Channels & viewing

[UnvaluedCstmr]

And it is my choice to spend my money elsewhere.

[makaiguy]

This has nothing to do with morals, or lack thereof.  Roku is shutting down support for ALL uncertified channels, often referred to as "private" channels (i.e. those not in the official Roku channel store).

[rollmebacknow]

This is one of the most disappointing things I've experienced this year. < Try owning a new Roku TV that's had Sound Levelling/Night Mode removed from it by the upgrade, automatic rollback (lol!), and upgrade again to 10.5. 

They've boned me twice now: removing features from the TV I just bought and the channels I like to use. Thrice actually: the menu navigation changed between 10/10.5 and it SUCKS SO MUCH now. Third time's the charm.

Roku should understand anything that removes features instead of improving or adding them will be abandoned by the users and burns any brand cache they had with the ones affected. Naturally they don't seem to care. 

[DBDukes]

@rollmebacknow 

The private channel functionality was never to allow any app to be there long-term. It was a place for developers to allow users to use their apps while they polished them for public release. The fact that others decided to misuse the functionality does not mean that it was how it was to be used. Abuse of functionality does not change the intent nor any rules or guidelines around functionality.

Roku is not doing away with the functionality as intended. But, because of the abuse of the system by developers, Roku is cracking down on things. They are wiping away the mess that it has become, and starting anew, with a new name for it that more accurately reflects the original intent. They are enforcing both a time limit (120 days) and a user base (20 users) for development. That's what is changing.

Here's an analogy you won't like. Imagine it's Halloween and you have a nice house, a nice yard, and some really good candy set aside for Trick or Treaters. You have good stuff. Not those tiny candies like you find at Dollar Tree, but full size Snickers bars. Really good stuff. You tell the Trick or Treaters they can have one. One. But some take more than one. Word gets around the neighborhood and more and more come by and take more than one. Some take a handful.

Now, the next year, they come back. And the next. And the next. They're grown, bringing their own kids now, and not only do their kids take full size Snickers bars, they take them too. Handfuls.

Years have gone by, these people have abused your Halloween candy policy for all these years. Finally, you say, "Enough." And you put a stop to it. Maybe you even go so far as to buy Snickers Minis. Or switch to Jolly Ranchers. And the next Halloween, these Trick or Treaters stand in your yard and yell at you for being mean.

I'm not the guy in the house. I'm certainly not the folks in the yard. I'm the one driving by, seeing the commotion, finding out what's going on, and thinking that if this was my house, I'd be turning on the sprinklers right about now.

[fredneck]

I'll take your analogy and raise you one.

Imagine that you bought a car. One of the cool things about the car is it comes with a radio that lets you tune in and listen to any radio station you want. After owning this car for many years, now comes an update to the radio by the car manufacturer. Suddenly now you can only listen to limited channels they approve of. Many of your favorite radio channels you once enjoyed in your car are suddenly no longer there. All the while, your friends that bought a different cars continue to listen to any stations they want. Next time it comes to buying a car, will you buy the same car, or go with one like your friend's own?

[DBDukes]

@fredneck 

Please, understand, I get where you're coming from. You've been around here a while. You have a full understanding of what's going on. Your conclusion is different than mine about this, but I can respect that you've reached it with a full understanding of the facts. None of what I've posted to others is new information to you. But, it is to others, and as I said, my conclusion is different than yours.

You see it as functionality that was given, then taken away. I see it as functionality that was abused, and now reigned in. Both of our views are based on being in the Roku environment for years, but we don't see eye to eye on this.

The good part of this is that you are speaking from knowledge, rather than emotion. I do hope Roku pays attention to your perspective. And if they change the policy to be less restrictive than what is currently planned, then great.

Personally, I think the 20 user limit is way too small, but I have no problem with the 120-day limit. And I think Roku (and other companies) should do a better job of explaining why certain apps fail to meet standards. That is one of the biggest problems developers encounter when apps are rejected from whatever platform.

But, the place for the developer to pursue that is in the developer area, not riling up the town-folk to gather their torches and pitchforks and storm the castle with lies and half-truths. VidAngel and PornHub are two peas in a pod in my eye. Their content is vastly different, but their practices are very similar, and not very good.

Your point, your conclusion, is valid, because you've put thought into it from a perspective of knowledge. And while different than mine, should be considered by Roku.

[Anonymous]

I have been a Roku user from the very beginning of their existence.  I have purchased more than 20 devices over the years, and I have 8 of them in use right now.

Roku's decision to remove the uncertified channels has the net effect of removing adult content.  I am not arguing the censorship angle - although that is certainly a valid concern.

More so I am pointing out that without this content available to me the Roku is not useable for what I want to do and as a result I will be deleting my Roku account, replacing all of the Roku devices with something else and putting an end to my time with Roku.

Shame.  You lost a long-term customer Roku.

Not too late to reconsider - if you suspend this move I will continue with you folks.  If not - I am done with Roku.

[DBDukes]

@Anonymous 

Have you seen the new guidelines for channel certification? Have you noticed there is a place to list an app as "Adult?"

Does that change your perspective on things?

[andyross]

Given that probably 99.9% of Roku users probably don't even know about "private channels", your loss will be a speck of dust to them.

For more details, this video does a good job of explaining what is going on:

https://youtu.be/WeSQBn9LEB0 

[andyross]

Watch this:

https://youtu.be/WeSQBn9LEB0