Live TV broken for TV+ on AndroidTV (Sony Bravia)

[ahizzle]

Based on the recent 1-star reviews in the Google Play store I am far from the only one experiencing this. Since Tuesday of this week (Feb 14, 2023) live TV has not functioned at all - restarting a show from the beginning works but isn't very convenient for sports or news.  Video starts and plays for about a third of a second, then the time bar "skips forward" ever so slightly and the screen just stays black.  

Anyone else having this problem?  And is there any sign that Telus will have a fix for this? At first I assumed my app was out of date so installed an update, but that didn't change anything - which leads me to believe this may actually be an issue on Telus' server side.

[dru]

I haven't seen any reports of a similar issue affecting other Bravia Android TV customers (not to say no one is affected) but can you confirm you've downloaded the TELUS TV+ app? If so, which version is it?

Some additional questions:
- Is this happening on all channels or just one (if the latter, which one?)

- Is your TV software up to date?
- How's your internet connectivity? (any difference if you reboot your router?)

Thanks!

[ahizzle]

Hi Dru, thanks for the response. Definitely running the Telus TV+ app - device is XBR-49X800D, app version is 1.5.4.103.  If you check out the Google Play Store reviews for the AndroidTV version of Telus TV+, you'll see that 8 of the 9 most recent reviews all report the same issue (screenshot of the top 3 below):

All other internet connectivity is fine and fast (eg, watching YouTube on the TV is normal).  TV doesn't say there are any system software updates available.  Issue exists on all channels when trying to view live TV, the restart function works nicely to start a show from the beginning but fast-forwarding is disabled so it's not really a solution for trying to watch "real time".   Even went so far as to uninstall the app last night, reboot the TV and reinstall the app, log in again - same behaviour:  tuning to a channel shows the audio/video stream for about 1/3 of a second (just enough to make it seem like it'll work!), then the on-screen controls' time-scrubber seems to jump ahead by about a minute and the screen goes black -- as if the app is trying to play past the end of the stream or something?

The thing that makes me wonder if it's a server issue is that I started experiencing this problem *before* upgrading to 1.5.4.103... 

[Kristee_ann]

I am having the exact same issue with live TV. Have uninstalled the Telus app off our Sony Bravia tv and reinstalled but still having the same issue.

[Yams]

We have had this exact same issue since Feb 11th. Tried all of the fixes suggested above and can confirm they do not work. Has anyone received a response from Telus yet?

[kermagoo]

Same issue here since the upgrade from Pik TV to Telus TV Plus.  Got in contact with Telus support who, after ensuring that I had the most recent version of the app(1.5.4.103), suggested I speak to Sony which I will but don't expect much back from them as all other streaming/live apps are working fine.  He did confirm that other Sony Bravia customers were having issues with Telus TV + but they were resolved with uninstall/install which didn't work for me.  He noted that my model(VU1) wasn't one that was specified but that customers with Bravia model VU were working fine.  I will contact Sony and hope for the best but I don't see the point of staying with Telus if they can't come up with a fix for this

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @ahizzle @Kristee_ann @Yams @kermagoo, our development team is aware of this issue and is actively trying to find the cause. Would you be able to provide your TV model and confirm if you've encountered this issue in previous app versions, such as 1.4.7?

Here is the list of devices I collected so far based on this thread:

Sony Bravia XBR-49X800D

Sony Bravia VU1 (I think 43X7500H)

[Yams]

Hi, we did not encounter any issues with the previous app versions. Model is Sony Bravia XR65X90J.

[ahizzle]

Hi Kate, thanks very much for hopping on this thread - appreciate knowing that your team is working on this. In my case I only started seeing this issue on February 15 or so; not sure what version I was on prior to 1.5.4.103 (didn't note this when upgrading, silly of me not to).  More info about my XBR-49X800D:

Android version 8.0.0

Kernel version: 3.10.79

Build: BRAVIA_ATV2_UC-user 8.0.0 OPR2.170623.027.S25 665201 release-keys

[sfitzger15]

Ahizzel, I also have an XBR-49X800D but it works fine, can you upgrade your android to the latest version to see if that fixes it for you?

[ahizzle]

I can't upgrade to Android 9 without accepting Sony's ridiculous updated terms of service, so I'm staying on Android 8.  No reason to change the TV's OS given literally everything else works fine.

[kermagoo]

Hi Kate, thanks for looking at this.  A bit more information on my setup:

TV Model: Sony Bravia KD-55X750H (Shows as VU1 in the system setup)

Android Version: 11

Telus TV + Version: 1.5.7.103 (Upgraded tonight)

As with some of the other customers, I get about 3 seconds of live TV before it abruptly stops but watching the program from the start works.

[sfitzger15]

Hello,

    I just signed on with TELUS, I have 2 Sony Bravia's at Android version 9, an XBR-49X800D which works fine with Telus TV+ app and a XBR-65X850E which does not. It behaves like what's posted here, on for 1 second and then off. What I've learnt is the "on demand" works fine no issues. Now select "Live TV" and go into the guide, select a channel that has the reverse arrow that will allow you to backup to the beginning, select that show and boom picture goes off in 1 second, select the reverse arrow and it starts the show over and then it works and you can watch the show. This only works if the show has reverse, my thought is its a sync issue with the Sony. TELUS tried to resync but it had no effect. Something is a little off with the software as sometimes the video will lock for another second or 2. I have a ticket in with TELUS, 24 hours has past so if I hear what they find I will post.   

[ahizzle]

Just for poops-n-giggles I checked to see if an update was available on my TV - lo and behold, 1.5.7.103 of Telus TV+ is now available for my device (was 1.5.4.103), though curiously it lists the date as Feb 15. Definitely wasn't available to me over the last 6 days -- is this a staged/phased rollout thing by the Play store? 

Anyway this update has actually made things worse - now, tuning to a channel shows about 1/5 of a second of a video flash and no audio, then the scrubber jumps ahead and the screen goes black.  Previously I'd get about 1/3 of a second of audio and video (usually enough for 2-4 words of dialog from a commercial, for example) before the time skipped ahead and the screen went black.  After a TV reboot and launch of the TV+ app, I get about 6 seconds of audio and video before it dies. Tuning channels and loading the guide feels snappier, but the video stream now only flashes for 1/5 of a second without audio when changing channels.

Account info:

In Home Status: Connected at home, Region ID: 25, Region name: Calgary, Property: PIK, Serial number: N/A, App version: 1.5.7.103, Environment: Production, Platform: Android TV BYOD

System information:

MW version: 665201

[corybb]

Been having the same issue as everyone else here — Sony Bravia TV and everything. Seems to have started when I noticed TELUS TV+ app had updated.

[corybb]

Having the exact same issues as everyone else here — Sony Bravia TV, issue began when TELUS TV+ app was updated just recently.

[jrich_1]

I am having the exact same issue on my Sony XBR-85X900H (Bravia VH1) with Android TV OS 10. The Telus app is 1.5.7.103. Like other users the picture comes up then the TV goes blank. On-demand works. If I re-start a Hockey Game is does start from the beginning and I cannot fast forward. This method is also hit and miss. The Telus app did work prior to the upgrade. We have Telus+ on our Apple device (same Internet) and it works fine. I have removed it and re-installed the app but does not help. Also created a new profile and that did not help. Please fix it.

[LiveTVBroken]

Having the exact same issue. Can we please get an update?

[LiveTVBroken]

Still have this exact same issue. Live tv is broken. Sony x900h. Can we get an update? It's been weeks. 

[tek9]

I have the exactly same problem. Sony X900E. Started sometimes in the last week for me (after the app auto-updated itself). Same symptoms - live tv plays for half a second and follows with a black screen (can't watch anything). I'm on 1gig fibre, TV is wired to the router. Any other applications (youtube, gem, prime, crave, netflix) work fine.

Android 9

Security patch level January 5, 2022

Kernel 4.9.125

App version 1.5.7.103

MW version 672101

Is it possible to roll back this broken update somehow (without sideloading APKs)?

[Optik-Kate · Accepted solution]

Hi Everyone, an update is made today to address the Sony TV Live TV playback issue. Please ensure you are updated to the latest app version 1.6.2.0. Please note the app store may take a couple of days to rollout the update to everyone.