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Wtfover
Binge Watcher

No longer allowed uncertified channels

I have been a Roku user/buyer forever, going back to the first Roku device in the mid 2000s, now there are not allowing uncertified channels,đź‘Ž?

Roku just jumped the shark, I will never buy another Roku or Roku enabled device. It sounds like it must be time to hunt new devices, maybe chrome, maybe Linksys… don’t know but time for research. 

i have been a loyal Roku user for **bleep** near 2 decades. I counted on them to keep things in mind with freedom of choice, but now sounds like Roku has gone woke.

This Country is not the country I defended. This is a slap in the face to all military people, and their sacrifices. This “woke” thinking is appalling, Freedom of choice is what made Roku great, I guess not anymore.

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22 REPLIES 22
DBDukes
Community Streaming Expert

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels


@Wtfover wrote:

I have been a Roku user/buyer forever, going back to the first Roku device in the mid 2000s, now there are not allowing uncertified channels,đź‘Ž?...


2008 isn't exactly "mid-2000s."


@Wtfover wrote:

... Roku just jumped the shark, I will never buy another Roku or Roku enabled device. It sounds like it must be time to hunt new devices, maybe chrome, maybe Linksys… don’t know but time for research. ...


It's always a good idea to see what other devices are and what they offer. Your best bets are Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast with Google TV, and Nvidia Shield. Others will recommend other devices, but these have worked the best for me.


@Wtfover wrote:

... i have been a loyal Roku user for **bleep** near 2 decades. I counted on them to keep things in mind with freedom of choice, but now sounds like Roku has gone woke. ...


There is nothing "woke" about enforcing limits on app on a closed platform. If you want to scream "woke" you're screaming at the wrong platform. Go yell at Google and Apple and Amazon.


@Wtfover wrote:

... This Country is not the country I defended. This is a slap in the face to all military people, and their sacrifices. This “woke” thinking is appalling, Freedom of choice is what made Roku great, I guess not anymore.


Don't you dare go there. I knew plenty of people during my time in the service that thought everybody owed them something. I had no use for anyone like that then, and I have no use for them today.

Since the draft was stopped -- and yes, I remember the draft, though I missed it by a year -- everyone who joined the service since then did so voluntarily. I considered it an honor to serve my country, and any obligation to me ended at ETS. Do not ever presume to speak for me or anyone who wore my country's uniform, and certainly don't use it because you got your panties in a wad over Roku enforcing rules that have been in place the whole time.

You made an improper assumption about Private/Non-certified Channels/apps. They still exist, by the way. Maybe not the ones you used because the developer never fully developed the app to standards. Non-certified apps (now called Beta, like everywhere else) can only exist for 120 days, in which time the developer should finish coding to standard. If not, it goes away. Roku is simply enforcing this rule. Nothing woke about that.

Now, you lost an app or two you used to  use? It happens. Some in the Channel Store disappear because the developer drops them. Beta apps are the same way, but they have a limited time to exist. It's up to the developer to follow the rules. Roku's simply enforcing the rules that have been there all along.

DBDukes
Roku Community Streaming Expert
Note: I am not a Roku employee.

If this post solves your problem please help others find this answer and click "Accept as Solution."

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Ello2022
Roku Guru

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

@Wtfover  I love when people go on a rant about things like this without having a clue what they speak of. Google is constantly removing apps from the PlayStore. Google removes extensions from the Chrome store. Apple has an extremely strict app policy. If I company wants to have there app/channel to be used on a certain platform then they need to obey the policies of that company. If channel developers did not obey Roku’s policies then they were released. It’s not an issue for Netflix, Disney or Time Warner. If you don’t obey to your employers policies what’s happens? Your fired. Any channel that is no longer in the Roku channel store isn’t a major streaming company to begin with. They are generic cheap (most free) channels that 90% of Roku owners don’t use 

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Ello2022
Roku Guru

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

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Wtfover
Binge Watcher

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

Sorry didn’t know this was the die hard Roku “fanboy” club. I know about Apple as most my devices are Apple, and why I never mentioned Apple. Also why I said it was time to do some research on other platforms, all platforms to find the least restrictive and most “open”.

 

it’s okay to talk about issues when companies change their policies.

also remember when Roku first came out we had to explain what it was to all our friends and family. So it wasn’t a “major platform” either. That’s how you become a major platform. 

 

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Wtfover
Binge Watcher

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

See you like to attack people, I don't understand that, I’m talking about a platform. That was built by the word of mouth of people, now restricting what people can and can’t do. 

if it wasn’t for the early adopters Roku wouldn’t be a thing. We told everyone about it, what it was. So no I won’t attack people, I will go after a company for betraying the people who helped build it. We sold our friends and families on the Roku. We are the reason they exist today.

thank you for your service, I always welcome comments and discussion from a fellow veteran. 

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Ello2022
Roku Guru

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

@Wtfover  No one is being a fanboy. But this is a Roku community. The point is your upset at Roku for removing some lame 3rd party channels the majority of Roku users don’t even watch. 90% of people who buy Roku products do it so the can stream Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, Prime, HBO Max, ESPN, Paramount+ and YouTube. Cord cutters such as myself who still want live tv use Roku for YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream or Hulu + Live TV.  That basically covers the vast majority or Roku users. The small percentage that want to use these so called unverified channels are the minority of Roku users

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Wtfover
Binge Watcher

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

That small percentage you talk about is what gave Roku it’s start, it was people like me with open minds looking for new and better options. When you close the door on innovation, you stop the little guy from being able to compete. You don’t start out “Disney” or “Netflix”(which I use to get the dvds before their streaming platform)

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Ello2022
Roku Guru

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

@Wtfover  Disney, Netflix, Prime, Hulu and other large companies pay the bills and keep businesses running. Bob Smith’s xyz channel doesn’t make any money. Sure maybe the xyz channel got things rolling but if Bob Smith couldn’t get his channel to be certified then it’s not Roku’s issue. It was you who’s post was filtered with a bleep and called Roku’s thinking Woke 

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Wtfover
Binge Watcher

Re: No longer allowed uncertified channels

Roku was once your “Bob smith” which they seem to have forgotten. 

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