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It's the entire reason that they split off from Netflix in the first place! I bought my first Roku the day it was announced -- 5/20/2008, the "Roku Netflix Play

• x1ph0z 6y ago
  Have you tried an Nvidia Shield?
• jeffgreco 6y ago
  Unfortunately the exact same thing is happening with Apple TV right now. A really great box but they are absolutely jamming Apple TV+ down their users’ throats.
  • bullfightonmars 6y ago
    The Apple TV app is completely optional (and I hope it stays that way). The inly time I open it is to watch Apple TV+ shows. P.S. They made the homescreen button goback to A the Apple TV app a while ago. This behavior can be changed go make it go back to the home screen.
    • snuxoll 6y ago
      The TV app is the single greatest feature of the Apple TV, though. I have one list of shows I am watching (sans Netflix because they are petty, I don’t subscribe to them for more than a month at a time to binge a few shows though); multiple, even, because each person in the house has their own.
  • refracture 6y ago
    At least there's a setting to make the 'TV' button take you to the home screen instead of the Apple TV+ app, and unlike Roku when monitoring network traffic the Apple TV is pretty quiet when not in use, unlike the Roku that is constantly chattering with ad services... ads on the home screen.. yuck.
    • CWuestefeld 6y ago
      the Roku that is constantly chattering with ad services This is indeed annoying. But it's easy enough to fix with pihole. That just leaves 1/3 of the home screen being wasted space.
  • r00fus 6y ago
    How do? I don’t notice any push to watch Apple stuff when I navigate directly to Netflix or Prime Video...
  • scarface74 6y ago
    Just take all of the apps off the top bar and put other apps up there. Any app on the top bar can control the hero banner.
• bozleh2 6y ago
  How about the nvidia shield? It runs android tv so can install kodi etc and can sideload smart-youtube which removes all ads.
  • drewg123 6y ago
    Plus one to this. I've had a shield for years, and am very happy with it. I use smart-youtube which removes YT ads. It "just works"
• doix 6y ago
  For what it's worth, I bought an nvidia shield pro and use that. Just like how Roku started, they just make hardware. There are a few subtle adverts are the nvidia remote play stuff (preinstalled applications) but I hardly notice them. They don't have any skin in the streaming space so I find that comforting. My only slight worry is that it's running on Android TV, so there's always a chance google bans something.
  • paranoidrobot 6y ago
    I can also recommend the nvidia shield. I used to run various PC based home theatre bits of software, but they're all inevitably a pain to manage, don't work right, and require fiddling. Got the Shield TV pro 2019(?) version, pointed Plex at my NAS, and it plays content flawlessly. Youtube, Amazon Prime, Netflix all work well too. In theory it also plays games - but Nvidia's game service isn't launched here in Australia, and I've not found a game on the Google Play store that's isn't outright terrible. Steam Link theoretically works, but none of the games in my Steam library are suited to play with a controller. Theoretically there's emulators for various consoles which I've seen people saying is excellent, but I've never been able to make any of them work. Like just about any modern device - it does need to be rebooted occasionally, but for the most part it's just turn on and go.
    • BlueTemplar 6y ago
      I recommend Crypt of the Necrodancer.
    • entropicdrifter 6y ago
      FWIW, the Steam Link app also accepts keyboard and mouse input. You can just them up to your shield and it should detect them in the Steam Link app and suddenly you can just go ahead and play Cities: Skylines or whatever on your TV
      • paranoidrobot 6y ago
        Ah, rightio. If I'm going to play those sort of games I'd rather just go sit at my desk. Not really a good way to use those on my lounge. I got a controller for the Shield with the idea that I could play more console-y type games.
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• cprecioso 6y ago
  The latest Chromecast is an Android TV box with its own remote (in the stick form factor). Coming from Google, it's probably the highest quality Android TV box you'll find, and quite affordable. It does come with some Google "bells and whistles", but nothing I found intrusive, and they can be disabled.
  • phh 6y ago
    Nope, the nVidia Shield is miles ahead. Chromecast with Google TV doesn't have TrueHD support, ethernet, 6/8ch PCM HDMI output, automatic frame-rate switch, game streaming (yes this is an obvious troll, but still it is true). nVidia Shield have those, and more.
    • bhassel 6y ago
      The google TV chromecast does support wired ethernet, but you need to buy the separate adapter for it.
    • ubercore 6y ago
      The nVidia Shield is also like 3-4x as expensive.
    • awill 6y ago
      I love my 2015 Shield. I do with that Nvidia would release a new Shield with a better SoC though. Even the 2019 model has essentially the same chip. The chip is still fine for all streaming, I'd just like more horsepower for emulation.
      • stupendousyappi 6y ago
        Then hope the UK government approves the ARM acquisition.
  • breakingcups 6y ago
    Be aware that you'll be forced to share your GPS location with Google during the set-up, there's no way around it. You'll also need to do the setup with the Google Home app which requires you to set up a "Home", which is way overkill if all you want is a Chromecast. Also, the Nvidia Shield is truly a lot better in terms of hardware and application support. Quite a lot of Chromecast "apps" are inferior to the Android TV versions that also run on the Shield.
• leephillips 6y ago
  You can buy a mini desktop computer for $100 and just plug it in to the TV. Control it with a $10 wireless keyboard, and watch anything that you can watch in a web browser (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.). https://lee-phillips.org/tcDebian/ https://lee-phillips.org/tcDebian/
  • przmk 6y ago
    But this lacks a nice and clean UI to watch Youtube, Netflix, etc. I wouldn't want to control a browser displayed on a TV with a wireless keyboard.
    • AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
      Eh, it isn't great, but you get used to it and it is a hell of a lot better than dealing with all the bullshit of the various bespoke players.
    • Fauntleroy 6y ago
      Then you simply get to decide which one of these bothers you more: - A wireless keyboard and web browser - Ads being mercilessly shoved down your throat
      • logix 6y ago
        Or, for Youtube (I guess you could use the same device for Netflix, Plex client, etc.), you could get the best of both worlds: Chromecast-like controls for YouTube and an ad blocker (the info from that link can be adapted for a desktop): https://www.linuxuprising.com/2021/04/how-to-cast-youtube-videos-from-your.html https://www.linuxuprising.com/2021/04/how-to-cast-youtube-vi...
    • cronix 6y ago
      It was a lot better when MS still had Windows Media Center (last in Win 8.1). I could actually watch cable tv with a cablecard system through windows. Full DVR, accurate guides, able to use WMC remotes, could watch on any computer attached to the network, etc. It was one slick system.
• scarface74 6y ago
  No, Hastings canceled the project when it was already done to allow them to spin off because he didn’t want to be seen as in competition with hardware makers. He wanted Netflix to be everywhere. Amazon has the same business model as Roku with the Fire. They don’t raise prices for a few reasons 1. People are cheap 2. Most of their installed based is now coming from cheap low margin TVs with Roku embedded. 3. Selling a device that people only replace once every 5 years isn’t sustainable. There is only one company selling streaming devices at a profit - Apple. Have you noticed that every streaming provider is on AppleTV day one even though it has the lowest market share by far? Streaming providers can just download Xcode, follow a few simple requirements (not link to their website for payments) and submit an app. Before I get the standard replies, no streaming providers are not required to go through in app purchases and many don’t - including YouTube Live TV. Also before I get the other retort. Yes they do have to work with Apple to be integrated into the TV app. Which is an app on iOS devices.
  • lotsofpulp 6y ago
    > They don’t raise prices for a few reasons >1. People are cheap This is always the answer. Or rather they can not raise prices, because then sufficient number of consumers will not buy the product.
    • scarface74 6y ago
      Yes. And the definition of a “sufficient number of people” is different for Roku where their entire business is based on selling streaming boxes and Apple where sells of streaming box is a “hobby” and less than a rounding error. Given a choice, I would rather have an AppleTV and pay more for a better user experience than pay less for a Roku. That being said, we have multiple Roku TVs throughout our house and they are good enough. But the two I use most frequently also have ATV4Ks. I also couldn’t in good conscience recommend that most people get ATVs at their current prices.
    • ianai 6y ago
      They should offer a few beefier, higher margin devices. I'd pay for no load times, for instance.
• swiley 6y ago
  Streaming works fine on Linux, even from Disney.
  • deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  • saxonww 6y ago
    I'll second this, with the caveat that you won't always get HD streams. Netflix only supports 720p on Linux, and I believe Amazon Prime is limited to SD as well. Disney+ doesn't support Linux, but works for me right now with a spoofed user agent, and claims to be 1080P. YouTube TV works fine without any spoofing, and also claims to be 1080P. I don't know if Hulu works now, I haven't tried it in years. Vudu doesn't support Linux and I didn't try to work around it. Not sure about any of the other new services like HBO Max, or the CBS or NBC streaming services.
    • __david__ 6y ago
      720p is still technically HD. SD is 480.
      • ohazi 6y ago
        Not even technically, 720p is HD. 1080p is "Full HD" (FHD) and 4k is "Ultra HD" (UHD).
        • saxonww 6y ago
          You're both correct, I'm not sure why I made that mistake because I definitely know the difference. I believe Amazon currently is restricted to SD/480p, at least, that's all I can get with Firefox right now.
• Larrikin 6y ago
  Just get Plex, it works everywhere and you don't have to worry about all the fighting between companies.
  • pbhjpbhj 6y ago
    I use to use Plex, but they changed the UI to include all sorts of junk that I didn't want; really made it unusable for me as I didn't want adult films (not porn, but not kids friendly) being advertised on the home screen. I only used it for pictures and home videos but they wrecked it; couldn't find a way to go back.
    • Larrikin 6y ago
      The home screen and side bars are all fully customizable. It's a little annoying they turn them on by default as they add channels but you can turn them off easily.
      • pbhjpbhj 6y ago
        I tried turning everything off, still had content thumbnails and details I didn't want and lacked the home screen stuff I did (it has been great previously). Waited for the next two revisions to see if it was fixed, no better so I moved on. Sounds like it's good for you: I literally wanted only local network content, nothing from the net, is that how you have it? Might consider going back but we don't look at family pics that often and vlc works well enough.
    • colordrops 6y ago
      I unfortunately bought a roku right before all this went down, but fortunately there's a Jellyfin app for it. Jellyfin is an open source media server that is probably the closest to Plex in functionality.
• TheRealWatson 6y ago
  "The next version had pre-programmed buttons for various services that had paid them off, and I was annoyed, but whatever." I cut those buttons off with a knife because I kept accidentally pressing them just by picking up or holding the remote, which would exit whatever I was currently watching.
• zucker42 6y ago
  As we can see in this case, there's apparently lots of pressure from service providers not to be just a dumb, neutral piece of hardware. And, in my opinion, the control that streaming services have over hardware can be traced back to DRM anti-circumvention laws. The fact that it's illegal to build hardware that controverts dumb restrictions mandated by the streaming services by breaking their DRM means that hardware manufacturers. will risk being cut off by streaming services.
  • michaelt 6y ago
    > As we can see in this case, there's apparently lots of pressure from service providers not to be just a dumb, neutral piece of hardware. I assumed it was the opposite: Roku decided, instead of merely selling neutral hardware, they'd make themselves some extra money by charging streaming services. And that naturally means services disappearing - if Service A is paying you $1/user/month and you'd like them to pay you $2/user/month you gotta remove their app until they cough up.
    • zucker42 6y ago
      According to Roku, the reason for this conflict is demands Google made about the hardware in Roku devices and how Roku handles search results with YouTube open. A Roku representative claimed they ask for not $1 of financial compensation. Of course, they could be lying, but Google hasn't provided an alternate reason.
• srswtf123 6y ago
  Have you tried consuming less media overall? I'm at the point where not only are the various set-top boxes and smart devices trash, but the content is as well. I don't want to watch recycled stories from my childhood, but darker and grittier. I imagine good content exists, but honestly I just can't be bothered to hunt it down anymore, and then wade through the literal sea of ads required to watch it.
  • alamortsubite 6y ago
    The Criterion Channel is very good.
  • ryandrake 6y ago
    Underrated comment. Sorry, this is a little provocative, but an effective end game here is to wean yourself off of Media Consumption As A Hobby, and find other things to do that don't involve getting your eyeballs milked by media companies. Simply finding another milking machine that doesn't (yet) bombard you with ads is a halfway solution.
    • srswtf123 6y ago
      Books continue to exist, for example.
      • ipaddr 6y ago
        Books can be ads or filled with ads.
  • asquabventured 6y ago
    Unplugging completely is the way to go! Sometimes the only way to win the game is to just not play at all.
  • ljf 6y ago
    Can only talk for me, but I watch maybe an hour of TV at most a day maximum - generally two episodes of a light comedy before bed each day. On top of that I'll watch one movie or documentary a week - I don't think that is excessive. But when I do want to watch this, I just want it to work. I use chromecast and since changing broadband provider and getting a new router it has misbehaved loads. Watching some last thing TV has become a chore - getting it to play first time, and then pausing or skipping is now a pain. Ordered a new router which should fix things - but a working tool to consume (however much or little you do) makes life simpler. I don't want to battle technology for my limited video entertainment. Finding great stuff is hard - but the less you watch the longer the good stuff lasts! The Office USA has been great for wind down entertainment.
• pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  I gave up on Roku when they and/or NowTV unlawfully deleted a side-loaded app from my device. Moved to FireTV which has plesk as a downloadable, that allows me to view photos off my local network as I was doing before ... Plex is awful now, the UX is terrible for me (it's geared to viewing Plex's content, which I have never used nor wanted), so I moved to just using VLC (clunky for photo viewing but good enough). We only use Netflix, Youtube and free catch-up channels and only have 1080p, but FireTV was/is way better than the Roku device was. What's garbage about FireTV?
  • browningstreet 6y ago
    I wanted HBOMax and I had given away my AppleTV. I wasn't going to buy a new AppleTV until they upgraded it, so I bought a FireTV. Aside from the ads, it works really well and the remote is decent. I've gotten used to it, and now that the new AppleTV is out, I probably won't even bother upgrading. Or if I do, I'm on the fence about it. The Roku interface is easily the worst of the bunch.
  • nvarsj 6y ago
    It doesn't take much effort to unpin the Plex channels from your home page, or remove them completely from your account settings. It's annoying that they're the default, but it's not a huge deal either.
    • pbhjpbhj 6y ago
      I tried unpinning the Plex stuff, didn't work for, didn't put local content on home either. Maybe errors at my end; had used and liked it for a couple of years before that.
• bakatubas 6y ago
  Man—all I can say is most tech companies suck these days in that way. Bought a Samsung “smart” tv and a couple months later got an update—now it’s showing McDonalds ads. Like WTF I paid $500 for a TV but that’s not good enough? The ad industry is a cesspool these days.
  • InitialLastName 6y ago
    It's the consumer hardware industry as a whole. The combination of heavy competition on street price and a dearth of salient new features (my mid-tier TV from 2017 is effectively identical in features to its modern counterparts) has encouraged the manufacturers to supplement the one-time revenue from sales with ongoing revenue from advertising, spyware and kickbacks from the subscription streaming companies.
• rchaud 6y ago
  > I don't know why they couldn't just raise prices and sell a device. They're publicly traded, so selling only hardware makes their business model too predictable and 'low-growth' for Wall St. Also competitors could eat their lunch considering that their hardware isn't any more complex than a $50 Android TV box you can get at a flea market. In order to create a moat to stave off competition, you make your business model all about 'services', with an increasingly less important hardware component.
• Tyr42 6y ago
  Nvidia shield was okay. But expensive
• dcow 6y ago
  Try an LG TV with webOS. I know it sounds crazy but it works so well these days. It makes dongles feel 2nd rate (at least when used on the LG) because of how integrated and useful the TV interface is. I don't think streaming devices were ever meant to be a permanent thing. That’s kinda the job of the TV if you think about it.
  • sarah180 6y ago
    Unless you want to watch HBO Max, in which case you need a dongle….
    • chaseha 6y ago
      Lack of an HBO Max app is annoying for sure. I just play it on my iphone and then AirPlay to the TV which isn't too bad. Now if Windows Laptops could cast OTA better that would be the best... haven't been able to get the windows airplay equivalent to work at all
    • dcow 6y ago
      That’s annoying.. I didn’t realize because I have some form of HBO as an Amazon prime video channel. So at least there’s that. Also using echo studios as sound output requires a Fire TV....
• paulpan 6y ago
  I've been using the new Google TV (different from just a Chromecast dongle) and think it's pretty good, especially if you're also using other Google apps and services. $50 is a pretty reasonable price for the feature-set, and 1/3 of the cost of an Apple TV.
• rezonant 6y ago
  I use Chromecast heavily --- I used to have some problems with getting connected and staying connected until I replaced my ISP provided router with a new Netgear Nighthawk. On top of connecting to wifi taking about 1 second to complete (versus tens of seconds on the old router), I now have zero issues with Chromecast. Unfortunately the reliability of Chromecast is pretty dependent by how good your WiFi network is
  • wffurr 6y ago
    I got a Nexus Player to use as a Chromecast, initially because it had 5 GHz wireless, but then I figured out that you can use an USB OTG adapter to plug an ethernet adapter into the micro USB port. That worked even better. Frustrating that the new ones don’t have an ethernet jack on them. WiFi in a condo or apartment building is unreliable and slow. EDIT: Nevermind, they have official ones built into the power bricks! https://store.google.com/collection/accessories_wall?compatibility=Chromecast https://store.google.com/collection/accessories_wall?compati...
    • rezonant 6y ago
      The new Chromecast devices definitely support 5Ghz WiFi btw- I use the 4K variant for all of my TVs and they are all using the 5Ghz variant of my WiFi network.
      • wffurr 6y ago
        Yeah, the Nexus Player predates those. The OG Chromecast, which I also had, did not. I bought the Nexus Player to replace it.
    • abawany 6y ago
      Also, it seems that you can really enhance the functionality of the device with other peripherals by connecting up a USB-C hub: https://gizmodo.com/how-to-use-a-usb-c-hub-to-upgrade-your-chromecast-with-1846644326 https://gizmodo.com/how-to-use-a-usb-c-hub-to-upgrade-your-c... .
• mgr86 6y ago
  We used to love our roku. Still do, and we have owned various versions for nearly as long as you. Even went with a roku tv at one point. I bought an LG OLED CX this past November. I was planning to hook a roku up to it. My experience with smart tvs in the past has been hugely underwhelming to downright unusable. But I've been more than happy with just using the apps on the LG tv. Your mileage may vary, but I have a good picture quality and I'm pretty happy with the remote. It allows me to program the keypad to hard-press them to launch an app of my choice. Additionally, they have their own channel offerings similar to Pluto. I have heard great things about the Shield as well. That is probably the closest you can find to without building your own HTPC.
  • dstaley 6y ago
    Another happy LG OLED and Shield owner here! I use the Shield when playing more difficult-to-play media from Plex (stuff like high-bitrate HDR content with lossless audio), and the built-in apps on the TV the rest of the time. Heck, even Apple TV is available as an app on the LG.
    • mgr86 6y ago
      yes the biggest complaint I have is the no DTS support. A lot of my plex library has DTS audio. I've generally been able to avoid it now, but it took me by surprise the first time my file had no audio.
  • throwaway287391 6y ago
    Everyone seems to love the LG WebOS software, I seem to be the only one that absolutely hates it. I have the LG E9 (previous generation, one year old). The picture is great but I hate just about everything else about it. Having to point at things with the "magic remote" is the least usable input interface I've ever encountered -- I'm not sure if I'm just completely devoid of motor skills but I find it ridiculously difficult to point at a particular thing on the screen, especially if it's a small hitbox. I genuinely don't understand how anyone likes it (but I know they do). I guess I'm the only one who still sometimes watches linear TV but the on-screen program guide is basically unusable; it takes literally a full minute to load 2 hours' worth of shows for the currently displayed 10 channels sometimes (and then repeat if you scroll to view a different 10 channels). Meanwhile my cheap Samsung dumb TV from 5 years ago works flawlessly (other than being only 1080p) and it's easy to browse with the arrow-key-based remote.
• rednerrus 6y ago
  FiretTV has been great for us.
• tw04 6y ago
  Nvidia shield is great, just make sure you get a pro. For reasons I’ll never understand, they dropped the standard model to 8GB of memory which causes it to run low on memory with some apps.
• bobbob1921 6y ago
  Part of this is bc everything is about Reoccurring, monthly revenue. It’s no longer good enough to build a great product , make a nice profit, and move on to the next iteration. A company now must generate (or extract) stable, reoccurring revenue from its products (which for a company/investors is much more appealing than onetime profits). It sucks imo, but it’s infected everything now. > I don't know why they couldn't just raise prices and sell a device This comment is exactly my feeling , and why for most products , is an unfortunate outcome of the reoccurring rev model.
  • lrem 6y ago
    Yeah, remember Pebble :(
    • mjcohen 6y ago
      I still use my Pebble Time (with another for when it dies) and use Pebble-Rebble to keep it working on Android (11).
• reaperducer 6y ago
  I don't know why they couldn't just raise prices and sell a device. Because "everyone else is doing it." It's the reason that the entirety of the tech industry seems to be getting worse, not better. Outside of the people who get profiles in the Wall Street Journal, there are no real leaders, only followers now. And with the bloating of middle-management ranks, reliance on consultants, and fear of leaving the comfort of mediocrity, the lack of leadership only gets worse.
• FireBeyond 6y ago
  I miss my Roku Soundbridge. It made streaming music in a time when that was hard. I'd listen to SomaFM coming through my stereo for hours a day.
• matt_heimer 6y ago
  They have a remote that lets you customize the buttons now - https://www.roku.com/products/accessories/roku-voice-remote-pro https://www.roku.com/products/accessories/roku-voice-remote-... The fire tv and android tv both have ads/recommendations that take up more space, at least roku ads get in the way less. I wish there was a kindle like option to pay and remove ads on all these devices.
• StreamBright 6y ago
  I went through similar products. The last one was an android box. I was tearing out my hair after every upgrade. It is just not worth the problems. Raspberry Pi might be a good option but only v3. The new v4 has problems and there are very hacky ways the get the GPU acceleration working. At this stage an Apple Tv or maybe an Intel NUC might be the best options.
• 0xEFF 6y ago
  Apple TV is quite good these days.
• chaostheory 6y ago
  > I don't know why they couldn't just raise prices and sell a device. Not many companies can survive with Apple's business model, but without the luxury Apple brand.