The latest condemnation of LG TVs is that they install Microsoft Copilot by default and cannot be uninstalled
LG Smart TV users have noticed something in recent days. Some of them have seen a new “tile” appear on their televisions in the main interface. And it corresponded to an application that they had not installed or requested: Microsoft Copilot. The criticism has been enormous, and rightly so. Why is it important. The appearance of this new application is the latest example of the loss of control that users end up having over the devices they buy. You pay for it, but you don’t actually own it. It is a condemnation that we are seeing everywhere in digital products and services, and what LG and Microsoft have done is the latest example of this. What does Copilot do on my TV?. There are several Reddit users who have denounced how the latest software update for its LG televisions includes a new tile that is displayed on the main screen of the webOS interface and that corresponds to Microsoft Copilot. And you won’t be able to uninstall it. The worst thing is not even that LG and Microsoft have agreed to offer this app for good. The worst thing is that users can’t even uninstall it. The only thing you can do is hide the icon so that it is not visible in the main interface, but Copilot will still be available and installed even if you never use it. Microsoft, enough is enough. The movement is one more drop in a glass that has long exceeded the patience of users. Microsoft has not stopped flooding all its products with co-pilots even though It seems clear that almost no one uses their AI. What they are getting is not brand recognition, but an almost frontal rejection of Copilot. Not because it is necessarily better or worse, but it is everywhere, even if we have not asked for it. This isn’t a “do you want to try it?” It is an imposition. LG already (half) warned. At CES 2025 the company confirmed its plans to integrate Microsoft Copilot into webOS as part of its “AI TV” strategy. In their presentation they highlighted that Copilot was an extension of that AI experience on TV that was designed to answer questions and offer content recommendations. The current integration looks more like a shortcut to Copilot’s web interface, not a native app built into the TV. In reality, at that CES we already saw the same intentions announced by Samsung or Google… that he kept his word few months ago. TYour TV spies on you (again). Other Reddit users talked about a setting for LG Smart TVs called “Live Plus.” If one activates this tool, the content shown on TV can be recognized and that information can be used to offer personalized services such as recommendations and — of course — advertisements. In LG’s documentation they describe Live Plus as an “enhanced viewing experience.” Fortunately, this option can be disabled from Settings -> All settings -> General -> Additional options. From there just deactivate the Live Plus service. One more time, TVs try to know everything we do with the excuse of improving the experience. TV, you are left without internet. Faced with this avalanche of invasive options, the solution is clear: disconnect the Smart TV from the Wi-Fi network and/or the cable network (Ethernet) and do not use that main interface except in specific cases of image or sound adjustment, for example. The Google TV Streamer/Fire TV are the option (more or less). For everything else, the recommendation is clear: buy a streaming device like a Fire TV or a Google TV Streamer (or similar)… although the latter have also become advertising showcases. There are alternatives in those cases: we can use alternative launchers like Projectivy on those devices to avoid that advertising and regain control over what we see and how we see it. And we can also opt for other “TV Boxes” which also give the option to regain that control. In Xataka | Google has killed the Chromecast. Goodbye to a friendly and affordable product that helped us enjoy television more than ever