Samsung TV Apps Not Loading: Start Where Samsung Starts
Samsung TV apps not loading is a problem Samsung has its own page for, and that page walks six steps in a set order. It opens with a cold boot Samsung likens to “restarting a laptop” and reaches the Smart Hub reset, the step Samsung says “will sign you out of your Samsung account and all of your apps”, only at number four.
Start at the top of that order. If you jump to a Smart Hub reset because it sounds thorough, Samsung’s own page says it will “sign you out of your Samsung account and all of your apps”, and you will be typing passwords back in over something a reboot might have fixed.
Samsung’s six steps, and what each one takes from you
Read this before you pick a step. Where a line below quotes Samsung, the words inside the quotation marks are that page’s own. Where a line states a cost outside the quotation marks, that is this site’s reading of what the step takes from you.
- Cold boot the TV. Costs you nothing. Samsung calls it “like restarting a laptop”.
- Update the software. Samsung: “Video and audio settings may be reset to their default settings after a software update.”
- Delete the app and download it again. Samsung: “These steps will sign you out, and you will need to sign back in.”
- Reset Smart Hub. Samsung: “the TV will sign you out of your Samsung account and all of your apps.”
- Flash reset the TV. Samsung: “A flash reset is successful only if you see the initial setup screen after the reset process.”
- Contact the app developer. Costs you nothing on the TV. Samsung says at this point “we can rule out that the TV is the problem”.
Step 1, cold boot the TV
A cold boot is not the same as turning the set off. Samsung’s own explanation: “Cold booting your TV is a little different than simply turning it off and back on. When you turn it off, it is really in standby mode.”
Samsung finishes that thought with the comparison worth remembering: “A cold boot actually shuts the TV down and reboots it, like restarting a laptop.”
What Samsung says it fixes: “This can solve issues you may be having with apps, glitches in the menu, picture issues, etc.”
Samsung’s own lead in reads “There are two ways to cold boot your TV:”. The first, under its heading “With the remote”: “For most people, the easiest way is to hold down the Power button on the remote until the TV turns off and on again. This should only take about 5 seconds.”
The second, under its heading “With the plug”: “If you do not have the remote, unplug your TV from the wall outlet or surge protector, leave it unplugged for 30 seconds, and then plug it back in.”
Samsung adds one caution to the plug method, and it matters if your router shares a surge protector with the TV: “If you turn off a surge protector with other devices plugged into it (such as your router), give them time to power up and reconnect before testing any functions on your TV.”
That caution is the only thing in this step worth slowing down for. We searched the whole cold boot section of Samsung’s page, 1,202 characters in our extraction, and it states no setting change, no sign out, no deletion and no data loss: sign out, reset, default settings, delete, lose, data, setup, PIN, login and account each return zero inside it.
If the set will not come back on at all after a cold boot, that is a different problem, and Samsung TVs that turn off by themselves covers it.
Step 2, update the software
Samsung’s path, in its own words: “On your TV, navigate to Settings, select Support, select Software Update, and then select Update Now.”
What happens next is automatic: “If an update is available, it will automatically install and the TV will reboot.”
Samsung attaches a caution about letting it finish: “Software updates generally take a few minutes, so do not turn off the TV until the update is complete.”
And one about what the update can change on its own: “Video and audio settings may be reset to their default settings after a software update.”
Step 3, delete the app and download it again
Samsung’s path to the delete control, in one passage: “To delete the app, navigate to and select Apps on the TV, and then select the Settings icon in the top right corner. Find the app you are having an issue with, and then select Delete.”
Samsung’s caution comes before you touch it: “Make sure you have your login information before deleting or reinstalling a third-party app. These steps will sign you out, and you will need to sign back in.”
Samsung also covers the case where the Delete control cannot be used, in its own words: “If Delete is grayed out, this is a recommended app. Select Reinstall instead.”
Putting it back, in Samsung’s words: “To download the app again, press Return on the remote and select the Search icon in the top right corner. Enter the name of the app, select it, and then select Install.”
If the app will not install in the first place rather than refusing to open, that is the other article: a Samsung smart TV that will not download apps.
Step 4, reset Smart Hub
This is the step to understand before you start it. Samsung: “When you reset Smart Hub, the TV will sign you out of your Samsung account and all of your apps.”
Samsung’s instruction that follows from that: “Make sure you have the current login information for all of your app accounts before you proceed.”
The path depends on how old the set is, and Samsung says so itself: “The steps for resetting Smart Hub will vary depending on what year your TV was made:”
For older sets: “2018 and earlier: Navigate to Settings, and then select Support. Select Self Diagnosis, and then select Reset Smart Hub.”
For newer sets: “2019 and later: Navigate to Settings, select Support, and then select Device Care. Select Self Diagnosis, and then select Reset Smart Hub.”
Expect a prompt. Samsung: “When resetting Smart Hub, you may be asked to enter the TV’s PIN.” and “The default PIN is 0000.”
Afterwards, Samsung tells you the apps may not come back on their own: “You may need to download the app again after the reset.”
Samsung also prints the exit from this step, and it is what sends a reader onward: “If the app is still having an issue but other apps seem to work normally, continue to the next step.”
Step 5, the flash reset, and this is the one that ends at the setup screen
Samsung’s label for this step is “Perform a Flash Reset of the TV”, and it prints five numbered steps under that label. They run in order, and the first three are all part of getting the set into reset mode.
Samsung’s caution on this step has two halves and both matter: “A flash reset is successful only if you see the initial setup screen after the reset process. If that screen does not show up, please ask the user to perform the steps again.”
Step 1 is where the choice of button sits: “Power on the TV with either the remote or the physical TV button.”
Step 2, under Samsung’s step title “Hold the TV power button for 5 seconds.”: “With the TV powered on, press and hold the physical button on the TV for 5 seconds, then release.”
Step 3 comes straight after it, under “Hold the remote power button for 5 seconds.”: “Press and hold Power on the remote for 5 seconds, then release and wait for about 30 seconds to a minute while the TV power cycles. The TV will power on in reset mode.”
Step 4 is the sentence that tells you what you have done: “If the reset was completed successfully, steps will show on the TV screen to complete the setup process.”
Step 5 is Samsung’s own instruction after a successful flash reset: “Following the successful completion of the flash reset, please download the app again and see if the issue has been resolved. If not, please proceed to the next step.”
Step 6, contact the app developer
Samsung’s last step moves the problem off the TV, and it says why: “If the issue is still happening following the troubleshooting steps, we can rule out that the TV is the problem.”
Its reasoning: “The app developers are responsible for making their app compatible with their target platforms.” And its instruction: “The last step would be to contact the app developer.”
For one named app this is where our own walkthroughs pick up. The Spectrum TV app on a Samsung TV is the worked example.
Where Samsung’s two pages disagree, and why it costs you time
Samsung has a second page for this symptom, scoped to one app: its h1 is “Apple TV app is not working on my Samsung TV or projector”. The two pages give different instructions and neither one mentions the other.
On the Smart Hub path they do not match. The general app page splits it by TV year and roots it at Settings. The Apple TV page prints one path and roots it at All Settings: “Navigate to All Settings, then select Support, then select Device Care, then select Self Diagnosis, and then select Reset Smart Hub.”
That matters to anyone with an older set. We searched the Apple TV page for both of the general page’s year labels and each returns zero, while Device Care appears five times there, so the zero is precise rather than lucky.
The Apple TV page prints one reset path and it runs through Device Care, and for a 2018 set Samsung’s general app page puts the same reset somewhere else: “2018 and earlier: Navigate to Settings, and then select Support. Select Self Diagnosis, and then select Reset Smart Hub.”
Samsung’s own summary of the general page does not match its own body either. Samsung’s opening paragraph names four steps, ending “and lastly reset Smart Hub on your TV”, and the body below it walks six.
The two the summary leaves out are the flash reset and contacting the developer, which is the one that says the TV may not be at fault.
The third difference is the one we would most want moved. A network test is on the Apple TV page and not on the general app page. The Apple TV page says “If your TV won’t connect to the internet, you won’t be able to access any apps.”, gives the path “Navigate to All Settings, then select Connection, then select Network, and then select Network Status.”, and says “A network status test will run and let you know if you are connected, and what the problem might be.”
We searched the general app page for Network Status and for All Settings and both return zero, so a reader who lands there is never told to test the connection before signing out of every app. Run that test first. If it comes back disconnected, start with getting a Samsung TV onto WiFi instead.
The Apple TV page also carries a one app versus all apps test, and it is scoped to that app on that page: “Try opening an app besides Apple TV. If the other app opens and Apple TV is the only app that does not open on your TV, contact Apple Support.” The other branch reads “If no other app opens, continue troubleshooting.”
Does Samsung tell you to factory reset the TV?
Not on either of these two pages. We searched both for the phrase factory reset and it returns zero on each, while the word reset appears twenty times on the general app page, counting Reset and resetting, so Samsung writes about resetting freely here and never calls any of it a factory reset.
That is a statement about these two pages and nothing wider. It is also not a promise that you keep everything: Samsung’s fifth step ends at the initial setup screen in its own words, whatever it is called.
Quick answers
Why are my Samsung TV apps not loading?
Samsung’s own page for the symptom does not name a single cause. It gives an order of fixes, starting with a cold boot and ending with contacting the app developer, and at that last step it says “we can rule out that the TV is the problem”.
Will resetting Smart Hub delete my apps?
Samsung says it signs you out: “the TV will sign you out of your Samsung account and all of your apps.” It also says the apps may need fetching again afterwards, in its words “You may need to download the app again after the reset.”
Where is Reset Smart Hub on an older Samsung TV?
On sets from 2018 and earlier Samsung puts Self Diagnosis directly under Support, with no Device Care step in between. Its wording is “2018 and earlier: Navigate to Settings, and then select Support. Select Self Diagnosis, and then select Reset Smart Hub.”
What is the TV PIN if I never set one?
Samsung prints a default: “The default PIN is 0000.” You may be asked for it during a Smart Hub reset, in Samsung’s words “When resetting Smart Hub, you may be asked to enter the TV’s PIN.”
Only one app will not open. Do I still work through all six steps?
Samsung’s general app page sends you onward through its own steps: “If the app is still having an issue but other apps seem to work normally, continue to the next step.” Its Apple TV page handles the single app case differently and routes to that app’s own support, which is worth knowing before you reset anything.