Samsung will pull the plug on the Youtube app on smart TVs from 2012 and earlier. The Korean electronics is displaying a message to owners of the TV that they will no longer able to use the Youtube app on their smart TV from 30th of June this year.
The Youtube app on Samsung smart TVs from 2012 and before is based on Flash and Google has decided to phase out these apps. Instead the company now offers a HTML5 based Youtube app for TV which has more features and comes with other improvements not available on the old Flash app.
Youtube writes about the end of life of the Flash app, "We now think it is the right time to end-of-life this app because as we continue to roll out new features to the current YouTube on TV app (topic tabs, improved search, watch next, recommendations, better transport controls, etc.) the legacy devices using the Flash app cannot get them".
It's not the first time a smart device loses functionality, at the beginning of last year Philips disabled smart functionality on Blu-ray and media players. Later that year the company also removed smart TV functionality on it's high-end 2009 models. Those users were compensated with a FireTV stick or Chromecast.
In this case Samsung owners only lose access to Youtube and are unlikely to be compensated.
