After the last CES I wrote about how user interfaces on TVs were the next frontier in terms of the enhancing the experience of them. After all, you could have a great TV with fabulous picture and good sound, but if the user experience was rubbish, that would spoil the whole experience.
And there are so many TV interfaces, some you’ve probably never heard of (and depending on where you are, you might never come across). They’re all vying for space in a super-competitive market, and guess what, there’s more coming.
At CES 2025, I saw Whale TV – which might not be the best name for a TV interface (unless they really are going for having a “whale of a time” pun) – but it’s another user experience that’s looking to make a difference but putting the customer at the centre of that experience. But that’s something I – and probably you – have heard before plenty of times.
So what’s it doing differently? It’s not so much what it’s doing but how Whale TV wants the customer to experience, by making using a TV both smart and simple. And they might be onto something with that.
The likes of LG’s webOS and Samsung’s Tizen have become feature-packed, adding new things each year. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that approach because they’re going for a TV with an appeal to multiple people.
They are TVs where they have something for everyone, but from my perspective I’ve found that area increasingly hard to review. Should I focus on the gaming part, the more lifestyle aspect of the interface, the app support, the customisation or all of it? It’s hard to whittle it down because there’s so much to consider and do within these interfaces.
But, not everyone will use those features. Older people aren’t likely to care about Xbox Game Pass streaming, but they might be more interested in being able to conveniently find and access free TV. Younger people would be interested in other features, families wanting other features and so on.
So the appeal of an interface in Whale TV is sifting through all that and reducing the clutter. That’ll mean it won’t have as many features as other TV interfaces, but the simplicity is key in that you turn on and don’t have to be distracted by other things you’re not interested in.
I had a demo of it and much like Titan OS and TiVO it’s decluttered and simple enough to navigate. What I saw wasn’t a finished version but I can see what they’re going for. Whale TV doesn’t look much different from the competition, but that’s a benefit in terms of being familiar.
There are user profiles to personalise content (and, of course, make it easier to monetise). All the main apps are covered, there’s the use of the inescapable AI but not in a fancy way, with ChatGPT used to help better contextualise search and voice control prompts (you shouldn’t have to say something in a particular way for it to work).
What I would really like to see from any interface is recommendations that actually work. Some interfaces recommend stuff I’ve already seen, which isn’t helpful whatsoever.
It’s easy to forget that some of bigger interfaces think they’re being simple but are actually overwhelming for some. For all the features they offer, there are plenty I don’t use on my own TV, and it’s unlikely not going to change and drop all the features they’ve added, nor are they going to stop.
That means that if they get it right, there’s room for an interface like Whale TV (formerly Rlaxx TV) to come in and just strip away all the noise. After all, there’s a reason why the K.I.S.S principle is still popular – keep it simple, stupid.
