My Apple TV, if you choose to make it available to devices nearby (can be turned off entirely), still requires a random code, which it displays on a connection attempt from an unknown device, to be entered on the connecting device.
It’s come in handy, because our neighbors sometimes accidentally choose our Apple TV instead of theirs apparently. The only thing that happens on our side is that the TV turns on and displays the code, but our neighbors don’t see the code and likely realize their mistake then.
I’ve been wondering the same about AppleTVs and network connected TVs. Recently bought a Sony TV that has Android TV, I didn’t realize until I took it home.
Consumer reports has a write up to let you know what to disable based on the manufacter.[1] I’m still tempted to do wireshark.
My neighbor might run an unsecured network. Poorly designed software in a smart tv might cause my device to auto-join an open network. In this case, locking down my own WiFi would be irrelevant to the television.
This type of behavior was the cause of new Apple Watches that couldn’t access the net over 3G (they were trapped on captive WiFi networks with no UI to disconnect). If this happened with one device, it could happen with others.
I imagine the thinking is that if the TV is not connected to any WiFi, it might try to connect to something public or non-password protected neighbornet so it’s better to connect it to something non-functional rather than unconnected. Of course, the TV could just lie about what it’s doing anyway...
This is relevant to me. I just hooked up a TCL (Chinese state owned TV company) to the internet yesterday for firmware updates. Even though I reset the internet connection afterwards, I have no idea what type of nefarious thing it can do, or if it truly forgot my WiFi password.
To rest easier, I actually banned it’s MAC from accessing my network. Even that is probably not sufficient.
All of my viewing is through my Apple TV, which in my opinion is the most privacy-centered company in silicone valley.
This is precisely the reason I do not connect my TV to my home network. I use a AppleTV for streaming content.
Once in a while I check the manufacturer's page, and if there's a firmware update, I factory reset my TV to remove any cached info about my usage, and then update the firmware via ethernet, and immediately remove it from the network.
A while ago I noticed that my old Insignia TV refused to use the pi-hole connected to my network, and it was constantly phoning home, that's when I decided that I'm never connecting a TV to the network. Thankfully I've been able to confirm that the Apple TV does not bypass my pi-hole, since it doesn't load anything when the pi-hole is down.
I know at some point I need to trust some entities with my data. I prefer choosing those entities to the best of my ability, rather than leaving that choice upto my TV manufacturer.
Well that does get very difficult with TV since a large number of people stream, the app on my LG is actually better than my Apple TV but it is toss up with the Roku on the other TV.
So I am going to say, for the technically inclined its time to chase down your router firewall logs and find where the TV is going to for ads and block the IP or port range. Would be curious what the TV does, properly engineered it should just act as if its not connected at all.
> The Apple TV has HDMI out—who knows where that signal is going!
Sure. You could also point your webcam at your TV and then malware on your computer streams that to the public. This is all just a matter of how likely each problem is in practice.
> As long as you have an AppleTV or similar connected to service your need for “smarts” it won’t be hard to leave the TV offline.
Do these TVs start up and boot directly into the selected input for something like an Apple TV, or do you have to go to extra hoops when it starts up to switch to your desired input? I'd actually be perfectly happy with a smart TV that's disconnected if it never throws its UI in my face when I'm trying to just use an input for something.
we have a samsung tv that is exclusively used with an apple tv and it’s seemed ok this far but i’m not sure how/if i can completely kill it trying to connect as we currently have no nearby open networks but if one pops up it’ll try and connect and i detest that
Luckily my LG smart TV's wifi is so crappy that it cannot stay connected to the internet for more than a few minutes, so I just use my Apple TV and never have to deal with this BS.
Samsung has shipped a similar feature for phones and tvs for many years. Tech suppory can not connect randomly, the customer has to manually approve by entering a key. similar to how teamviewer does it.
It is simple. Never ever connect the TV to the internet. Use a third party box (or computer) you trust to handle the streaming connection. Apple has fairly reasonable privacy policies for Apple TV. Other boxes may as well.
Related anecdote. My TV needed an update via internet. I noticed that there was no way to delete a wifi password, meaning once connected it was game over. The only solution was to setup temporary wifi credentials, do the update, then change the router credentials again.
The TV also asks for wifi credentials to show you help pages. So, enable help and game over for connectivity and privacy. Nice.
Automatically connecting to open networks sounds like a potential legal quagmire, since aiui I’m not legally allowed to just use my neighbor’s wifi without permission.
That’s what my in-laws did. “For some reason you hadn’t connected your smart TV to the internet; instead of using your Apple TV, we gave TCL your WiFi password. Aren’t you proud we figured it out on our own?”
It’s come in handy, because our neighbors sometimes accidentally choose our Apple TV instead of theirs apparently. The only thing that happens on our side is that the TV turns on and displays the code, but our neighbors don’t see the code and likely realize their mistake then.
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