Forum Discussion

merlinpatt's avatar
merlinpatt
Binge Watcher
2 years ago
Solved

How to turn off Continue Watching section?

I don't want a Continue Watching section at all. I keep my home page nice and clean. I don't want to have to remove every show either. There should just be a permanent hide toggle. How do I turn o...
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  • RokuTakashi's avatar
    RokuTakashi
    2 years ago

    Hi Community users!

    Thanks for posting here in the Roku Community!

    The "Continue Watching" feature on the Roku home screen is part of the Roku Operating System. Currently, there isn't an option to remove this feature. Kindly be advised that some publishers control what constitutes content completion (for example, end credits are shown). Once the arrangement has been completed, the channel makes a delete request to remove the content from the Continue Watching row.
    For more information on this feature's functionality, you can check it out here.

    We hope for your understanding regarding this.

    All the best,
    Kash

  • RokuCarly's avatar
    RokuCarly
    2 years ago

    Hi, Community Users!

    We hear you and we sincerely regret any trouble this may have caused you, but no worries! As a workaround, we'd be more than happy to provide you a resolution with the "Continue Watching" feature on your Roku streaming devices/TVs. On your remote, highlight the TV shows or movies you want to remove, then press the Star* button. 

    Furthermore, your convenience and satisfaction are what we aim for, so please be aware that we are currently working on a new update, and once this feature is fully rolled out, you will be able to have the option to completely hide this under Settings. In the meantime, we highly appreciate you bearing with us. 

    Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else you'd want us to address; we'd be more than willing to listen and take action. 

    Kind regards,
    Carly

Michael-Alan's avatar
Michael-Alan
Binge Watcher
2 years ago

A REAL PRIVACY CONCERN

I too would like to turn off the "Continue Watching" on the Home Page.  The way it is now is creating a PRIVACY issue.  I do not want others within my home to see what others have been watching. Who is in charge of the developers at Roku and why didn't they take the privacy issue into consideration before having an unremovable feature added to the Roku Home Page.

Even if I wanted this feature (and I don't) the location of the "Continue Watching" at the top of the Home Page is a very poor design. It should be located further down on the Roku Home Page.

RokuTakashi's avatar
RokuTakashi
Community Moderator
2 years ago

Hi Community users!

Thanks for posting here in the Roku Community!

The "Continue Watching" feature on the Roku home screen is part of the Roku Operating System. Currently, there isn't an option to remove this feature. Kindly be advised that some publishers control what constitutes content completion (for example, end credits are shown). Once the arrangement has been completed, the channel makes a delete request to remove the content from the Continue Watching row.
For more information on this feature's functionality, you can check it out here.

We hope for your understanding regarding this.

All the best,
Kash

  • keithx13's avatar
    keithx13
    Streaming Star
    2 years ago

    Thank you Kash.  The link is handy.  But I do have a couple of follow up questions.

    The information states:  Continue Watching is a content category row within the What to Watch home screen navigation, displaying content from participating channels that customers have already started watching.  This appears to be a mistake.  I have "What to Watch" hidden, but "Continue Watching" is still displayed.  "Continue Watching" is, therefore, not being controlled under the "What to Watch" umbrella.

    Another area of interest is listed as Managing user consent, which says:

    If publishers require explicit consent from customers before adding their watched content to the Continue Watching row, it is the publisher's responsibility to implement this. Roku does not provide any mechanisms or APIs for handling user consent for the Continue Watching integration. 

    I have not been asked for permission from any to the streaming services to add this content to the Roku Home screen.  Yet at least three of them are populating this field on my Rokus.

    I think the biggest take away for me is that, once again, Roku has changed the way that devices that I paid for operate, without my permission, and in ways that make the devices less user friendly.  I highly recommend that Roku rethink this practice and allow "Continue Watching" to be hidden.

    • Ezrway's avatar
      Ezrway
      Binge Watcher
      2 years ago

      Thank you keithx13. I didn't see the link you mentioned, I'm glad you brought the information to our attention.

      I still like using our Roku devices, however, I don't like not being told the truth. Thanks again.

       

      Ezrway

  • Moleman_X's avatar
    Moleman_X
    Binge Watcher
    2 years ago

    Even if it is part of the Roku OS, it should be possible to hide it so it won't display (VERY simple coding issue).  Some of the reasons posted here should be sounding alarm bells, Roku!  Privacy concerns might be actionable under civil law.

  • jgviv's avatar
    jgviv
    Newbie
    3 months ago

    Bad answer. Write a Patch and fix it!