Disney Plus doesn't work on Vizio smart TVs

The streaming app won't be added until 2020.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor

Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.

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I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.

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Corinne Reichert

Nov. 14, 2019 5:25 p.m. PT

2 min read

Disney Plus finally launched Tuesday, and with it a daunting array of choices. But in addition to the first day being marred by service failures and login problems, it's become apparent that the streaming service also doesn't work with Vizio smart TVs as reported earlier by Business Insider.

"Disney Plus is not currently available on Vizio TVs as a built-in app or available to cast," Vizio said on Twitter Wednesday.

In an online statement, Vizio added it does not yet have an official date for when Disney Plus support will be added to its TVs -- but it plans to make "the Disney Plus application available in 2020."

Vizio told CNET Thursday it's now "working closely with Disney and hope to announce the availability of the Disney Plus app on Vizio SmartCast TVs soon."

Watch this: Disney Plus is here! What do we think? (The Daily Charge, 11/12/2019)

06:50

The company says customers with an AirPlay 2-compatible SmartCast TV "may" be able to AirPlay Disney Plus content. This will work on 2019, 2018 and 2017 Vizio SmartCast TVs, and 2016 Vizio SmartCast UHD TVs, it said.

CNET confirmed the streaming app doesn't work via the built-in Chromecast feature on Vizio TVs, and found the AirPlay workaround a little awkward; the Disney Play app on an iPhone doesn't openly mention AirPlay, so we had to start it in another app. But if you've used AirPlay with your Vizio TV previously, it should work fine without needing the additional app to set it up.

The new Disney Plus streaming service offers a swathe of old and new Disney, Fox, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic content. It's priced at $7 a month and launched Nov. 12 in the US, Canada and the Netherlands and Nov. 19 in Australia and New Zealand. Disney Plus will launch March 31, 2020, in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It already has more than 10 million subscribers.

First published at 11:46 a.m. PT on Nov. 13.
Updated on Nov. 14 at 12:36 p.m.: Adds more info; Updated at 5:25 p.m.: Adds Thursday comment from Vizio.