Users are unimpressed, eager to toss devices if test sticks.
  • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    211·
    16 days ago

    For years I was a big fan of Roku. It represented a better value alternative from the big corporations pushing their own agenda like Google, Apple, Samsung, and Amazon. They made products that were intuitive and user oriented and carved out a very nice and stable market share for themselves because of it. Now they’re just leveraging their hardware relationships to transform the software into something terrible.

    I used to look for tvs with Roku built in. Now I’ve disabled Roku features from my smart TVS and use a separate streaming device.

    • jacksilver@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      15 days ago

      I think the issue is they hit market saturation and haven’t been able to develop any real revenue streams beyond the sale of devices (which is one time cost while maintenance and development constantly drain them of any profit).

      I suspect the increased enshitification is because they need other revenue streams. Just take a look at their stock price and it doesn’t paint a great picture for them.

    • Lexam@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      16 days ago

      Step 1. Factory reset.

      Step 2. Do not allow it to connect to the Internet.

      Step 3. Connect a Linux based computer to it and run everything through the computer.

    • ripcord@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      16 days ago

      Eh, I just started connecting cheap ($30 or so) used Apple TVs to mine. I saw the writing on the wall.

  • blazeknave@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    16 days ago

    Almost downvoted instinctually as a reaction to the headline. Visceral reaction. I hate this beyond belief.

  • spongebue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    16 days ago

    Looking around Roku’s site, I found this email address: AdsPR@roku.com

    I’m planning on giving them a brief but firm “oh hell no” letter. I wonder how many others will do the same 🤔

  • _sideffect@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    15 days ago

    This is why I disconnected my parents Roku tv from the internet last year, when they started to get updates that wouldn’t download, and freeze the whole tv, i said enough is enough

    • scala@lemmy.mlEnglish
      5·
      15 days ago

      Stellantis is already doing this on new cars in the US. (Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Maserati, FiAT, etc) Soon as you press the brakes and come to a stop ads play on your infotainment system. Have the car in park? Yep more ads.

    • Fixxelious@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      15 days ago

      Bro they already tried charging you monthly sub for unlocking seat heating functionality… if they are not already here, you can bet they are coming.

  • Brotha_Jaufrey@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    16 days ago

    I only ever tried using a Roku so I could stream my PC to my smart TV, but it turns out there’s MASSIVE latency. Of course I returned it. If I had to deal with that AND ADS, I would have set that shit on fire

  • nul9o9@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    16 days ago

    Roku had the best smart tv ui. I was seriously bummed when the ads started rolling in a few years ago.

    I want an open source streaming client, but from what I hear DRM gets in the way of that.

  • Tantheiel@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    15 days ago

    So glad I blocked my TVs access to the Internet at the router level. Never complainrd about not setting up a network if the network doesn’t work.

      • Tantheiel@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        15 days ago

        I used Netflix on my TV but after the password sharing and other issues I choose to block network access.

        Most of my Internet is done on my computer.

  • selokichtli@lemmy.mlEnglish
    5·
    16 days ago

    I was thinking about changing my Roku TV anyway. “Dumb” TVs are the future for me.

  • cultsuperstar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    15 days ago

    I think this happened to me last night with an ad for Moana 2 playing automatically. I just assumed I accidentally hit a button. I was on the home screen but it enlarged and played in the basically the top quarter of the screen. I hit Close and it closed.

    Also, the Netflix app is absolute garbage on the TCL Roku TVs. Constantly freezes and crashes, sometimes while not even try to rewind or pause/resume. It just decides its had enough and causes the TV to restart lol.

    • ABonar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      15 days ago

      I thought the Netflix issue was just me! I also got the Moana 2 ad yesterday and assumed that I’d hit something, too. Good to know it wasn’t me, bad to know it was intentional on Roku’s part.

      • cultsuperstar@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        14 days ago

        We have several TCL Roku TVs and Netflix is trash on all of them. Netflix is fine on the streaming sticks though. And every app seems to take some time to load as well. The TVs are pretty old so that’s probably why.

    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      15 days ago

      I noticed the Moana background a couple days ago and thought it looked very nice. But to me it didn’t seem like it was “playing” an add, in the sense that there wasn’t a noticeable wait time before the remote worked. Checked again just now and it’s gone back to a plain gray background.

  • muculent@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    14 days ago
    • Disconnect from network
    • Factory reset
    • Use HDMI to plug into a device that actually respects your privacy and does what you want (Jellyfin, Plex, Pihole for even more goodness, and simply run other streaming services via privacy enhanced browser)
    • Enjoy life without enshittified asshole OS no one asked for by going back to a time that was better.

    EDIT: I haven’t tested this as of yet, but it seems like a decent option for converting and old PC (or if you have a RaspPi) into a media platform with comparable functionality: https://arcadian.cloud/pi/2023/04/27/easily-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-smart-tv/