They're working hard to make sure piracy provides the best experience.
It’s approaching 1984 levels of BS control.
This is already my experience but still use a Roku to access Plex. Looks like I'll need to get something else or figure out if i can block them with Ad Guard Home
I use pi hole and the experience is not entirely smooth. I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this but my pi hole blocks ads but every few weeks Roku has an update and it locks up the entire operating system and I’m stuck in a loop of trying to get my update so I can return to normal. I for the hell of it disabled pi hole for 5 minutes and it wound up working but not until I dropped pi hole. So it’s as if it every so often decides to hold the operating system hostage if I don’t drop pi hole for updates. Makes me think they likely get all the telemetry they are trying to collect for selling data. I like not watching ads 90 percent of the time but it pisses me off that they are likely still spying on me by forcing me to communicate with their servers every now and then.
My brother in Christ, please just connect another device to your TV and disconnect your TV from the internet. No one should be using the built-in software for exactly this reason.
Not a surprise for Roku. The company has been getting progressively worse in the last few years and their enshittification is accelerating. Their recent forced download of an update that requires users to agree to arbitration to even use our TVs was intended to ultimately take control of those TVs completely away from the people who own them.
Right now it's possible to block Roku's static ads and presumably the autoplaying ones using a local DNS server like Adblock Home or Pihole, but it's only a matter of time before Roku blocks everything unless we watch the ads they are trying force down our throats. I'm already in the process of obsoleting all 5 of our Roku devices.
It has taken Roku years to build up enough market share to allow this kind of behavior and it will take years for the market to abandon them. Their executives will claim ignorance as to why users are walking away when it finally hits their bottom line.
Im literally willing to ditch the device and cancel all streaming services because of this. When I turn on my TV I don’t want to be forced to consume ads when I haven’t been provided with anything in return.
I just block all ads at the router level. When looking through the most blocked domains I see a lot from Roku.
Can i pleace find a decent TV without smart-capabilitys? I just want HDMI thats it
Don't give your TV wifi access, use a separate device to watch stuff (Chromecast, FireTV, Android box, etc..)
Buy a commercial signage display. It's just a TV without the smart garbage.
Or, get a projector :)
Technically you can get commercial TVs but many companies stopped selling them. They are literally the new screen tech with no "Smart" capabilities. They are also much cheaper than their smart counterparts.
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.
Don't connect your Roku to the internet.
Or better yet, use a Pi-Hole or something similar to block the relevant adservers at the DNS level.
I wouldn't say this is "better"
I do run a pihole, but I still will never connect my roku to the internet. It is much better to have a media PC or other streaming device I have control of fully connected.
Shit. I got a Roku TV. That's one big fucking stick to toss.
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.
Instructions unclear. TV now controlled by Nicole the fediverse chick.
You can trust her. She's from Toronto!
Almost downvoted instinctually as a reaction to the headline. Visceral reaction. I hate this beyond belief.
I have a Roku ultra in my kid's room.
I do not want her subjected to ads when she turns on the TV.
This is unacceptable to me and I will be replacing all my Rokus immediately.
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 🤔
I emailed them to let them know I cancelled Disney+ and cited this specific ad and advertisement campaign through Roku as to why I cancelled the service.
Let’s make the companies who advertise this way feel pain.
this is the worst, next they're gonna put ads on cars
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.
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.
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.
Apple TV for the win
If you think another private company with profit on their mind is safe, I've got a bridge to sell you.
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.
Uh huh, but collecting Blurays is just silly I've been told.
If this happens on my box I'll be taking them to small claims court and let you all know how it goes...
So glad I ditched Roku. My modified Onn box (with an open source, ad-free launcher) is so much better.
If you force Ads then I will replace your equipment. The only reason I use Roku is to avoid the Ads built into "smart TVs"
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
Bought a Roku back in 2020 or 2021 because the Apple TV was more expensive.
Now I know why.
For what it is worth, I have Roku set up as a REGEX in my Pi-hole so for the most part, any of this nonsense is completely blocked on my Roku.
Needless to say, I shouldn’t have to do this shit with a device I paid for and mainly use for Plex streaming.
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