Sony Youview is NOT Youview

[Agrigg]

How is Sony able to market and sell its new TV’s to have Youview onboard? What is actually provided by Sony is a skeleton of the functionality offered by the award winning version of Youview, which is excellent. This is a misrepresentation of Youview and deliberately deceitful act to sell Sony products. I cannot understand why Sony would not deliver a fully functioning Youview in order to deliver the best product possible. I bought a new TV to remove the need for any boxes, but instead, I’ve had to plug my youview box back in and use two remotes.

Despite an overwhelming number of requests from Sony customers to provide an update, there is no indication from Sony that an update is in development.

My recommendation to anyone looking for a new TV is to check which brands provide full Youview functionality because it makes a significant difference to the usability and experience of using a television as a complete entertainment system. If I had realised Youview was not really Youview, I would not have bought a Sony TV.
Well done Sony!

[rooobb]

There is not such a thing as "Sony" Youview. Youview is a trademark and is managed by them on any platform.

[royabrown2]

@Agrigg @rooobb 

With a very few limitations, such as the Sony TVs not having two tuners, and with the proviso that you need to hang a YouView-sized hard disc off a USB port, and keep it there, there is no reason on earth that the Sony TVs should not be able to run a version of YouView very much closer to what you get on a YouView box, and without knocking the satellite tuning for six either.

Why this never came about, both Sony and YouView are incredibly tight-lipped about, but certainly, neither party initially intended that YouView be such a pale shadow of its box self on these TVs.

I suspect that a fuller YouView would have required more resources from these TVs than Sony was prepared to allow; though whether YouView wanted too much or Sony offered too little, who knows?

But you would think that in the five years YouView on Sony has been going, an accommodation could have been reached; but it hasn’t. Alas.

So yes, if you want what most people think of as YouView, you still need a box to give you this.