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Software update looks to make the Vizio experience even faster

Phil Nickinson
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The new Vizio home screen.
Vizio

Vizio today announced an update to its smart TVs that will make an already speedy experience that much faster with a “reimagined” Vizio Home, which saw a rebrand from the old SmartCast in mid-2023 that was largely hailed as a good start toward Vizio reclaiming some of its stature.

Promising a power-up experience that’s twice as fast, as well as improvements when you’re switching between apps, Vizio says the speed increase is due in no small part to advances in its cloud-based architecture.

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“Vizio is synonymous with innovation,” Steve Yum, vice president of product management at Vizio, said in a press release. “We are leveraging more than 20 years of TV experience to provide users with value, beyond the initial point of purchase, creating an ever-evolving home entertainment experience. Our commitment to delivering the latest and greatest technology remains unwavering as we introduce the new Vizio Home to users, and we look forward to them experiencing a faster and more responsive platform in the comforts of their homes.”

The new Vizio search screen.
Vizio

Here’s what users have to look forward to:

  • Instant loading, “without interruption or prolonged loading of applications.” And powering on your Vizio TV should be twice as fast.
  • Quicker navigation — Vizio calls it “seamless” — with a new hierarchy on the left-hand side of the screen.
  • Faster content discovery, with recommendations in text and voice formats.
  • Improved multitasking speeds as you flip from one application to the next.

As you’ve probably deduced by now, the usual network caveats will apply. That includes your home network and bandwidth, as well as your overall available internet speed. (Vizio also adds that performance may vary depending on your TV model and which firmware you’re updating to.)

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Updates are coming to TVs from Vizio’s 2021 lineup and newer, as well as select TVs from the 2020 line.

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Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson
Section Editor, Audio/Video
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
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