Channels & viewing

[DBDukes]

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@kharrrisma wrote:

No "universal remote;" never use 'em.  Using original Roku controller that came with the Roku.  Channels are as I left them at power-off, and new ones are there on power up.  Stop pushing channels, Roku!

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The suggestion made about universal remotes touches on an important thing that can apply with Roku remotes as well. Even if the TV is off, the Roku is on. Roku devices don't turn off. And they can be running a screen saver. And some screen savers include ads for apps. And if you press OK or Play when the screen saver is active (even with the TV off; Roku is still on), you can launch the ad which will install the app.

It's been suggested to you before to add a PIN. You really should do that.

It's been explained to you before that while Roku has pushed apps before, it was years ago and they caught **bleep** over it, and stopped.

If you are getting what you think is ads pushed, that's not what's happening. There is something else going on, likely the suggestions made regarding screen savers (that's why I use clock; no ads). A PIN stops the screen saver ads from installing. Seriously, add a PIN.

[kharrrisma]

Appreciated, DB,

That seems likely to be happening.  My wife is a technophobe/luddite, and is careless with how she handles remotes, frequently dropping them and/or sitting on them.  Knowing this about the ads in the screensaver makes sense of an annoying situation.  I'm not likely to get her to use a PIN, so I'll be shifting the blame over to her and make her remove the channels in the future.  Maybe that will instill a degree of caution in her!

And to the person that suggested that "Roku doesn't make any money by running ads..."  *Nobody* makes money from running ads; the money comes from people responding to those ads and 'buying into them.'  And who says they're not?  Who's to say that Roku *isn't* being paid a fee to run those ads for the channel they're for?  Do you work for them?  How would you know?  That's not an assumption I'd make without some fact-checking first.

[atc98092]

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@kharrrisma wrote:

And to the person that suggested that "Roku doesn't make any money by running ads..."  *Nobody* makes money from running ads; the money comes from people responding to those ads and 'buying into them.'  And who says they're not?  Who's to say that Roku *isn't* being paid a fee to run those ads for the channel they're for?  Do you work for them?  How would you know?  That's not an assumption I'd make without some fact-checking first.

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I believe that was directed at me, but you didn't quote me accurately. I said nothing about ads. I said they don't make any money pushing a channel to a user's device. Sure, I suppose some company might pay them a few pennies to push out a channel, but as previously mentioned by others, Roku stopped doing that after a lot of negative feedback. Of course they make money on ads. That's the most significant revenue stream Roku has other than selling the hardware itself. 

[DBDukes]

@kharrrisma 

Note that she would only need the PIN if she were to try to add an app or make a purchase. Otherwise, she'd never know it's there. And if it did pop up, you'd know that she did something that caused it. If I was in a similar situation with one of my family members, I'd tell them it's a feature that stops apps from being added, and to simply hit the Home button and start over. But what would work for my family members may not be the way to go with yours. You would be the best judge of that.

[andyross]

The best fix would be to NOT use 3rd party "free" screensavers. Just stick with the stock Roku screensavers. Or better, just disable it entirely. You can set the screensaver time to never activate if you want.

[makaiguy]

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@andyross wrote:

Just stick with the stock Roku screensavers.

Some (all?) of the Roku-produced screen savers that scroll horizontally across the screen contain ads for various channels. If you exit such a screen saver by pushing the Select or Play/Pause keys you may activate a channel that happens to be featured on that part of the scrolling screensaver, which will then be installed if you don't have it already.

[renojim]

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@makaiguy wrote:
If you exit such a screen saver by pushing the Select or Pay/Pause keys ...

I'm sure that was unintentional, but I like it! 😂

[makaiguy]

I just noticed that and fixed it.  But made me chuckle too.