Watching Roku steadily decline from a trusted brand has been something. For a time, they were the alternative to the other bigger more Ad driven companies. I’ve owned 2 and used to enjoy them overall. Now, they’ve slowly become just as bad or worse than their competitors in some regards. When history looks back on streaming boxes as a failed delivery method, Roku might just get to be the example in the forefront.
Was roku recently acquired by an investment firm?
Uh huh, but collecting Blurays is just silly I’ve been told.
Get to the endgame. Just strap us to a chair and make us watch your crap ads Clockwork Orange style.
But the eyelid things look like they’re really uncomfortable. Any chance you can just hack into our brains and stream advertising consistently while I’m in a coma?
The Matrix ad campaign
Roku box: Bye, bitch!
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.
pirate, or you’ll just be doing the same fucking thing again in two years.
good news: pi’s can do everything a roku does, plus any you install of: retro gaming, libreoffice, web browsing, shit tons of educational software, IDE’s, and teaching her computers.
I have a 200+TB library for my Plex and jellyfin instances. The Roku was just a family friendly launcher and remote. I bought them when you could still disable ads in the secret menus and most of the Roku BS is blocked by a pair of piholes, but I’ve gotten annoyed chasing new urls to blacklist.
It’s DRM for the other app bullshit that becomes a hindrance for going the Kodi route. There really isn’t a good alternative that I’ve found. Linux boxes will limit some services to 720p and jt’s mostly baseball and local news programs that I’ll lose.
For the news, I need to look at something like hdhomerun or something else I can pair with an OTA antenna.
For baseball, not much other than the absolute mess that live streaming sports is. Doable, sure. But a pita and sketchy last I looked into it. My season ticket comes with MLB.tv, but the irony is that I’m “in network” so all my teams games are blacked out for me. I had previously created a VPN tunnel and routed one of my Rokus to a different state to watch it. But it’s not a user friendly experience.
For games, I already have a batocera box running on an old dell thin client with way more power than a pi, and it has Kodi on it. But the UI/UX still sucks.
I use an Nividia shield that I’ve had for about 5 years. Have an alternate ad free launcher enabled. Still works really well. I use it mostly with Kodi streaming from SMB, some Jellyfin though I have Jellyfin hosted on a Pi4 so video quality is somewhat lacking. The 4k upscaling still works very well and is somewhat unique among streaming boxes
Cabernet with daddylive plugin, this can emulate hdhomerun on your network, add this to plex/Jellyfin for live tv. https://thedaddy/ . to Check the list and see if these 24/7 channel streams work for you.
I integrated these into plex and are able to watch live tv the way I want. Cabernet is a docker container on my network, ensure you set the ip address to the server vs the docker IP, in the Cabernet web ui settings.If you want to just watch streams off that site, I recommend using brave browser, turn on all the ad block capability and set it to strict and even import the hagezi multi pro blocklist in brave. The amount of pop ups on that site is horrible. But brave smooths them out and streams are fairly reliable. Plenty of sports.
I just got an HDHomeRun that I use with an antenna and love it. I use Mac and they are one of the only boxes that works on Mac.
They don’t have a native Linux client, but you can use VLC supposedly: https://info.hdhomerun.com/info/linux
You can connect your HDHomeRun with Plex too. It’s really a nice setup. Plex can work like a DVR to record live channels and even has some capability to remove commercials. I’ve started letting NFL games be DVR’d and commercials stripped before watching the game. It’s a much better experience if you can tolerate the delay.
mostly seems like you’ve tested stuff and got your shit together.
but the 720p limit is surprising to me. any idea why this happens?
DRM. They don’t like how open Linux can be so to combat people using it for pirating their content the companies restrict it.
For instance, Netflix is capped at 720p on Linux unless you are on Opera, apparently.
oh, you’re not sailing the high seas. got it.
Aaargh matey!
Roku is the one that bricked peoples TVs unless they agreed to their new terms of service.
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.
I know it’s being lazy. But if you have the regex you could post, I’d appreciate it.
I had this happen to me just a few days ago. Within the hour I bought an Nvidia shield and came up with a plan to install the projectivy launcher and button remapper.
I’m mostly happy, it’s much more snappy but it’s missing a couple apps I used on the Roku (WGN and Marquee Sports). At least I can use my own pictures for the background and screensavers.
Reasons I turn off WiFi on any TV I buy and use a streaming box
Any good recommendations?
Onn 4k box or Nvidia shield
Onn is just Walmart Roku, they will absolutely slather it in ads as soon as they figure out how. +1 on Nvidia shield.
You can boot lineage os’s android TV version easily on the onn one
To my knowledge that only works for the 2021 version which is no longer sold. The newer 2024 version is locked down further and cannot have its bootloader unlocked.
Oh, I’m not sure, maybe
Roku will do this on their boxes too.
Yeah I don’t get roku boxes lol. I have an nvidia shield pro, and I’m considering loading the lineageOS software on it
I got the shield too, it’s amazing. Upgraded from an old Chromecast and it’s night and day, didn’t realize how slow the Chromecast was, even on Ethernet.
oh man, hard agree, the shield is the kind of android boxes
Roku devices and fire sticks belong in the recycle bin.
I switched everything to Apple TV .
I’m not into the apple walled garden, I use android boxes
I was seeing the Moana promo with my Roku streaming stick on a Samsung TV. Didn’t look like an ad exactly tho, just a nice ocean background behind the menu.
personally I prefer android streaming boxes, because you can install custom versions of android tv on them, so if the official release from google is bad, you can just go to the community version
There any custom versions you can point me to? I’ve been looking for a custom Android OS to install on my Insignia Fire TV.
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
lineageOS, but you have to have a supported device, and I’m not seeing that device on there. Plus fire tv’s are pretty locked down. I would suggest walmarts onn 4k box or an nvidia shield
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…)
Wish it had more apps, but Apple TV is pretty solid. With the Steam link app, it’s also good for couch gaming on your pc.
I just dock my steam deck
We use Moonlight instead of Steam Link. It requires a little more setting up at the PC end, but overall seems to be a more smooth result.
I’ll take a look, but I haven’t noticed any performance issues with Steam link.
Moonlight blows steam out of the water. I can’t even tell I’m streaming when I use it.
Can you give me some examples for what’s really all that noticeable?
Witch brands have moonlight available natively? I think I remember Samsung. Anything else? LG doesn’t…
I can only speak for Apple TV, I’m afraid.
Anything that runs android, but still, just get an old laptop with a broken screen and duct tape it to the back of the screen
Can we install stuff outside of the play store? Like NewPipe?
Yeah, that was my approach, but the forced ads are also on the roku stick :(
Yeah about time for me to switch to something else :/
Is there anything that’s a better alternative?
I’m looking into alternatives. So far Kodi is the front runner for my use. I have not decided on whether to replace roku units with raspberri pi running kodi or try the jailbreaking roku route.
Some people have mentioned apple TV, for now that at least isn’t riddled with ads. Others have mentioned getting android sticks, but I’m not sure how smooth that process is (or how well they work with remotes).
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.
A buddy sent me this recently. I’m intrigues. https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=46513
I’ve had luck with just not giving a smart TV my wifi password.
I’m looking to upgrade the living room TV soon, and this is what I plan to do.
I have heard though that some TVs insist on an Internet connection, so do your research and/or be sure there is a good return policy.
Ah ok, good to know! Thanks!
That’s what I do
Commercial displays
I must not be looking at the right thing. All I’m finding are expensive displays that have all this fancy scheduling, web surfing, etc. built into it.
LG and samdung make commercial displays, as well as monitors (no speakers or tv tuners generally)
Try this brand https://www.sceptre.com/
Oh, these are just Wide-screen Gaming monitors though?
Are they actually any good though? I was looking at a 1440p Sceptre monitor for my PC, and a lot of reviews mentioned huge bezels, dead pixels, and other issues…
Cheap computer monitor works well for me.
Just a heads up that the Smart Cancer has already begun infecting PC monitors. Samsung makes Smart Monitors.
It won’t be long before there are no longer Dumb Monitors.
A Sharp Aquos TV from the late 2000s, pre-Hisense days. We have a 42" model from ~2007. It’s only 1080p (which is honestly just fine for its size and our usage), but there’s plenty of I/O for modern and legacy equipment, and lots of configuration options. It is an absolute monster at 75 lbs, but an incredibly high quality unit nonetheless, especially considering it’s age. I’ve owned it since 2019 and it’s needed zero repairs or anything.
For comparison, we also have a much newer 55" curved Samsung TV (in our basement, wall-mounted up high) which has already needed a backlight driver board replacement. Luckily that was only $50, but still, I expect better.
the largest problem with older TV’s isnt the resolution. even on my 75" its hard to tell the difference between 4k and 1080p… But HDR is amazing, it really blows me away each time a scene lights up!
That’s a fair point. HDR is quite nice, I use it a lot on my Pixel. The TV I mentioned does have dynamic brightness, but that’s over the whole TV, not really equivalent to HDR.
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.
Why even connect the tv to your local network?
Casting, using your phone for a remote, so the popup for connecting goes away
Wake on LAN. At least that’s what I do. I can turn on the TV and adjust the volume from Home Assistant but the TV itself can’t reach the Internet.
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.
What a goofy thing to ask. You know exactly why people use smart TVs on the Internet.
When my girlfriend moved in, she had a big TCL Roku TV its software absolutely sucks. But it would keep a blinking led on ALL THE TIME if it wasn’t connected to wifi.
I put it on my iot network, and I’m considering null routing it.
I actually had a Roku box plugged into it since it had a better experience, but I’m probably going to switch that to a Nvidia shield pro because of this ad bullshit.
If this happens on my box I’ll be taking them to small claims court and let you all know how it goes…
Just a heads up that you probably “agreed” to binding arbitration…
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.
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.
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.
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.
Think of any invasive streaming devices in your house. Samsung, Google Chromecast, ATV, LG etc. Roku is by far the worst.
This was shitty, but the giants are worse than the smaller companies. Roku works fine and ad-free if you block the ad/tracking domains. Try separating the ads/tracking from the stuff you need on a Google device.
PiHole.
My friend doesn’t understand this reference, could you elaborate, please?
you can get a raspberry pi and install something called pihole on it, it’s a DNS server with ad-blocking. basically, it converts a domain name like example.com into an IP address, but rather than just faithfully supply DNS, it also effectively blocks some adverts by acting like the domain names don’t exist for servers that run ads
once it’s set up it’ll just work, and it should protect everyone on your network/wifi from some ads
Just gonna add that it can also be installed directly to any Linux PC or in a docker container. The raspberry pi isn’t necessarily necessary.
Beautiful, I like the sounds of that.
Install a Pihole server on your network. It’s a DNS filter. When a client tries to access a domain that has been blacklisted (ie a known ad or tracker domain), it denies the lookup.
On my roku homescreen it just has an empty placeholder where it tried to put the ad, but my Pihole server denied it.
Is there risk of a sort of arms race wherein services will update and decline to render services to those who block said blacklisted ad domains, or has that already happened?
I can’t imagine that happening with today’s systems. Yes, it’s theoretically possible. It just seems unlikely that they’d go through the trouble of denying service to someone who didn’t fetch data from one specific domain but did get it from another.
That’s good to know, then. Here’s to hoping they don’t bother, the last thing we need is another opaque, dystopian tech feature.
