Channels & viewing

[DBDukes]

@kothvos 

What you described is the OK button stops the screen saver then performs the OK action. I don't think that's what is happening.

When the screen saver is black -- that's because of a user setting, by the way; mine never blacks -- the screen saver is still running, but not displaying on the screen.

You are saying that OK unblacks the screen, stops the screen saver, then does the OK action on the focus item. That's not what's going on.

The screen saver is running the whole time. The screen is black because, as I said, the user settings are that way (mine doesn't black because I told it to not black). The OK button works the same with a dark screen as with a screen-saver-visible screen. Exactly the same.

Blacking the screen does not re-map the remote keys to simply un-black the screen. The keys work regardless of what's showing on the screen. Turning off the TV/monitor is the same way. And maybe that's a better way of looking at it.

Apart from remapping the keys during black screen, I'm not sure what else Roku could do. Is that a design flaw of the Roku OS? Maybe. But I suspect that's the same flaw in Fire TV and Apple TV. (Well, maybe not Apple, as it's based on BSD while Fire and Roku are based on a Linux kernel.)

This ties in with a totally different topic. I never use anything but Home to awaken a Roku from screen saver. Same with Apple TV. Same with Fire TV. That's how I use them all.

I also use the Home button to exit apps. I'd wager a guess that those that get confused by this screen saver thingy also use Back buttons or look for a Quit/Exit item on a menu to quit an app. I've always used Home to exit any app. Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, all of them.

Different people use things in different ways. Not saying you're wrong in what your asking. Just saying it might not be something simple if it's an operating system function, particularly if it's at the kernel. That's a pretty big change.

[Lbarn]

Thanks for describing the situation in a technical way as it is not easy to describe. ROKU is without excuse and can’t use the stupid design/we didn’t know any better as reasons. They have known about this for a long time and have done nothing…the reason is likely because channels pay them too be dumped onto our tvs when we’re not paying attention. They won’t get that opportunity with me once my Roku burns out. Speak with your dollars. 

[kothvos]

That while the OK button should simply awake the screen, it instead initiates a download. For me, the screen wakes up when the downloading notification appears. I do not want to disable the dark screen, as i sleep with my tv on frequently. Please, please, just genuinely read before you reply. This is a problem, and should be fixed. This is poor design, and clearly not well thought out. 

[Strega]

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@kothvos wrote:
This is a problem, and should be fixed.

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I agree that the problem should be fixed, so I fixed it.  As mentioned earlier in the thread, I selected a screen saver with no ads (I chose the Roku digital clock.)  Not that that’s the only way to fix It of course.  Disabling the screen saver, and learning which button to press to awaken without a download are also options, but I went with one of the other included screen savers. I made that fix around 6 years or so ago, so you can hold out for someone else to possibly fix something to your liking, but while you wait, you might want to fix it yourself.

[fasteddy106]

What Roku does try to do is add channels without letting you know what the channel is in advance.  These channels invariably are commercial ones who have obviously paid off Roku to promote their stuff. Roku should add a feature to disable this irritating practice.  It's almost as bad as how it returns to home page if you pause a show long enough to make a sandwich and then you have to struggle to retrieve the channel through a maze of advertising **bleep**.  

[Dondep]

The problem is worse since Roku went Orwellian and started censoring content; I leave a video paused, come back a half-hour later and no matter what I do, the Roku tries to open an existing channel (usually the Roku channel or Tubi channel, neither of which I watch nor does my significant other) OR add a channel (Disney, Sling, etc). I figured out that if I merely hit the Play button, it will assume I am clicking on a hyperlinked 'billboard' on the Roku cityscape screensaver that's advertising a show or channel. So I can't hit Play. Even if I hit the Home button, or the Okay button, it still does the same thing. Extremely irritating. I've gone through all the settings (there IS NO 'Parental Controls' option under Settings>System) and googled the issue to try to figure a solution, but even here on this forum I haven't seen one yet that works. Usually I have to keep hitting the Home button several times to get it to stop loading the unwanted channel, or adding the unwanted channel, but there really should be a method for turning that feature off so that it will only take you to where you specifically want to go. If it cannot resume from pause, it should give us the home screen where we can go back to the channel we were watching and resume. One thing that has resulted is I have picked up a Chromecast and I'm using that, but I'd rather have a real solution to this issue so I don't have to leave the Roku platform. 

[renojim]

@Dondep, have you thought about changing to a screensaver that doesn't advertise other channels?  The Home button should be ok, but definitely don't hit Play or OK while the screesaver is active.  The first button pressed is ignored and only serves to dismiss the screensaver (or install an unwanted channel), so there's no reason to Play or OK.  Play isn't going to start your video again when any screensaver is active.

[audrey1234]

Roku adds channels often. I used to think that it was due to me pressing the wrong button at some point, but this last time it did it on it's own.

I was no were near the tv, remote, or my cell; and happened to walk past the tv when it added Pluto. No one else was in the house and we only have the one devise. 

When uninstalling Pluto I saw 3 other channels I know I did not add.

How do I disable this annoying auto adding of channels? 

[Charitysmama]

Make ur home screen the plain clock (steering wheel) one, find it under settings - theme.  I did that and it seems to have solved my problem.  Someone also said to wake ur unit up by pressing the home button on the remote.  I have been pressing the forward button without a problem, b/c I often put a program n hold for a while and want to come back to it. Sometimes my program is still on, but sometimes I have to go to "history" to finish watching it, irritating, I also cover the 2 bottom rows on my remote, Netflix, etc., with cardboard so I don't accidentally hit them

[audrey1234]

Thanks, I did read about changing your screensaver in another forum, and I'm giving it a try.