Samsung Tablet & BBC Sport

[Brewster Buffalo]

I have a Samsung Tablet, model SM-T280, on which I used to able to listen to those BBC Sports commentaries that are broadcast via the internet rather than over the air.
When I load the appropriate page on BBC Sport I get the message "This player no longer works properly on your device. You'll need to update your browser or device to continue"

From a bit of further investigation on the BBC website the issue seems to be the version of Android I'm using i.e. 5.1. From what I can find out Samsung have no intention of making a later version of Android available for this device.

I've tried using various BBC apps e.g. BBC Sounds, BBC Sports app with no success. I have used the Tune In Radio app previously but apparently the BBC isn't available on there now.

Any suggestions......I'm using Chrome. If I change to Firefox will that make any difference if the OS is the issue? Can I update the OS? Any other apps that might work??
TIA
BB

[waito]

How old is this tablet? 2015? Consider buying a new one. For longer support you should aim for Windows or Mac platforms
A different browser is absolutely worth a try. Again the variety of browsers available for Android 5 could be limited.

[Ancient Observer]

My old tablet stopped working with all BBC apps and with The Times.
Tried to fix it, but failed.
Could not update the OS.
Ended up taking out a mortgage to buy an Apple.

[jimjim1]

version of Android I'm using i.e. 5.1.
I'm using Chrome.

If the issue is that your Android is no longer supported it might be worth trying modifying the User Agent String.

There will be a chrome extension that does this for you quite possibly on a site by site basis.

Change the user agent component that describes the OS to something a bit later that you think they won't complain about and give it a go.

I think there is a good chance that while they may have stopped testing your android version that it will still work.

This web site will display your present user agent.

https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/what-is-my-user-agent

Here is what a PC says.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/x.x.x (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/x.x.x Safari/ (https://developers.whatismybrowser.com/useragents/parse/?analyse-my-user-agent=yes)x.x.x

An old android
... Android 4.0.3 ...

A different Android
... Android 7.0 ...

Just change the android version section to something you fancy leaving the rest alone.

[Cornish Jack]

Have no idea about the technicalities described above, but my desktop, HP SFF running W7 Pro 64, has similarly stopped working on the Beeb various outputs. It only affects video content and (possibly coincidentally) it dates from the beginning of the month and the new licencing arrangements. Part of the Beeb's ongoing self-destruct process?

[waito]

I've tried using various BBC apps e.g. BBC Sounds, BBC Sports app with no success. I have used the Tune In Radio app previously but apparently the BBC isn't available on there now.
...
If I change to Firefox will that make any difference if the OS is the issue?

The App world will shrink for you. Increasingly Apps will require a higher Android version than you have.

[Mr Optimistic]

I have an SM T350 which is running Android 7. Everything seems to work ( for now). I read that Samsung only give you 2 major upgrades.

[Mr Optimistic]

If the issue is that your Android is no longer supported it might be worth trying modifying the User Agent String.

There will be a chrome extension that does this for you quite possibly on a site by site basis.

Change the user agent component that describes the OS to something a bit later that you think they won't complain about and give it a go.

I think there is a good chance that while they may have stopped testing your android version that it will still work.

This web site will display your present user agent.

https://www.whatismybrowser.com/detect/what-is-my-user-agent

Here is what a PC says.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/x.x.x (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/x.x.x Safari/ (https://developers.whatismybrowser.com/useragents/parse/?analyse-my-user-agent=yes)x.x.x

An old android
... Android 4.0.3 ...

A different Android
... Android 7.0 ...

Just change the android version section to something you fancy leaving the rest alone.

Thanks for this: have learnt something😁

[jimjim1]

The App world will shrink for you. Increasingly Apps will require a higher Android version than you have.

I avoid apps if at all possible. If I have one that I use and it works, I avoid upgrading it. The upgrade is often full of ads and sometimes I have upgraded to find it says it won;t work on my version of android and there is never a way to go back.

I have an SM T350 which is running Android 7. Everything seems to work ( for now). I read that Samsung only give you 2 major upgrades.

I had a look regarding the original posters tablet and it looks like no android upgrade was ever offered.

There is always LineageOS or similar if you have a reasonably popular device but that requires quite a lot of expertise and there may be no way back.

[Mr Optimistic]

Thanks. I read about Samsung's update policy sometime ago and went to check. Found this:Your Galaxy smartphone or tablet is likely to get Android 10 if it came with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. That’s because Samsung offers two major Android OS updates to most of its devices, which means that any Galaxy phone or tablet that was launched with Android 7.0 Nougat or earlier will not be eligible to receive Android 10. That puts flagships like the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8 out of the running, even though they may be fully capable of running Android 10. The same goes for any Galaxy device launched before 2018, as it was only last year that Samsung started releasing phones with Android Oreo out of the box.

[Brewster Buffalo]

Thanks for all of the replies. I will try out the suggestions.

That puts flagships like the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy Note 8 out of the running, even though they may be fully capable of running Android 10.
What a cheek... making your own products obsolete...

BB

[waito]

What a cheek... making your own products obsolete...

BB
That's technology progress and industry approach. Pay more for Apple or decent Windows device, get a bit longer of support. Unless your device will fall behind, like missing LTE and such.
Your A model is from 2016 and cost like $200? And it works, with just some app providers cutting their support? Not too much to complain I say ;)