If you currently own (or have previously owned)a Samsung smart TV, then you’ll be familiar with the custom operating system that powers your flat panel. This software is calledTizen, and it’s an in-house OS built bySamsungfor use in its lineup of TV products.
UnlikeGoogle TV,tvOS, and other software platforms, Tizen remains a fairly enigmatic operating system with little public notoriety. As it turns out, however, Tizen has a storied past – here’s the lowdown on what exactly makes Tizen unique, and why Samsung smart TVs ship with it out of the box.
4 upgrades that would make Tizen my ideal TV OS
Samsung’s TV OS has improved, but still could use a few more tweaks.
What is Tizen, exactly?
Tizen is Samsung’s in-house operating system
Tizen is an in-house operating system owned and maintained by South Korean tech giantSamsung. The OS is built using Linux at a foundational level, and many of its core components are open-source. Samsung released the first version of Tizen in April 2012, with the latest stable release, version 9.0, arriving in October 2024.
Technically speaking, Tizen’s roots extend as far back as 2007 – Intel, Nokia, the Linux Foundation, Sprint, Samsung, and others all played a role in the conceptualization, founding, and building of Tizen. Today, the OS remains largely in Samsung’s hands due to a series of business mergers, changes in development plans, and other industry developments.
Samsung went on to release severalTizen-powered smartphonesand smartwatches in the 2010s, in an effort to rival Google’s Android platform in the mobile OS arena. Tizen phones ultimately failed to take off, and Samsung switched from Tizen to Wear OS on Galaxy smartwatches afterjoining forces to co-develop Wear OSwith Google in 2021.
As a result of all this, Tizen in 2025 is primarily understood to be a smart TV platform, with all the latest and greatest Samsung flat panels shipping with the OS preinstalled.
I use these 4 Tizen features to get the most out of my Samsung TV
Tizen isn’t the flashiest TV operating system, but it does continue to innovate with some useful features.
What does Tizen run on?
Tizen runs primarily on Samsung smart TVs
Samsungprovides a dedicated web portalwhich lists all currently-available smart TVs that run its Tizen operating system. This list includes models such as:
Tizen is available across the breadth of modern Samsung smart TVs, whether we’re talking about entry-level panels, mid-rangers, or premium flagship models.
I tested Tizen and WebOS to see which OS is better, and the results surprised me
Two of leading TV manufacturers heavily promote their operating systems, but which one is better?
Why does Samsung use Tizen on its TVs?
It all comes down to software ecosystem control
Samsung opts to ship its Smart TVs with its ownTizen OSin order to exercise control over both the software and hardware of its large-screen devices. Being the de facto platform holder, Samsung is able to host its own digital marketplace of Tizen applications. The company can also curate the user interface as it sees fit, which it wouldn’t otherwise be able to do if it relied on Google’s Android TV platform.
As a major player in the consumer electronics space, having control over Tizen provides Samsung with the ability to better tie together its smart TVs and its Galaxy-branded phones, tablets, and laptops for a more cohesive ecosystem. For example, Tizen TVs are compatible with Samsung’sSmartThingssmart home platform, as well as its Smart View system for mirroring content from phone to TV.
I tested both Google TV and Samsung Tizen – here’s which one came out on top
I’ve been a fan of Tizen for years, but Google TV’s recent performance has me switching sides.
What makes Tizen stand out from the crowd?
Tizen offers a solid set of smart TV features and functionalities
Tizen is a full-featured smart TV operating system, with all the essential tools and interface elements that you’d find on rival platforms in the space. The OS features built-in support for Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth (for sharing files and screen mirroring), integration with voice assistants like Bixby, Alexa, and Google voice control, and more.
Tizen’s digital marketplace is filled with all the most popular streaming service applications, including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, YouTube, and more.
One of the most compelling aspects of Tizen is its Multi View feature. As its name implies, the tool allows you to split your screen into separate sections for displaying dedicated content on the same panel. You can split a single Samsung TV screen into quadrants, allowing you to watch terrestrial TV, mirror your Galaxy phone screen, run third-party apps, and more all at the same time.
I turned my iPhone into a remote for my Samsung TV, and it was surprisingly convenient
Unlike a TV remote, my iPhone is always within reach and just as easy to use to control my screen.
