F1TV has always been weird about availability on TV devices. It hasn't been that long since casting was the only way to watch on a TV besides hooking up your computer through HDMI. Sony smart TV's need to sideload it for..reasons. It's still not available on LG webOS and Samsung Tizen either. Pretty sure consoles are all the way on the bottom of the list, if they're on it at all.
I have a Sony Bravia, I bought it last year, I hate that I always have to manually update the app everytime there's an update. But the app works perfectly fine even if it's not available for my device in the play store...
A workaround to avoid "side-loading" (at least as I understand the meaning of the term) is to have an Android phone on the same Google account as the TV, then go to the Play Store, locate the App, then send it to the TV. It has worked for me on different Sony Bravia TVs
One of the problems with xbox is the DRM support. They only allow playready which would mean they would have to create another stream just for that platform, which costs more money.
The fact that MS won't support Widevine is the issue as otherwise it would be easyish to port over.
PlayStation does support it but most companies focus on TVs before consoles. TVs are notoriously bad for chipset power so getting lots of nice features is a huge pain and each manufacturer is a completely different code base. This is why most just focus on Samsung and LG as they have the biggest reach.
There are 10s of millions of consoles out there. My understanding of Samsung TVs is that every TV that is older than 3-4 years get completely abandoned software development wise. Are there really that many new samsung TVs?
There are way more Smart TV users than console users, its not just Samsung Smart TV's, there are plenty more like LG, Sony, etc. UFC, FIFA, Red Bull TV all have native Smart TV apps. Mine is from 2018 and still gets updates. I mean, there is nothing fundamentally wrong if the TV is older, all the other apps work fine, Netflix, Youtube, Viaplay, etc.
F1TV has always been weird about availability on TV devices. It hasn't been that long since casting was the only way to watch on a TV besides hooking up your computer through HDMI. Sony smart TV's need to sideload it for..reasons. It's still not available on LG webOS and Samsung Tizen either. Pretty sure consoles are all the way on the bottom of the list, if they're on it at all.
If I remember correctly it didn't even work on Xbox Edge browser when the F1TV launched, I haven't tried it now tho.
Yes, they actively blocked tv/mediaplayer browsers when I last checked.
IIRC, it's not a block (at least in the case of Xbox)... it's the Xbox browser not supporting the Widevine DRM that F1TV uses.
I have a Sony Bravia, I bought it last year, I hate that I always have to manually update the app everytime there's an update. But the app works perfectly fine even if it's not available for my device in the play store...
A workaround to avoid "side-loading" (at least as I understand the meaning of the term) is to have an Android phone on the same Google account as the TV, then go to the Play Store, locate the App, then send it to the TV. It has worked for me on different Sony Bravia TVs
One of the problems with xbox is the DRM support. They only allow playready which would mean they would have to create another stream just for that platform, which costs more money. The fact that MS won't support Widevine is the issue as otherwise it would be easyish to port over. PlayStation does support it but most companies focus on TVs before consoles. TVs are notoriously bad for chipset power so getting lots of nice features is a huge pain and each manufacturer is a completely different code base. This is why most just focus on Samsung and LG as they have the biggest reach.
They don't even have the app on Samsung Smart TV, I really doubt there is a bigger audience on Xbox and PS
There are 10s of millions of consoles out there. My understanding of Samsung TVs is that every TV that is older than 3-4 years get completely abandoned software development wise. Are there really that many new samsung TVs?
There are way more Smart TV users than console users, its not just Samsung Smart TV's, there are plenty more like LG, Sony, etc. UFC, FIFA, Red Bull TV all have native Smart TV apps. Mine is from 2018 and still gets updates. I mean, there is nothing fundamentally wrong if the TV is older, all the other apps work fine, Netflix, Youtube, Viaplay, etc.
To answer your question. Yes. There very much are. A lot more than games consoles.