Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR Some Hisense TV owners report seeing ads when switching HDMI inputs, turning on the TV, or changing channels.
The complaints appear to span an extended time period and several countries.
Hisense says the ads were part of a temporary advertising test in Spain that has now ended.
Ads might be a fact of life these days, and won’t come as much of a surprise if you’re watching a free streaming service. That doesn’t make them any less annoying, like YouTube’s new unskippable TV ads, which are pushing viewers’ patience. But some owners of Hisense TVs say ads have crossed an entirely different line by appearing when they perform basic actions, such as switching inputs or changing channels.
According to reports collated by Tom’s Hardware, some Hisense TV owners say their sets have begun showing ads when switching HDMI inputs, turning the TV on, navigating to the home screen, or even changing channels. Many of the affected devices appear to run the company’s VIDAA smart TV platform, which was recently rebranded as Home OS.
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User reports suggest the issue isn’t new. Threads on Reddit dating back several years describe ads appearing in system menus or during startup, while more recent posts claim full-screen ads now appear when switching inputs. Some users say they were able to disable the ads by contacting Hisense support and providing their TV’s unique device ID, raising questions about how the ads are being delivered in the first place.
Spanish outlets El Español and La Razón recently covered similar complaints from TV owners in Spain. According to those reports, some users were even seeing ads appearing when changing channels.
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