Vizio has a new feature that lets users share photos and videos from its mobile app directly to Vizio smart TVs.
Announced at CES, the feature is called Viziogram and has been in beta for the past few months but launched Thursday without the need to opt-in on.
Those within the Vizio smart TV ecosystem can share photos and videos to family and friends that also have TVs made by the vendor. Photos can be viewed on the large screen in high resolution. And while users have to be a Vizio smart TV owner to view Viziograms, anyone can send Viziograms if they download the Vizio mobile app.
The new feature is part of Vizio’s first auto update of the year, which rolls out new features to millions of existing smart TV users automatically for free over Wi-Fi.
Vizio founder William Wang pointed to the desire of wanting to share images with family as the impetus for the feature.
“The inspiration for VIZIOgram came from my desire to share the moments with my mom, directly to her living room,” said Wang in a statement. “I wanted her to be fully immersed in family moments, even from far away. There is no better way to stay connected than to send VIZIOgrams in 4K HDR to her 65-inch VIZIO TV so she can be part of the action.”
Vizio also envisions people using the feature in cases such as sharing children’s performances or activities when only one parent can attend, or friend moments such as proposals, or at events, like the Super Bowl, for example, to share moments from the party as its ongoing.
Photos and videos via Viziogram can only be shared between friends who are connected and have accepted an invitation. Vizio said the feature is secure, with end-to-end encryption so shared images stay private and are visible only to the intended recipients. Users can share up to 10 photos at a time or a single video per Viziogram. However, it isn’t a photo library as Viziogram’s aren’t stored on the TV forever and can only be viewed for a limited time. Consumers have 30 days to view any Viziogram they receive, and each expires 14 days after a person has seen it for the first time (the interface shows the expiration date for each one).
When users get a new Viziogram, a notification appears on the TV screen to alert them. Vizograms can also be viewed by navigating the smart TV. To access the feature, users can go to the top navigation bar on their TV and launch it or go to apps and the inputs row where there’s a dedicated Viziogram button. And for any new Vizio TVs released in the last year, users can use the included voice remote to launch the feature by saying “launch Viziogram app”.
The user design by default launches a big-screen gallery of any photos and videos shared by family and friends, which can be viewed via autoplay or toggle through left-to-right. It also as three tabs, which include a "Home" screen view of photos, a “Library” tab that provides a folder-based view, and a third “Friends” tab that lists people users have invited to share Viziograms with and vice versa. To send and receive both people have to accept an invite, which are sent via mobile, and there’s no public photo feed involved.
Viziogram is also usable on the Vizio mobile app, which serves as a type of command center for the photo sharing feature.
On a press briefing with reporters, Vizio discussed Viziogram as one of the first features to help move smart TVs beyond just a lean back experience, to also serve as a large screen device that can support messaging, communication, peer-to-peer sharing, and of course, some fun.
“One of the most important benefits to Vizio TV owners is that our TV gets smarter over time ,and we’ll make updates through our auto update process,” said Steve Yum, VP of Product Management at Vizio, noting that over the next few months software will be updated to include Viziogram on all TVs from 2021 and newer, and select 2020 TVs.
It’s also the first auto update of the year, which Vizio said is all about shortcuts and new features that help streamline the user experience to help consumers navigate the world of growing content options.
Another update is the “Recent Apps” row, which quickly brings up a list of the most recently used streaming apps. The other is a Quick Menu, which gives fast access to a full menu and in-depth TV settings.
WatchFree+, Vizio’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service, is also getting a mini-guide.. It’s already browsable with an EPG (electronic program guide) – and now if users press left on the remote within WatchFree+ it gives them a quick and clean way to see what else is playing and the ability to browse through other channels without interrupting the current video. WatchFree+ features more than 260 channels and 6,000 movies and TV shows for free.
Vizio’s Platform Plus, which includes its SmarCast platform and WatchFree+ had 16.6 million monthly active users as of Q3.