Vizio's Smartcast TV update makes switching inputs more annoying. Here's a fix
For years, one of the best things about Vizio TVs has been the ability to ignore their SmartCast software.
Turning on the TV would always take you directly to your last input, so you could use a separate streaming player, game console, or cable box without needing to navigate through any smart TV software menus. If you just wanted to use your smart TV as a dumb TV, Vizio was happy to oblige.
Unfortunately, Vizio has now decided to change that behavior, with a late 2021 firmware update that makes SmartCast the default input whenever you turn on the TV. Vizio’s firmware also switches the TV back to SmartCast automatically after 10 seconds when it detects no signal on other inputs, causing extra frustration for folks who use their TVs as computer monitors.