Google Play Movies & TV lag / freeze issue on LG smart TVs being looked into

Popular streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have got lot of entertainment content. From latest movies to popular TV shows, streaming platforms are loaded with so much variety that at times it gets confusing what to watch and what to skip (never mind, you’ll go for it at some point later).

On such streaming service developed by the search engine giant Google is Google Play Movies & TV app. It lets you watch (on your Android phone/tablet, laptop and TV) movies and TV shows purchased or rented on Google Play. You can even download the content and watch later, even when offline.

But if Google Play Movies & TV app is not streaming properly on your LG smart TV lately, then you ain’t the only one troubled. A lot of LG smart TV users have been encountering the same problem after installing an update pushed by LG last month (i.e. April).

Users basically complain that after playing the content for a few seconds, the video gets choppy, though audio continues playing for some time. And eventually it all freezes, no visual, no sound. And not to miss, the problem is being reported by both Android and iOS users.

Here’s how some of the complainants word the problem behavior across Google Play Help:

I have the Google movie app on my LG smart TV, the tv is 12 months old and never had any lagging issues. All movies now have a unwatchable lag where the picture jumps and sounds goes. There is no issue through the app on my tablet and mobile so seems isolated to the tv app. What can be done to stop this annoying problem

My lg smart tv is otherwise working fine (will stream 4k material from Amazon) but Google play movies app has suddenly stopped working. Works for a while, then picture stutters and freezes, jumping frames, while audio continues. Some sd content works, but none of my hd library films work. Have tried restarting tv (of course) and uninstalling and reinstalling app.

Apart from Google Play help forum, similar reports can be seen posted across the Review section of the app’s Play Store listings page. Here’s what a user said there while describing the issue:

The problem is specific to Google Play Movies & TV app, as affected users have confirmed they face no such issue while streaming through other apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime or YouTube. Moreover, neither reinstalling the app nor factory resetting the TV units resolves the lag or freeze glitch.

What’s appeasing is that Google has officially acknowledged the problem. A few days back, a company employee informed the complainants that the concerned team is looking into to the matter and working in collaboration with LG to fix whatever’s causing this mess.

These reports are extremely helpful to our team investigating and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. At this time, our team is aware of the issue and working with LG to resolve it as soon as possible.

While that’s good, they further added there’s no ETA as to by when the problem will get resolved.

Although we don’t have a timeline for the fix

Here’s the company employee’s complete statement:

Sad, but that’s how it currently stands.

Here’s hoping Google and LG fix this one up soon, so that users can continue streaming without any glitches. Rest assured, we are keeping an active tab on all related developments and will update the story as and when any progress comes to our sight.

P.S. For more Google related news and stuff, interested readers may head here.

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