LG webOS
Shares rank 4 of 6 smart TV OSes by recommenders
People say it works well enough, has few ads, and can be rooted, though critics call it slow, privacy-invasive and poorly maintained.
People say it works well enough, has few ads, and can be rooted, though critics call it slow, privacy-invasive and poorly maintained.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 15
- approval share
- 35%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 10 years
Median of the 5 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good enough for everyday use
“The built-in OS on my LG is honestly good enough for me.”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Nvidia's 10-year effort to make the Shield TV the most updated Android device” “Even webOS was praised amongst users.”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Restoring 5 GHz Wi-Fi on an LG C5 by changing its webOS region” Open to rooting and custom control
“TVs running Roku or WebOS do have nice control APIs”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Turning a Dumb AC Unit Smart (Without Losing My Security Deposit)” “I have a rooted LG WebOS TV. It's really nice.”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Hisense TVs add unskippable startup ads before live TV”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Collects data and spies on viewers
“I extracted the firmware and filesystem of a webOS 3.5 and webOS 24 TV previously so I could remove the spying bits”
Comment from 8 Sep 2026 in “LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby” “LG still covertly takes screenshots of everything you display on your screen”
Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “LG says we're fake news [video]” “They sold us a spying device masqueraded as a smart TV.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “216M Spy TVs – The LG Smart TV Problem [video]” - Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Ask HN: Which TV do you recommend for privacy?”
Generally poor software quality
“turned something great into one of the worst smart TV experiences on the market”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “VS Code deactivates IntelliCode in favor of the paid Copilot” “their system is crap comparable to Samsung's Tizen”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Sony Launches Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II with 'True RGB'” “shitty WebOS is enough to put me off that”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Root shell on Samsung TV” - Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Valve: HDMI Forum Continues to Block HDMI 2.1 for Linux”
Slow after updates
“The first update slowed it down - not that it was particularly fast to begin with - and every subsequent update made it even slower.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'” “Regular 1.5GB updates are nuts, especially when WebOS is so terrible.”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “LG ThinQ Terms of Use” Confusing menus and settings
“The setting to launch an LG WebOS TV into its last input on power-on is buried under 'advanced settings' several menus deep.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Valve: HDMI Forum Continues to Block HDMI 2.1 for Linux” “For some reason they weren't content to let the TV menu/remote work with up/down/left/right buttons.”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study”
Other smart TV OSes people recommend
The four most recommended other smart TV OSes, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projectivy Launcher | 29 | 2 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Google TV | 13 | 23 | 36% | 7 | — | — |
| LibreELEC | 13 | 2 | 87% | 6 | — | Approved |
| LG webOSThis page | 8 | 15 | 35% | 5 | 10 yrs5 owners | — |
| FLauncher | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which is not exactly the best from a privacy standpoint”
“shitty WebOS is enough to put me off that”
“LG still covertly takes screenshots of everything you display on your screen”
“The first update slowed it down - not that it was particularly fast to begin with - and every subsequent update made it even slower.”
“I extracted the firmware and filesystem of a webOS 3.5 and webOS 24 TV previously so I could remove the spying bits”
“They sold us a spying device masqueraded as a smart TV.”
“I've never had a single ad show up on it.”
“Even webOS was praised amongst users.”
“TVs running Roku or WebOS do have nice control APIs”
“The problem with TVs, is that they really work for a long time just fine”
“LG never provided even a single major update to my TV in a decade”
“Otherwise it’s absolute loaded with adverts everywhere.”
“Regular 1.5GB updates are nuts, especially when WebOS is so terrible.”
“their system is crap comparable to Samsung's Tizen”
“Works fine, does basically the same thing as my Google dongle did without the slow degradation march”
“I have a rooted LG WebOS TV. It's really nice.”
“The built-in OS on my LG is honestly good enough for me.”
“For some reason they weren't content to let the TV menu/remote work with up/down/left/right buttons.”
“most of the previously wide-open loopholes for rooting LG webOS were all patched in the last ~6 months”
“This might be possible with Samsung Tizen and LG webOS devices too, but both are going to require more esoteric tooling.”
“turned something great into one of the worst smart TV experiences on the market”
“I was always impressed with how un shittified it was”
“They really ruined webOS.”
“if it comes with uninstallable Microsoft apps, that changes it”
“The setting to launch an LG WebOS TV into its last input on power-on is buried under 'advanced settings' several menus deep.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.