8 ms·

As an owner of 2 LG OLEDs, I am not surprised at all. I neutered these things the first day I was past the return policy. Opened the back and unplugged the WiFi

As an owner of 2 LG OLEDs, I am not surprised at all. I neutered these things the first day I was past the return policy. Opened the back and unplugged the WiFi/BT chip, bought a cheap dumb universal remote with no mic in it, disagreed to all T&C in the TV, updated the firmware via USB and just use an AppleTV over HDMI for streaming. Kind of silly to have to go through all of this but hey thats where we are in 2026 in the US. And I am fully aware that I am typing this on an iPhone thats probably doing the same things that this article is talking about LG doing ;-(

CGMthrowaway 10d ago
Why wait until after the return policy? Also what firmware did you update to? Also if you could point to a video where it shows how to do all these things that would be amazing
- deleted 10d ago
  [deleted]
para_parolu 10d ago
Why not just disconnect it from internet?
- dillutedfixer 10d ago
  It's not connected to the internet. The AppleTV is.
  - para_parolu 10d ago
    My question was about why to go and unplug wifi internally
    - dillutedfixer 10d ago
      Well even if they don't do it now, these are just a forced update away from using WiFi to connect to an open AP to do whatever they want. I also really hated the fact that there was really no way to turn BT off. Anytime the TV was on it showed up as a BT device ready to connect, and I would get random neighbors trying to and having to say no to random pop ups approving connections. Now these things are sans any type of wireless, and when it comes time to sell them, it will take me 5 mins to reconnect the internal ribbon cable.
      - Barbing 9d ago
        Awesome. Did you follow a guide or are you particularly handy and then some? :) (since even with a guide, can mess something up!)
        dillutedfixer 9d ago
        I've been tinkering with electronics for the better part of 40 years so I am fairly comfortable cracking stuff open to at least take a look. The TV's I have (B5) were fairly easy to get into. I unplugged the TV and left it unplugged for a little bit to let all the capacitors drain, then I put it face down on a towel on the floor, took 6 or so screws off the bottom, 1 off the back, then the back panel just pops off because it's held on with some clips. The WiFi/BT module was easy to identify, it has some shielded chips with a shielded ribbon cord going to it. It's on the bottom right hand side if you're looking at the back. I unplugged both ends of the ribbon cord by pushing the clip holding it in back/up. Obviously try all of this at your own risk if you're going to. If you're used to opening up and messing with electronics, it was not that hard or time consuming. edit: one thing I will add is that I was extremely careful moving the screen or pushing on it while working on it. I have heard the super-thin OLED panels are easy to crack from just a little bit too much force.
        Barbing 9d ago
        Love it!
    - cogman10 10d ago
      Probably worried about things like spectrum wifi. I don't know if others do it, but spectrum will sell access to a private WiFi network using their customers Internet as a backend. LG could be using that sort of network.
- noir_lord 10d ago
  Works til they put a 5g modem in the damn things. My Samsung asked for internet access and I just laughed and said nope. It exists to displays pixels from a Linux box, utterly sick of living in a world where "is my TV manufacturer bugging our house?" Is a thing anyone has to ask.
  - cesarb 10d ago
    > It exists to displays pixels from a Linux box, If you're not using the defining feature of a TV (the OTA tuner), why not buy a monitor instead of a TV? (Next time I have to replace our house's TV, I'm seriously considering buying a separate SBTVD tuner and a monitor instead of a TV, if ignoring the "smart" features of these TVs by not connecting them to a network starts getting too difficult.)
    - washadjeffmad 10d ago
      Modern TVs are designed to work with PCs and consoles, they just also happen to have tuners. "Smart" features are mostly a distraction from actual panel capabilities. Monitor choices also tend charge a premium for equivalent size and quality while lacking some of the features, or introducing other issues. See LG gaming monitors silently installing adware on connection: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956688 My LG OLED C2 also has a great utility to manage deep service-level configurations. Makes it easy to professionally customize without having to fuss with the menus.
    - deadbunny 9d ago
      Many 75" monitors on the market?
    - ux266478 9d ago
      You're a bit late on that, monitors without all the same features are going the way of the dodo. Smart features are even starting to crop up in the commercial display market. Your last vestige will be buying a panel without a controller board and turning it into a display yourself.
isatty 10d ago
Yep, I do the same. There’s no reason for the tv to do anything smart. It exists to display appletv and ps5.
pennomi 10d ago
Whether or not you iPhone is also doing that is irrelevant. Two surveillance pathways is still inherently worse than one.
- judge2020 9d ago
  Idk, I have a strong feeling Apple is not doing ACR or covert recording themselves, and the OS provides some strong guarantees that you know when the mic is active.
  - mrheosuper 9d ago
    > OS provides some strong guarantees How do you audit that ? it's not like they opensource their OS.
  - 12_throw_away 8d ago
    > I have a strong feeling Apple is not doing ACR or covert recording themselves Feel different™ https://www.reuters.com/legal/apple-pay-95-million-settle-siri-privacy-lawsuit-2025-01-02/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/apple-pay-95-million-settle-si...
    - judge2020 7d ago
      Read the complaint and it is pretty shaky, notably it seems to say that, because wake word detection is not 100% accurate (as in, 0 margin for error), Apple should advertise "we are recording your conversations covertly" just because the phone can sometimes trigger wake word detection on something that isn't the wake word (hey siri). Also Reuters reports " and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers." but I don't actually see that in the initial complaint interestingly.
rustcleaner 9d ago
GrapheneOS is such a breath of fresh air, truly you don't need the crApple device.
mrheosuper 9d ago
In the future they could make it refuse to boot without all the "required" hardware, like BT/wifi module.

CGMthrowaway 10d ago

Why wait until after the return policy? Also what firmware did you update to? Also if you could point to a video where it shows how to do all these things that would be amazing

deleted 10d ago
[deleted]

para_parolu 10d ago

Why not just disconnect it from internet?

dillutedfixer 10d ago
It's not connected to the internet. The AppleTV is.
- para_parolu 10d ago
  My question was about why to go and unplug wifi internally
  - dillutedfixer 10d ago
    Well even if they don't do it now, these are just a forced update away from using WiFi to connect to an open AP to do whatever they want. I also really hated the fact that there was really no way to turn BT off. Anytime the TV was on it showed up as a BT device ready to connect, and I would get random neighbors trying to and having to say no to random pop ups approving connections. Now these things are sans any type of wireless, and when it comes time to sell them, it will take me 5 mins to reconnect the internal ribbon cable.
    - Barbing 9d ago
      Awesome. Did you follow a guide or are you particularly handy and then some? :) (since even with a guide, can mess something up!)
      - dillutedfixer 9d ago
        I've been tinkering with electronics for the better part of 40 years so I am fairly comfortable cracking stuff open to at least take a look. The TV's I have (B5) were fairly easy to get into. I unplugged the TV and left it unplugged for a little bit to let all the capacitors drain, then I put it face down on a towel on the floor, took 6 or so screws off the bottom, 1 off the back, then the back panel just pops off because it's held on with some clips. The WiFi/BT module was easy to identify, it has some shielded chips with a shielded ribbon cord going to it. It's on the bottom right hand side if you're looking at the back. I unplugged both ends of the ribbon cord by pushing the clip holding it in back/up. Obviously try all of this at your own risk if you're going to. If you're used to opening up and messing with electronics, it was not that hard or time consuming. edit: one thing I will add is that I was extremely careful moving the screen or pushing on it while working on it. I have heard the super-thin OLED panels are easy to crack from just a little bit too much force.
        Barbing 9d ago
        Love it!
  - cogman10 10d ago
    Probably worried about things like spectrum wifi. I don't know if others do it, but spectrum will sell access to a private WiFi network using their customers Internet as a backend. LG could be using that sort of network.
noir_lord 10d ago
Works til they put a 5g modem in the damn things. My Samsung asked for internet access and I just laughed and said nope. It exists to displays pixels from a Linux box, utterly sick of living in a world where "is my TV manufacturer bugging our house?" Is a thing anyone has to ask.
- cesarb 10d ago
  > It exists to displays pixels from a Linux box, If you're not using the defining feature of a TV (the OTA tuner), why not buy a monitor instead of a TV? (Next time I have to replace our house's TV, I'm seriously considering buying a separate SBTVD tuner and a monitor instead of a TV, if ignoring the "smart" features of these TVs by not connecting them to a network starts getting too difficult.)
  - washadjeffmad 10d ago
    Modern TVs are designed to work with PCs and consoles, they just also happen to have tuners. "Smart" features are mostly a distraction from actual panel capabilities. Monitor choices also tend charge a premium for equivalent size and quality while lacking some of the features, or introducing other issues. See LG gaming monitors silently installing adware on connection: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956688 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956688 My LG OLED C2 also has a great utility to manage deep service-level configurations. Makes it easy to professionally customize without having to fuss with the menus.
  - deadbunny 9d ago
    Many 75" monitors on the market?
  - ux266478 9d ago
    You're a bit late on that, monitors without all the same features are going the way of the dodo. Smart features are even starting to crop up in the commercial display market. Your last vestige will be buying a panel without a controller board and turning it into a display yourself.

isatty 10d ago

Yep, I do the same. There’s no reason for the tv to do anything smart. It exists to display appletv and ps5.

pennomi 10d ago

Whether or not you iPhone is also doing that is irrelevant. Two surveillance pathways is still inherently worse than one.

judge2020 9d ago
Idk, I have a strong feeling Apple is not doing ACR or covert recording themselves, and the OS provides some strong guarantees that you know when the mic is active.
- mrheosuper 9d ago
  > OS provides some strong guarantees How do you audit that ? it's not like they opensource their OS.
- 12_throw_away 8d ago
  > I have a strong feeling Apple is not doing ACR or covert recording themselves Feel different™ https://www.reuters.com/legal/apple-pay-95-million-settle-siri-privacy-lawsuit-2025-01-02/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/apple-pay-95-million-settle-si...
  - judge2020 7d ago
    Read the complaint and it is pretty shaky, notably it seems to say that, because wake word detection is not 100% accurate (as in, 0 margin for error), Apple should advertise "we are recording your conversations covertly" just because the phone can sometimes trigger wake word detection on something that isn't the wake word (hey siri). Also Reuters reports " and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers." but I don't actually see that in the initial complaint interestingly.

rustcleaner 9d ago

GrapheneOS is such a breath of fresh air, truly you don't need the crApple device.

mrheosuper 9d ago

In the future they could make it refuse to boot without all the "required" hardware, like BT/wifi module.