When LG two years ago rolled out a major redesign of webOS – the company’s Smart TV operating system – it switched from the popular bottom menu to a fullscreen layout. At the same time, it introduced ads and “recommendations” from partners. Ads and “recommendations” will stay but users can look forward to a more streamlined and snappier homescreen in 2023, divided into two main screens. It is faster due to an improved processor and the simplified layout, said LG.
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What We Say
When LG stated its desire to encourage the adoption of WebOS we said that it was hard to imagine how LG would be able to convince other brands to jump on board when they were competing and how white box vendors would probably prefer to use a more established software brand like Roku. This new iteration, WebOS 23, is not going to be backwards compatible and even though it corrects some issues users had with the previous version, it is also benefiting from a new processor to improve performance. That's all a mute point because the operating system or software doesn't necessarily drive upgrades when any consumer can buy an up-to-date streaming box from Apple, Roku or Google across a wide range of affordable of prices. Don't get me wrong, LG has done a pretty good job with its ThinQ app and building a sort of integrated universe for its home appliances and electronics and that may be the most important aspect of its software thrust. When so many existing consumers, and the consumers of the future, are mobile phone and app driven in their experiences, having a software strategy is just a must. LG is doing it well. That doesn't mean it will translate into some sort of hardware-agnostic solution.
