Forum Discussion

Longtimeuser1's avatar
Longtimeuser1
Reel Rookie
10 months ago

Captions on Hulu out of sync and it's so bad I just don't care about watching TV anymore

I realize there is already a discussion here that is labelled solved but (a) it isn't solved for me; and (b) there is no way to respond to a "solved" discussion thread, at least I can't figure one out.

Years ago, I had problems with using Hulu ad-supported plans on Roku - the commercials were never well integrated with the show, resulting in the app freezing after 2 or 3 ads, kicking me back to the beginning of the show, or, as still happens, starting captions before the show begins (i.e., I see captions for the show while the commercials are running). So, rather than pirate, I paid for commercial free Hulu and that worked fine. 

I said it was years ago. Cannot believe this is still a problem, especially since most streamers (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) are strongly encouraging us to avoid the commercial-free options by dramatically raising the prices while offering cheap deals on the ad-supported plans. But no one really wants us to watch these shows, or they would fix these basic problems. It is so frustrating to know that this was a problem five years ago or more and yet no interest in solving it. So I'm done with TV. The new Golden Age is over anyway and while I really like stuff like Only Murders and What We Do in the Shadows, the annoyances of just trying to watch TV (which used to be simple) has made me lose interest even in these shows. 

In short, I think both Roku and Hulu's technical carelessness is penny-wise and pound foolish. I can't be the only one who simply wants to be entertained and doesn't want to battle with technology for content I pay for. So I'm done with TV shows. I don't even feel like bothering to pirate, let alone pay you hacks for content. So I'm back to novels for entertainment. Good work, guys - you built a lot of interest in this stuff and just threw away all your goodwill for nothing.

5 Replies

  • RokuCarly's avatar
    RokuCarly
    Community Moderator
    10 months ago

    Welcome, and thank you for posting here in the Roku Community, Longtimeuser1!

    Thank you for sharing this with us. Rest assured that we will look closely at the closed captions on Hulu for review. 

    Before proceeding, could you please confirm if this is happening inside the standalone Hulu app or via The Roku Channel? It would also be great if you could provide us with a short video clip of it happening for reference. To send the video, you may download it on Google Drive and share the link to it. 

    We'll be looking forward to your response.

    Warm regards,
    Carly

    • Myeamans's avatar
      Myeamans
      Binge Watcher
      8 months ago

      Grrr this forum is annoying. The fact that I already typed my response but it’s gone because I had to login AGAIN & then have a code sent to my email AGAIN because god forbid someone hack into my Roku community account. I think this is how you stop people from complaining about Hulu & Roku & the terrible problems with closed captions never working. We pay for this! Some of us need to have CC’s to watch tv. Please get it fixed 

      • RokuCarly's avatar
        RokuCarly
        Community Moderator
        8 months ago

        Hi, Myeamans.

        Greetings from the Roku Community!

        Thanks for letting us know about this. We'd like to help you contact the right support for closed captioning issues you're currently experiencing within the Hulu app. 

        Since this is an isolated case involving the Hulu app exclusively, we strongly advise that you directly coordinate this with their Support team for further assistance and clarification. You may reach them here: Hulu Support | Contact Us

        Although you can modify and change your closed captioning feature directly on your Roku Settings, this is only applicable inside The Roku Channel as each app on the Roku streaming platform has its own features that can only be changed inside their app. 

        Furthermore, rest assured that we'll raise the issues you've faced when trying to log into your Community account to Roku's respective team for review.

        Best regards,
        Carly