Sky Go problem on new Windows laptop

[OldRogue]

I use the Sky Go app successfully on my Windows 11 desktop. Recently bought a Windows 11 laptop, downloaded and installed the app. All seemed to go smoothly. App loaded OK, all images loaded, menus all worked fine.

A problem occurs when I try to actually watch something though. Live TV shows (selected from the TV guide) typically play OK but the onscreen controls are either very slow or totally unresponsive. Quitting out of the show is difficult for this reason, but if I eventually get back to the menus, these are now unresponsive too, and the imagery for the individual programmes no longer loads.

Meanwhile, when selecting an episode of a box set, this will typically take me to a black screen, as if it is trying to load. Sometimes an advert will appear as a still image or I will get a few brief seconds of sound, again suggesting that it is trying to load something. The word “Advert” frequently appears in the corner of the screen, a “More Info” box on the right and a cross for exiting at the top.

But even if I leave the app to its own devices for half an hour, it never gets beyond this (it’s a bit like I’m trying to download over the slowest dial-up connection ever). Clicking the cross will eventually (after many seconds) exit the show, but then the menus no longer work/appear correctly after that, as mentioned earlier.

After quitting the app and restarting, all appears normal until I select something to play again. At no point do I get any error messages or boxes suggesting where the problem is.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app but that made no difference. My internet connection is working well enough to stream from iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Spotify, etc, on the laptop.

I would appreciate any thoughts you might have on what might be causing this and how to fix it.

[MarkyMark62]

I'm having the same issue. Just got a new laptop with Windows 11 and when trying to close a tv program down there's a time lag and then in stead of taking me back to tv guide or main page it kicks me out of the sky go app completely.  Hoping someone has a solution or that sky implement a fix. 

[RFS123]

I have reported this problem repeatedly. I have raised a complaint with Sky and was involved in a long chat session and was promised that all the information I gave them would be passed on for investigation.

The issue arises if you have Windows 11 24H2 clean installed on your PC.  24H2 works fine if it is installed as an update to an existing 23H2 system, but not after a fresh install, which is what most PCs are now being sold with. The problem seems to be something to do with encryption: when you first start Skygo there is no problem watching any of the BBC channels, for example.  But once you select a Sports channel, or even just ITV1, it immediately becomes unresponsive and stays that way when you eventually get back to the TV guide.

[Removed]

The only woekaround is to clean install Windows 23H2 and then install 24H2 on top as an update.  I've done this on 2 of my PCs and it gets Skygo working again.

Moderator notes: removed comment inciting complaints.

[Mr+Jacko]

Does anyone know if Sky has now fixed this issue with the Sky Go app on laptops running Windows 11?

If they haven't could someone put instructions on how to re-install Windows 11 23H2 and then update to 24H2 as the last post suggested this will fix the issue?

Thanks

[OldRogue]

Just an update on my original post in September. I continued trying the app every couple of weeks or so, without any change in its behaviour, but then, maybe two months later, it suddenly started to work normally. However, this was a short-lived success, as within a week or so it returned to its previous level of uselessness.

So I went back to trying it every once in a while and, lo and behold, the app began working normally again about a month or so ago and seems to have been fine ever since for me (I'm not a heavy user of the app, so have only opened it three or four times in that period).

I have not made any changes to my PC or changed any appp settings to achieve this result - I've just let the app (and the PC) update whenever it wants to - so I cannot offer any advice to those who are still having problems. And, as mentioned, there has been one false dawn in this process before, so whether or not this saga is over for me remains to be seen. 

[jmortongoff]

I have the same problem on my Acer Laptop (WIN 11).  It was working perfectly up to 12/01/25.

But all BBC programs run perfectly wirh the on screen controls available.   How could that be?

[Picnic+Table]

Confirmed on clean install Windows 11 24H2. App is crawling on Sky Sports channels. UI is very unresponsive once a channel is viewed.

Sky really need to sort this out.

[Picnic+Table]

Wasn't getting sorted so followed the advice of reinstalling 23H2 then updating.

Got app working then updated to 24H2 and it does work normally.

Now if they could fix the certificate issue on the TV Guide page, that would be helpful.

[RFS123]

It's likely an encryption issue since the BBC channels are not encrypted. 

[JohnSc22]

When are Sky going to address and fix this problem properly.  Expecting naive users to install a previous version of windows then update it is just wrong, even if it works. 

[Jonn0]

I have exactly the same issue. I'm wondering if it could be some third party software that many PC manufacturers pre-install on new Windows PCs, possibly McAfee or Norton? 

I'll have a go at removing it and see if it works, but many posts indicate that removing McAfee can be difficult.

[RFS123]

No it's not 3rd party software.  I clean-installed vanilla 24H2 and the problem occurs immediately after installing Skygo.  I first reported this problem to Sky back in October last year, have raised 2 complaints since and nothing happens despite so many people here reporting the issue. 

[Removed]

Moderator notes: removed comment inciting complaints.

[Jonn0]

If the issue relates to a Microsoft software version then you should be complaining to Microsoft rather than Sky.