Disney Plus comes to Vizio SmartCast TVs with new native app

Vizio users can now use the Disney Plus app on their smart TVs, after months of using AirPlay and Chromecast workarounds.

Ty Pendlebury Editor

Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.

Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials

Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.

See full bio

Ty Pendlebury

Feb. 20, 2020 10:00 a.m. PT

twitter-in-stream-wide-babyyoda1 — Vizio users can now get their fix of The Mandalorian with the release of the SmartCast TV app.
Lucasfilm

Disney Plus went live in November and it's taken a while for some streaming platforms to catch up: Vizio on Thursday announced its SmartCast system now supports the service natively.

The smart TV app includes support for Ultra HD and HDR video, and you can add Disney Plus on the apps row on SmartCast Home or through the SmartCast Mobile app.

In its first three months, Disney Plus has attracted almost 30 million subscribers in the US. They pay $6.99 a month for original shows such as the Star Wars-themed The Mandalorian, as well as its vast back catalog of movies, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By comparison, Netflix has 167.1 million global subscribers.

Previously Vizio users needed to cast video from their Android ( Chromecast ) or iOS devices in order to watch Disney Plus on their TV.

The app will be available to Vizio SmartCast TVs that were manufactured from 2016 onwards.