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Roku Is No Longer a Neutral Platform After Today's Roku OS 9.1 Update (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: In the past, Roku seemed to be more of a neutral platform compared with streaming media player rivals like Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV. The company gave everyone else's content equal footing through its add-on channels and in Roku search, as it had nothing of its own to promote. That's changing with the rollout of Roku OS 9.1, beginning today. The update adds a feature that automatically plays back The Roku Channel's movies and TV shows at times; another that better showcases the channel's free content in genre-focused searches; and one that introduces a new navigation menu with offers for other Roku products.
These features arrive alongside other changes, like a new guest mode and easier sign-in to subscriptions. Among the more innocuous changes are the new guest mode and automatic account linking. Roku in January first announced an "auto sign out mode," which allowed guests to sign into subscription channels using their own accounts instead of the Roku owner's credentials. And guests could specify when their credentials would expire on that device -- a useful feature in particular for Airbnb operators. Today, "auto sign out mode" is being rebranded as "guest mode," and can now be enabled or disabled on select devices. It also now allows Roku owners to sign out the guests themselves. With Automatic Account Link, Roku users won't have to re-enter their credentials when activating a new Roku player or Roku TV -- the subscription data will simply copy over from their existing account. Roku will also be promoting its own content and products to users. For example, when users search for "comedy" or "action," the content is displayed in a layout similar to Netflix with large image thumbnails and rows you scroll through horizontally. TechCrunch notes that while Netflix "lets you drill down into genres, Roku instead is organizing search results by whether the content is free, subscription, on-demand or 4K."
The second row of content points users to Roku's "free" ad-supported content. You can view the release notes for Roku OS 9.1 here.
These features arrive alongside other changes, like a new guest mode and easier sign-in to subscriptions. Among the more innocuous changes are the new guest mode and automatic account linking. Roku in January first announced an "auto sign out mode," which allowed guests to sign into subscription channels using their own accounts instead of the Roku owner's credentials. And guests could specify when their credentials would expire on that device -- a useful feature in particular for Airbnb operators. Today, "auto sign out mode" is being rebranded as "guest mode," and can now be enabled or disabled on select devices. It also now allows Roku owners to sign out the guests themselves. With Automatic Account Link, Roku users won't have to re-enter their credentials when activating a new Roku player or Roku TV -- the subscription data will simply copy over from their existing account. Roku will also be promoting its own content and products to users. For example, when users search for "comedy" or "action," the content is displayed in a layout similar to Netflix with large image thumbnails and rows you scroll through horizontally. TechCrunch notes that while Netflix "lets you drill down into genres, Roku instead is organizing search results by whether the content is free, subscription, on-demand or 4K."
The second row of content points users to Roku's "free" ad-supported content. You can view the release notes for Roku OS 9.1 here.
Cool!
The horror
who cares
roku hardware and software is mediocre and expensive compared the the choices out there right now
Having such large market share of streaming devices and leaving ad dollars on the table by being neutral would not be in the interest of ROKU shareholders.
TV over the internet sucks too. Cut the cord. You don't need this.
Who gives two shits about these services.
Kodi supports netflix, prime, runs on anything. Plex is just kodi w/ streaming to multiple devices.
now piss off, no one cares about Roku
Slow news day?
Host files are the only answer
Trust me=>APK
At least I'm not spamming the forum with my warez in this place right now.
Super Kendall says " I love host files"
Cmdr taco says " APK gives mediocre rim jobs.
Rob malda says " I sucked his dick but he wouldn't suck mine"
Bruceperens says blah blah blah
Some other AC said" I sucked his dick while he sucked mine but it was weird bkuz APK had no ballsack- he gobbled mine like a lot lizard at a truck stop but I only wanted to reciprocate.
Although this AC also reports that APK liked it when they inserted a pinky finger into APKs anus
APK likes => stinky pinky
"The update adds a feature that automatically plays back The Roku Channel's movies and TV shows at times [...]"
As in, the damn thing randomly wakes up by itself and starts playing stuff without being asked to? So there I am, minding my own business, looking out the window, enjoying a little peace and quiet, and BLAM some stupid noisy movie kicks in? Not the least annoying.
Fuck Amazon and the horse they rode in on. I'm not letting them into my house.
So just don't install the Roku Channel. There's nothing nefarious here.
My internet connection isn't only for entertainment. It is a business that we allow employees to use after hours to watch movies. Wasting bandwidth when the projector isn't even powered is stupid.
Auto-play is obnoxious already on any channels, except when I'm binging TV series on APV. Even APV stops streaming after 5 episodes.
Have been a big fan of Roku players for years, but honestly their hardware is flaky, the software isn't the best and they start to show signs of wanting to be their own content provider instead of the device for accessing providers. For myself I always had great luck with their hardware, but recent failures of two Roku Express devices after years of older devices working flawlessly leaves me looking for other options.
...as soon as I wasn't able to load/sideload Kodi on to it.