app I want, rather than the sponsored app
That is disheartening to hear.
I’d rather have a dedicated box and a dumb tv, the hardware rarely keeps pace than a box
Exactly, I’ll be using a big monitor with an HTPC. These “smart” TVs are just horrific anymore with their ads and subs and everything else that’s a money grab. I don’t need any of that garbage.
Right now I have an older TV without a smart OS. It’s hooked up to an AV amp and a couple TV boxes. I dread replacing my TV because of the crappy operating systems they all have now. I’ll have to find a big monitor if I can even find something like that for a decent price, don’t know, haven’t looked.
I just don’t connect my TV to the internet. Once a year I update the firmware with a USB, it’s perfect.
While I agree that smart TVs are garbage, they’re cheap AF because of the ads and other garbage they include. Look for a dumb TV, if you can even find one nowadays, and it’s double the price. They’re subsidizing the cost of the TV with the ads and tracking.
I also have an older TV from 2008, and if it dies, I’m probably not going to replace it. I don’t use it enough that it’s worth replacing.
If you want a large monitor, those are quite expensive, especially at the sizes of today’s TVs. You can get a cheapish 40" monitor, but above that, you’re looking at a 50% premium for a monitor over a TV.
Plug a Raspberry Pi with LibreElec into the HDMI port of any smart tv and never use the OS or connect it to wifi. I can’t fathom why people use the ad-ridden trash these TVs ship with.
My 6ish year old Sony was purchased with the built in OS as my least important quality, as I knew that someday it’d be unsupportable as far as new apps, but that a third party box would provide a good experience with a single HDMI. I’m actually still using the built in OS but I can tell that it’s getting slower and buggier, so I’m thinking of getting a Roku soon.
Why even use the LG OS? I always used a fire tv stick and now nvidia shield (I don’t see ads as far as I know), which is much better supported as an Android OS instead if an LG OS.
All these “sticks” don’t have good support for domestic streaming services in my country. The native TV OS does.
If you’re not paying for it you are the product…wait if you are paying for it you are the product.
Might as well just rent a house. lol
Well, point of fact, if you have a mortgage, your landlord becomes the bank anyway. You only get to own it after 30 years, and that is, if you haven’t needed to take out a home equity loan or other line of credit against your home to make necessary repairs.
Well yes and no, in the sense that a landlord can evict you for reasons other than failure to pay rent (YMMV depending on your country) and in some places where housing is hard to come by, a financed house ensures that you won’t be evicted because the landlord wants to make yet another Airbnb out of your apartment.
Even if you have a mortgage, better hope you don’t have an HOA that can put a lien on your house for not paying the monthly fees
It’s true, if you buy a place with an HOA in the US (not living there so the thought didn’t even reach my mind) you have to check their rules as part of your due diligence. I know it’s tempting because the place looks oh so good/the price is low/there are 20 other people waiting but you can dodge some serious bullets of you don’t overlook it.
In my neck of the woods you have to be careful about upcoming renovations that were voted by the “HOA” before you buy but have yet to be funded by the homeowners. You can be forced to chip in to pay for a big reno (exterior walls, HVAC…) even though you didn’t vote for it. But I guess it can also happen in the States.
You’re paying a mortgage regardless. If you “own” you can sell the house and get a huge chunk of your money back.
The only caveats to owning is if your not planning on living there long term or you overpay when you purchase it.
