Samsung's recent Tizen 8-based One UI update for select smart TVs is insane. I never thought I'd see Samsung be so bold and experimental, but this One UI update for smart TVs proved me wrong.
Why do I say this? One UI for TVs dismantles the original app store front-end and reinvents how users can obtain and download apps. It's unfamiliar ground, and Samsung TVs are now treading it without reservations.
A new way of thinking about app stores
Before this recent update, Tizen OS came with a traditional app store users could launch through a dedicated app shortcut — kind of like the Galaxy App Store for mobile. The store's home screen included app categories and a search field. All very traditional stuff.
Granted, the Tizen TV app store wasn't nearly as rich in content as the other app stores you might be interacting with on your Galaxy smartphone or tablet, but it followed the same basic principles.
Fast forward to now, and almost everything's changed — at least, on the face of it. Try looking for an app store icon in One UI for Tizen 8 on your Samsung TV, and you won't find one.
The Tizen app store still exists, but the app store front-end — the app store home UI — is no more.
Instead, the new Tizen home screen is split and now consists of two sections called “Discover” and “Apps” that work something like this:
- “Discover” is the original home screen with a new coat of paint and a few new options. Here, you will find your favorite TV apps, a “Recent” window, and “Continue Watching” shortcuts.
- “Apps” is the other half of the new Tizen One UI home screen. It acts almost like an app store, but not quite. It has lists of recommended, “Editor's Choice,” and popular apps curated by Samsung, along with your other downloaded apps already in the TV's memory. You can also access vast lists of app categories in the now-hidden store through this UI, but here is where the paradigm shifts:
There is no way to sort the pre-defined store app lists by name, date, or any other parameters. And there is no search functionality associated with the app store anymore or the “Apps” home screen.
It's unlike anything else Galaxy and Android phone users are used to. The app store database is still out there, somewhere, but this new Apps home screen barely offers any direct access to it.
So, how does this new hidden app store work without any proper sorting or searching options?
How in the world can you find an app you want to download if it isn't already presented to you on the curated “Apps” home screen by chance and algorithmic luck?
This is where a new global search engine comes into play
Accompanying the new split home screen in Tizen One UI is a mighty global search engine. You can't find it in the “Apps” screen, but you can access it through the TV UI's left sidebar.
This global search engine replaces the need for a traditional app store front-end — or at least, this is what Samsung seems to believe.
You can use this powerful search engine to look up pretty much everything, online and offline, all in one place. It will give you search results including Ambient scenes, YouTube videos, “video content from all over the world,” and yes, even apps from the now-hidden Tizen app store. This is your new key to the Samsung TV app store if the “Apps” home screen won't do.
The way it works is fascinating, and I can't say that it's very intuitive if you're used to the traditional app store method. It took me a minute to realize what was going on and adjust to this design.
What do I really think of it?
Although I am not averse to change but almost always willing to try out new UI ideas, I'm not sure how I feel about this new system, aside from being utterly surprised it even exists.
I admire Samsung for its courage to implement something this unusual and different, but I'm not yet sure if it helps the user experience or if this early iteration is the way to go.
The issue I have is that it doesn't feel quite right to have an “Apps” home screen with app recommendations and categories, all the while lacking basic search and sort functionalities. Instead, you have to access a global search engine on a different screen, and that feels a bit unlike anything else I've used so far.
And here's another potential issue. You kind of have to hope that your search criteria yield the results you were hoping for and you can find the app you want.
That doesn't always happen, by the way. For example, I used voice search to look for “Twitch TV” and all I got were YouTube videos that had some relation to Twitch. Once I deleted “TV” at the end of “Twitch,” only then I found the shortcut to the Twitch app. Select it, and then you're finally redirected to the traditional app store (or rather, the Twitch app page on the app store).
So, your success with this global search engine might vary, or at least, you may have to search using different variations from time to time.
However, I am not denying that this could turn into something great, and I am curious to see where this new system might lead. I can't deny I am a little bit excited about this change and more so about its future potential, but I'm still on the fence and a little bit confused by it.
At the end of the day, Samsung is trying to unify its mobile and home electronics experiences under the One UI umbrella. Let's just say that this new approach to the very idea of an app store in Tizen 8 is very unlike the traditional One UI design.
