Roku 3 is not working with YouTube
Hello All,
I was wondering if anyone is still using a Roku 3 or is it a dead device at this point?
It appears it no longer functions with YouTube...
So if you are still using a Roku 3, I would ...
Forum Discussion
Hi CableBoy,
Thanks for keeping the Roku Community posted!
We see that you're having an issue with your Roku 3 streaming device when accessing the YouTube channel.
We'd like to help and see what's going on here. Roku 3 is still being supported. Could you tell us what issue you're running into when accessing the channel? Is this an isolated case, or is this also observed with the rest of the channel on the platform? What are the troubleshooting steps you've taken and what didn't work?
Please tell us more about this so that we can take a deeper look.
Thanks,
Rey
Hello Rey,
Thank you for your help. Its good to hear the Roku 3 is still being supported.
I am experiencing gray screens, freezes, and lose of audio. Mostly with the YouTube channel. It generally occurs when pushing the up, down, forward or backward buttons. And the buttons are slow to react. Restarting Roku solves the problem for a little while, But it returns when you start using those buttons again. I have a Roku Ultra in the other room and it works perfectly.
I have swapped the Roku's and the problem follows the Roku 3.
I have cleared the cache, performed several factory resets. I also removed the Micro SD card. I only have 27 apps/channels, so I guess I didn't even need it.
Here is a quick video of the problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6tjN9dUsCs
Sometime the video comes back, but without any video. Several people are having the same issues.
Thank you in advance for any help/suggestions you might have.
I experience the exact scenario with youtube. It's gotten so bad that resetting doesn't fix the problems, it just delays the the grey screen / crash problem for a while. It works as long as you don't navigate around too much, so I reset every time I use it then take care not to navigate the video too much, being careful to wait a moment between commands. It's a shame because many other apps still function albeit with lagging and struggles on the menu screens.
Regardless, I commend roku for continuing to support this player even as it approaches obsolescence. I just ordered a newer one after reading through this thread, so the third gen will become a backup. I can't stand when manufacturers ditch a young appliance, so I am very satisfied with the many years this device ran.
Roku (nor any other company) should ever be 'commended' for making older devices useless because of new software updates that can't run on the older hardware.
Since the company's updates are what is causing the device you paid for not to work the company should be sending you an upgrade either for free or at an extreme discount.
You should never have to be forced into buying a new device at full price because updates make it obsolete.
I believe it is Google's youtube product that the older devices can't handle... the operating system updates continue to work fine. I find the new ads on the home menu annoying though, but for $29 I would expect this business model.
Roku 3 was a really solid streamer when first released in 2013. Since then later models have received additional capabilities and features, and have greatly expanded installed memory. Roku 3 is still supported by Roku and is capable of running the current version of the Roku operating software.
The various channel app developers, though, may not take the Roku 3's limitations in comparison with more up to date models under considerations when they update their apps.
On their website YouTube only lists that they support Roku, without listing which models.
YouTube TV does list specific models it supports, but there is no indication if this applies to YouTube as well as YouTube TV. At this date (April 2, 2024) Roku 3 (models 4200x and 4230x) is still on the YouTube TV list but there is no indication of when this list was last updated.
In addition, YouTube is always frogging around with their code, and problems seem to come and go with great frequency.
Thanks makalguy for that information. I did not know there were different models of the Roku 3. Mine is a 4230R. I wonder what the "R" means? I wonder how much memory it has?
Does anyone have contact info for the Roku/YouTube development team? Maybe they don't even know there is a problem using YouTube on the Roku 3...
I found these specs for the 4230x models. At: https://developer.roku.com/docs/specs/hardware.md
Roku 3 Mustang 4230X ARM Cortex A9 dual core 1 GHz 512 MB OpenGL ES 2.0 1280X720 1920x1080, 60fps***
Hi, CableBoy I am using Roku 3. It streams well. I have a related question about the device though. It often bufferling when I started streaming a movie. Does that mean that adding in a MicroSD card will speed up the content launch? Is there a MicroSD Card slot on the RoKu3? If there is, what is the minimum storage size on the card is appropriate? Thank you! #Roku 3
