Discussions

[lschopf]

I just ordered a roku voice activated remote.  $20 on amazon.  I did a little research & it's supposed to work the same as the app.  I'm just not a big fan of using my phone as a remote.  loading he app, having to type the security code to unlock he screen each time i want to change a channel.  just as annoying as not having favorites.  it is a nice feature to be able to say find channel 4.1 or whatever & it goes right to the show you want to watch... 

[KBMcFarland]

We're  not fond of the roku onscreen TV guide. Before we purchased a smart TV we used the titantv.com website tv guide and still use it. We purchased our first smart tv in Dec. a 40" tcl roku tv due to reviews. We are very disappointed in the inability to easily go to the ota antenna tv channels we regularly watch because roku did away with the favorites and the recent channels won't show ota channels. The remote is also ridiculous with it's lack of numbers and preset, premium channel buttons. 

[cwcheese]

TitanTV.com is a very good website guide for TV stations, and you can set up cable lineups as well in the event you subscribe to a cable provider.

[cwcheese]

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@IK wrote:

To be fair, one positive feature of this change is that when you go to the channel guide and use the up and down arrows to switch, you can scroll speedily though the channels on the listing, much more rapidly than before when it just stepped through the channels one at a time.

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The FF/RW buttons also work to walk through the guide as a page-up page-down kind of function

[lschopf]

I agree with that.  It is much faster to scroll through the guide than to just scroll through the channels.  Plus you may find something else you may want to watch that you didn't know was on.  I do like the voice remote on the app but hate using my phone as a remote.  My voice remote is supposed to be arriving tomorrow.  

[lschopf]

my voice activated remote came today.  well worth the $20.  does exactly what i want.   it works just the same as the app - without the screen locking, having input the security code, refreshing the app, reconnecting to the tv - just to change the channel.  it paired immediately to my hisense tv.  best thing is i can hold down the microphone button & say "find channel 4.1" or whatever channel i want to watch & it goes right there.  i switch between programs sometimes & it was so easy to arrow when the channels were right next to each other..  voice changing is just as easy.  if you try to find the program by name it tends to leave Live TV & go to streaming services that have it.  "find channel no." keeps it in live TV "put on channel no." also works.. i couldn't find anyone that said clearly what i just said when i was researching to see if the voice activated remote works as i wanted it to, so i hope that can help someone else who has been frustrated with the removal of channel favorites if they are deciding to upgrade remotes.   the voice activated remote is definitely worth it.  

[JPishion]

There's an old saying that you don't fix what isn't broken but Roku is seem to wanted to do that. You removed the favorites that are most commonly watched by a household which was always on top of the guide.  This was such a convenience for those of us who have a number of channels that we faithfully watch. Now Roku has made it very difficult. I saw an answer that says you can use the recent channels option but that requires you to take more steps and you have to redo it every time you turn back on the TV. That is such a waste and doesn't seem to be user friendly. You already had the favorite set up to be on the top of the guide so it would be nice if you listen to your customers and subscribers and return something that was never broken and then give us far inferior.

[mikeism]

 @JPishion is spot on.

When a customer selects 'Live TV'...     'Favorites' and/or most recently viewed channels should be right there without the ridiculous requirement of more button presses.  Bring back Favorites on the main Live TV view.  'Recent Channels' is a bad idea. and to make it worse, it's broken... there are no OTA channels listed.

[Visitor45763]

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@mikeism wrote:

'Recent Channels' is a bad idea. and to make it worse, it's broken... there are no OTA channels listed.

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To make it even worse: there's not been the slightest indication Roku's leadership thinks "recents" is a bad idea, nor even broken (or that there's anything wrong with pushing obviously untested updates.).

IMO, loss of favorites & broken recents is the least of a customer's concern. We should be contemplating what they're working on now. (Bohica TV!)

Yesterday. I factory reset one of my Roku TVs, but told the setup I would connect to the internet later (as in never). The Antenna TV works so much nicer now. I don't think I'm going back to Roku's Mad Hatter ride. I'm ordering a $22 USD Amazon Firestick Lite for what little streaming I do. I feel like my life will be simpler this way. So far it feels good to cut the cord with Roku. Maybe I'll feel differently about it when I actually use the Firestick (two remotes, etc.). I'm planning to get a URC-7935 universal learning remote. (If the tv supported number keys, I'd get the 7880. But, that seems pointless for a Roku TV and Amazon Firestick.

[lschopf]

FYI Amazon firestick remotes are known to freeze up & not function.  I have one on an older non roku tv.  the remote never worked & when i was researching the problem it seems to be a known issue that frustrates people as much as the loss of favorites on roku...  the phone app does work for firestick ok so i've used that.  it's on an older tv that i don't use much so i'm ok with the phone app to start up a movie or something that's streaming on the firestick.  you will probably find that other remote you're getting very useful for your firestick.