Ever heard of the Smart hub preview in Samsung Smart TV? When we compare it with our computer, we can call it as the control panel. The Smart Hub is the main place where we do the major administrative functions in the TV. Some of the functions include changing the system level settings, adding or removing programs, managing connectivity and networks, other external devices etc. So in short we can say that, the Smart Hub is a one stop shop for almost all the functions in a Samsung Smart TV. One of the major and the most commonly used function in the Smart Hub preview is the application dashboard. This will list out all the installed applications in the TV from where the user can access the specific application. Smart Hub preview feature will enable the user to view the key pages in the application without actually opening the application.
What is Smart Hub preview?
Smart Hub preview is a feature in Samsung Smart TV that enables the user to view certain key pages inside the application without actually opening it. This enables the user to get a quick preview of the application without using it. The smart Hub preview is available from all the Smart TV models from 2016 onward. The pages to be visible in the Smart Hub preview is to be selected by the developer. The developer has the option of showing or hiding whichever pages in his application.
How to access Smart Hub Preview?
Smart Hub preview occurs when hovering over the application icons in the Smart Hub window. This feature will only be available for the TVs that support the Smart Hub preview feature. When the user hovers over the application, a popup style window appears. It shows the allowed preview contents of the application in small visible sections. The user can navigate through the sections and can click on them. The user navigates to the page by clicking on the section.
What does Smart Hub preview consists of?
Smart Hub preview shows the allowed pages of the application in small parts called sections. The sections can show the main pages inside the app. The section is in turn sub divided into multiple tiles. The tiles show the sub sections inside the main pages shown by sections. Combined together, both sections and tiles makes an effort to convey almost all the new features or updates in the application to the user.
What are the types of preview?
Based on the type of application pages, shown in the Smart Hub preview, the preview can be divided into two types.
-> Public preview
-> Personal preview
In the public preview, all the public pages in the application are previewed to the user. This includes the general pages in the application that are open to all the users. In other words, the user does not need to authenticate with the app in order to access these pages. Application preview contents are described in JSON format. Since this is a public page, the contents are the same for all the users. Descriptor JSON file is maintained in a common remote location in the server. This is in turn downloaded to the TV through the internet and processed by the application preview.
In the personal preview, the contents are tailored to each individual preferences. Each user will be having his own preferences, and based on that preferences, the contents are tailored accordingly. Personalized content for a user is store in the local TV device, along with the downloaded public content if any. The metadata maintained by the aplication manager in the TV through some background tasks.
Some examples for Smart Hub preview.
The content shown on the Smart Hub preview is based entirely on the choice of the developer. Given below are some examples that demonstrate the most common use cases of Smart Hub preview by various application types.
-> A video application shows latest releases, subscribed content updates etc
-> A game application shows latest game updates, latest scores etc
-> A news application shows the latest headlines, weather alerts etc
Conclusion
By using the Samsung Smart Hub preview, the user can preview certain pages in the application without actually opening the application. The application pages set by the developer, from the Smart Hub preview window. The preview pages can be a public one or a personalised one. Smart Hub preview uses sections and tiles to show the preview pages to the user. Preview meta data can be stored both in the TV and server. The user can hover over the preview pages and can navigate directly to the page by clicking on them. There are certain pre defined rules to show the section and tile content. We will be looking into it further in our next article.
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