Forum Discussion

MSebring1's avatar
MSebring1
Binge Watcher
30 days ago

Added apps missing on the Roku Home screen

We have two Roku devices connected to two different TVs, and they share the same Roku account.
Sometimes when I add an app on one of the devices, it also adds it to the other device but it does not add it to the other device's home screen.

For example, today I added "Plex", "The Roku Channel", and "Tubi" to one of our devices and positioned them where I wanted them on the home screen. Then I went to the other TV to position them where I wanted them and found that only "Tubi" had been added to the home screen.
I tried using the Streaming Store  and Search options to add "Plex" and "The Roku Channel" to the second device but I got the "Open app" option instead of the "Add app" option, indicating that the app had already been added. They just weren't being displayed on the home screen.

So, I went to the first device (the one I had originally added them on) and removed "Plex" and "The Roku Channel", and then added them on the second device. And the same thing happened. They showed up on the second device's home screen but not on the first, and I was unable to add them to the first device ("Open app" instead of "Add app" in the Streaming Store) because they had already been added.

In both cases I tried doing a system restart on the device where the apps were not showing up on the home screen, but it had no effect.

home screen

17 Replies

  • MSebring1's avatar
    MSebring1
    Binge Watcher
    8 days ago

    Never mind.
    "Acorn TV" eventually showed up on our home screens.
    It just didn't show up as soon as I had expected it to.

  • MSebring1's avatar
    MSebring1
    Binge Watcher
    8 days ago

    I just added "Acorn TV" using Roku.com on my internet browser (expecting it to show up on our home screens like "Plex" did before) but it didn't show up on the home screen of either of our devices. The app is available on both devices. (If we use the search option to find it, we can open the app.) It just doesn't show up on the home screens.

    This is totally unacceptable. I just got this app because I knew my wife would like it,
    but she's not going to want to use the search option to find it every time she wants
    to watch it.

  • MSebring1's avatar
    MSebring1
    Binge Watcher
    22 days ago

    I deleted Plex on my 14.5 device. It was also removed from the home screen of my 14.6 device.
    Then I added Plex on my 14.5 device again. Not only did it show up on my 14.6 device's home screen. It showed up in the same place it had previously been instead of at the bottom of the list.

    I wondered about this before. When the problem originally occurred I had added Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Plex to my 14.5 device, and only Tubi showed up on my 14.6 device's home screen.
    The difference is I had just removed Tubi a week or two before. (The Roku Channel and Plex have also been on both devices in the past, but I'm pretty sure I had removed them at least a year ago.)

    • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
      RokuEmmanuel-D
      Community Moderator
      22 days ago

      Thanks for the update, MSebring1​!

      It's great to know that the apps added appeared on the second Roku device. We'll inform the team about this. Thanks again for doing the steps!

      Roku Community Team

      • MSebring1's avatar
        MSebring1
        Binge Watcher
        21 days ago

        I had thought what you were getting at was whether an app that was added on one device gets added to the other device's home screen has something to do with whether that app had been recently removed, and I believe I have proved that that is the case.

        I originally noticed the problem when I added "Tubi", "The Roku Channel", and "Plex" using my 14.5 device. "Tubi" (which I had recently removed) showed up on the 14.6 device's home screen, but the other two (which had not been recently removed) did not.

        Today I removed "Plex" using my 14.5 device and verified that it got removed from the 14.6 device's home screen (so just like "Tubi" before, it was an app that had been recently removed). When I added "Plex" again using my 14.5 device, it not only showed up on the 14.6 device's home screen, it showed up in the same position it was in before it was removed instead of at the bottom of the list. (I am not sure if "Tubi" did that when I added it before but I think it did.)

        I just did another test. I added "Fawesome" (an app I have never added before) using my 14.5 device. Just like "The Roku Channel" and "Plex" when I had the original problem, it did not show up on the 14.6 device's home screen though the app was added there. (When I searched for it to try to add it on the 14.6 device, I got the "open app" option instead of the "add app" option, indicating that it was already added. It was just not showing up on the home screen.)

        So, in both cases (my original problem and today's test) when I re-added an app that had been recently removed using my 14.5 device ("Tubi" originally, "Plex" today), it showed up on the home screen of the 14.6 device, but when I added an app that had not been recently removed using my 14.5 device ("The Roku Channel" and "Plex" originally, "Fawesome" today), it did not show up on the home screen of my 14.6 device.

        Also (this may not have anything to do with this problem), whenever I do a system restart on the 14.6 device, the Roku City app shows up momentarily as the first app on my home screen and then disappears. (I don't use the Roku City screensaver anymore and I have never installed that app. It was one of various apps that were magically installed by the Roku City screensaver a couple of times and both times I removed it. That is why I stopped using that screensaver.)

  • RokuEmmanuel-D's avatar
    RokuEmmanuel-D
    Community Moderator
    22 days ago

    Hey, MSebring1​.

    Just a little update from the team. Can we try deleting an app from one of your Roku devices and adding it also from there, and see if the added app appears on the second Roku device?

    Please let us know what you find!

    Roku Community Team

  • RokuSuzetteL's avatar
    RokuSuzetteL
    Community Moderator
    29 days ago

    Hey, MSebring1 

    Thank you for posting!

    I see that you're having issues with apps not appearing on one of your Roku devices when trying to add them to another device. 

    Here's a quick fix that I suggest you try: 

    Press the home button on your Roku remote > Scroll and select Settings> Select System> Select Software update> Select Check Now to manually check for updates. Then, remove the app through the Roku Mobile app, and add it again from there. 

    Please let me know how it goes!

    Roku Community Team 

    • MSebring1's avatar
      MSebring1
      Binge Watcher
      29 days ago

      The first thing you said made sense.
      I checked for software updates on both devices and they both said I was up to date.
      However, I noticed that the first one said I was at Software version 14.5.4 Build 5944,
      and the other said I was at Software version 14.6.4 Build 9911.

      The second thing you said makes no sense at all. Are you saying that in order to remove and add apps for our Roku devices we need to use an app on an iOS or Android device?
      First of all, I don't have an iOS or Android device, and secondly, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the add and remove app process on the Roku device itself to work correctly.

      I just did another test. I removed the two apps I had previously added ("Plex" and "The Roku Channel") from my first device again, then did a system restart on both devices, then added just "Plex". It was added to the home screen of the first device but not the second. I tried doing a system restart on the second device again but it had no effect. But, I did notice one unusual thing. When I do a system restart on the second device, the Roku City app shows up as the first app on my home screen for a moment and then disappears. (I used to use the Roku City screensaver but replaced it with Aquatic Life not long ago.)

      I am going to try removing "Plex" from my first device again, and then adding it from Roku.com to see what effect that has.

      • MSebring1's avatar
        MSebring1
        Binge Watcher
        29 days ago

        I just added "Plex" and "The Roku Channel" from Roku.com and they showed up on the home screens of both devices.

        What this means is: If you add an app using the channel store on Roku.com, it gets added to the home screens of all of your devices, but if you add an app using a Roku device, it may or may not show up on the home screens of your other devices.