I tested LG’s new webOS on the latest TVs – and I loved these three big upgrades
LG’s smart TV platform, webOS, is a key feature on its TVs and continues to evolve every year. It’s easily one of the best smart TV platforms out there, but it hasn’t been without criticism in the past.
Last year’s version, webOS 23, was seen on some of the best TVs on the market, including the LG C3, LG G3 and LG B3. We often praised it for its level of customization, ease of navigation thanks to the new Quick Cards and shortcut menu, and overall layout. Overall, it was a big improvement over webOS 22.
I recently tested one of LG’s latest mini LED TVs for 2024, the LG QNED91T, and it comes with the latest version of webOS, webOS 24 – which will also be available on the LG C4 and LG G4, along with the rest of the range. While it may not seem like much has changed at first glance, some new features and upgrades have been introduced and improved, making this perhaps the best smart TV platform I’ve used in several years when reviewing TVs and working in Television Retail. Here are the three features that really stood out to me.
1. A cleaner, toned-down layout
While it’s a simple change, the layout and look of webOS 24’s home screen is easily one of its best features. Last year, webOS 23 significantly improved on webOS 22’s cluttered home screen with lots of ads and recommendations, and webOS 24 takes it one step further.
Quick Cards, an addition to webOS 23 last year, collects all apps relevant in its category, such as Game, Sports (more on that below), Music, and more. For example, the Game Quick card collects all the cloud-based gaming services that webOS is compatible with, such as Nvidia GeForce Now, Luna, Utomix and so on. In webOS 24, these cards have an even slimmer look on the homepage and have become even more intuitive.
As you scroll down the homepage, you’re now presented with a sleeker set of menus, instead of being confronted with tons of ads and recommendations. LG has opted for a simpler approach, like the Now Streaming section in the image above, which instead of spreading each individual streaming service onto its own line, has grouped them together with a side-scrolling option for the relevant service you’re looking for.
If you use broadcast TV, there’s also a live TV guide showing what’s live now, a Life’s Good Hub with LG recommendations and more. But if you don’t want these in your Start menu, you can easily remove them, leaving you with a compact Start menu that shows only your favorite apps.
2. Sports quick card and My Team
For a sports fan like me, the Sports Quick Map has undergone some changes and includes a feature called My Team. It lets you select your favorite team from a fairly extensive list and keeps track of a team’s live score, schedule, recent results and even relevant videos.
Admittedly, as a rugby fan there weren’t many options, but there were plenty of other options to choose from and LG covered its bases well with football teams from major leagues including the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and more. There was also extensive coverage of the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
As a fairly new (and still somewhat casual) baseball fan, it can be difficult to keep up with the 162 regular season games. That’s why I tested webOS 24 by choosing my favorite baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, in My Team. Immediately I was shown all of the Blue Jays’ recent scores and games and their upcoming schedule. I was even shown that I could stream one of the upcoming games on Prime Video, in the Discovery Plus add-on – something I didn’t know.
The main Sports Quick Map homepage takes a broader approach and still includes popular videos such as Premier League highlights and headers for those interested in multiple sports. Combined with the My Team feature, this was one of my favorite webOS 24 features.
3. Improved accessibility features
More and more TV brands are starting to do their utmost to make TV accessible to everyone, through voice support, audio description, subtitles and so on. In webOS 24, LG introduced an Accessibility Quick Card, which means it’s easy for those who need these features to access it as it’s front and center on the homepage. In the past, these accessibility features were often, and in some cases still are, hidden in settings screens.
On this Accessibility Quick Card, these accessibility features are not only easy to access, but they also do a great job of showing what the user is getting. Something as simple as a visual demonstration of what enabled subtitles will look like on screen (as shown in the photo below) goes a further step in making things easier for the user.
Finally, there is the introduction of the AI chatbot. This tool is designed to help with problems that users may experience with the TV, such as screen too dark, sound too quiet, etc., and help where possible. It can be used via voice commands or on screen with remote control input. It is certainly a useful feature that, although it may not be the most comprehensive, will certainly help some users who have basic problems and do not know where to start solving them, and will undoubtedly be improved in further updates.
