Discussions

[d0n1]

Of course I watch netflix, hulu, disney and a few others on my roku TV so I can't set it up to be unconnected to wifi. 

I would like the opportunity to say NO to these updates that permanently change my TV and how I use it. Or I'd like a god **bleep** remote control with number buttons on it!!!! I have probably have 50 remotes around my7 house and they almost all have numbers. How frigging hard is it to put numbers on it so we can punch in the channels we want?!

[Visitor45763]

I agree. The hard reality is: this has been requested by enormous numbers of customers -- for years. It seems to be personal with someone in leadership. Their life's mission in life is to prove that we don't need numbers on a remote (nor a narrower list of favorite channels as a shortcut nor continuous up/down channel changing by holding the button down). Now, 1000+ streaming channels were added for you to practice this better way of watching tv channels. (In fairness, going to guide lets you continously scroll up/down channels, and then press enter on the one you want to be on. But, that begs the question: if people want to do that, why not just do it when they hold down that same button while watching a tv? It's like going to the refrigerator for a coke, then going back for a cookie. Why not get it both at the same time? Roku's already validated the heuristic of changing channels continuously. Now it's just a matter of where that activity best fits.).

 My point is: There's no reason to expect anything will change (if you were thinking it might). 

I think one pragmatic workaround is to spend $30 USD on a "digital tv tuner with hdmi output." (Sometimes called an "antenna tv dvr"). There's quite a few out there. I'm about to buy the three top-rated ones to compare. But, some of the lessor-reviewed boxes could be hidden gems. 

You could watch your antenna tv through an HDMI port. You'd have favorites, numeric remote, continuous channel changing. All the traditional stuff. You could also record antenna shows while Downsides would be using two remotes (a universal remote might solve that). Also, the guide is broadcasted info. I don't think it's as accurate or rich as an online guide, which Roku probably uses.).

I can't really say this will be perfect. I haven't seen one yet. But, I had two old DTV converters which worked very nicely/intuitively. I'm anticipating these will feel similar in how to interact with common tv watching habits. Not some bizarre reinvention.

[purrfectpatty]

I thought I'd buy a universal remote with numbers on it. A few said they'd work with a ROKU TV but in every case they specified that the channel buttons would NOT work!

[Visitor45763]

If you get one of the $30 settop box "digital tuner with HDML output DVR recorder" (not sure what the official name is), they have numeric keys. Then, I believe, if you buy a universal remote, you can operate both the RokU TV & external digital tuner with the same remote (with number keys). The universal remote would abstract that layer for you. You wouldn't care who's recognizing the number key presses.

The difference is that you'd have to chose an HDMI tile to watch your antenna tv. And, the guide info probably won't be as rich or reliable as Rokus. (But, then you can also record a broadcast show while watching streaming on your Roku tv. Better in some ways, worse in others.).

[ncguy68]

I have a Mediasonic HW130STB coming tomorrow.   Reviews I havr read seem to suggest they all have the same user interface.   The channel guides are very primitive and only load a few hours of data and not every channel broadcasts guide data. 

I have programmed a universal remote to control my TCL TV and I plan to use the learn feature to program the channel up/down buttons and numberic keys to control the Mediasonic. 

[Visitor45763]

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@ncguy68 wrote:

I have a Mediasonic HW130STB coming tomorrow. 

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I hope it's as good as I think it will be (based upon my old DTV converter boxes). I'm planning to get that one (or the 150), an iView 3500, and ViewTV AT-300. I just need to press the "place order" button. Maybe I'll wait & see your initial thoughts.

I only need two. But, I'd like to see how they compare.

[BourbonOwen]

@RokuDanny-R

please let it be known that we absolutely appreciate the compiling of streaming channels. However, it is a burden for it to be an all or nothing when combined OTA channels. The hide specific channel option with OTA should also be applied to streaming. Or minimally an easy return to OTA channels function when scrolling through streaming. Also let it be known that the adding of streaming channels has immensely bogged down the up/down channel changing. Ot is a little bit quicker to switch to channe guide in order to move to another channel.  

[PGB1]

I agree with others that the "Old Way" was much better & far easier to use than the "New Way".  Heck, my Recents list has a bunch-o-bunch of channels I've never clicked upon. And the not-recents are shuffled like a deck of cards. Crazy Complicated!

Also missed is the ability to go back past the current time in the Channel Guide.

Example- Using an antenna, at Noon, I watched a TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" on PBS Channel 23.11. At 7:00 pm, my wife watched Star Trek on MeTV channel 4.3. When done with Star Trek, she wanted to set the TV back to the channel upon which I watched the Beverly Hillbillies because she's a really considerate person. She can't because she can't remember what channel BH was on, nor can she go back to Noon & scroll up and down to find it.

Doing a Settings - Search didn't work- as it often does not lately. (Heck, I can be watching a show, then do a Settings - Search for it and no longer do the OTA (Over The Air = Antenna) choices show on the list. Only paid subscription channel ones show up- even though the show is on OTA TV right now.

I have to guess that Roku made these changes in order to increase profits. It's their right. But I think it may backfire. I bought our 1st Roku TV because Vizio & Samsung were hard to use and Roku had wonderful reviews of how easy it was to use. (It was) Well, that just went out the proverbial window!

I apologize for complaining, but perhaps if Roku sees how many customers are crabby & are potential losses, maybe they will put things back to the excellent way they already had them and still be able to make profits.

(PS: Look at their stock chart. They are doing a great job of making money- Price March 16, 2020 = 63.84. Price Close January 11, 2021 = 403.00. Roku knows how to generate profits.)

[mikeism]

If you buy a car because you like the feature set, and then you take the car in for service and they remove one of those features, you're going to be really irritated.  Correct?

Well that's essentially what Roku did by removing the 'Favorites' feature.  Then they made it worse by replacing it with a time-consuming multi-click process flow that makes customers switch between screens to view 'All Channels' or 'Recent Channels'.  You can't see 'All Channels' and 'Recent Channels' on the same view/screen.

Then they doubled down because the roll-out of 'Recent Channels' in the most recent update doesn't even work.  No OTA channels are listed in the 'Recent Channels' view and the streaming channels are not the ones that were most recently viewed.

Roku... put the Favorites back on the same screen with the OTA channels and streaming channels. Seriously.  You gotta be kidding me.  This is ridiculous. 

[PGB1]

From Mikeism:

If you buy a car because you like the feature set, and then you take the car in for service and they remove one of those features, you're going to be really irritated.  Correct?

Wow! You put in only 34 words the perfect summary! That should get the Roku decision makers' attention. 

Paul