Features, settings & updates

[XT1]

Sincere apologies if your post was misunderstood. 

The reason some of us are so worked up is that Roku PR has made posts, and sent personal assurances, that they were about to fix the issue,  make the formatting a choice instead of a forced reconfiguration. "In the next update", they said.

Most of those posting on here relaxed when they said it. I know I did. I have been a very long time loyal Roku customer and was willing to be patient as they requested. 

A week or two later, an update was rolled out. I happened to be watching a program when it did. Suddenly, my Roku shuts down,  the screen turns black,  returns with a screen that said "Downloading Update". A moment later,  the home screen came on and I was thrilled to see it return to the original three tiles...... for about three minutes.

At that point, the screen flickered once more, and came back to life with the new configuration once again. 

I tried reaching out to customer service again,  tried replying to the folks that had stated this was going to be fixed.  All to no avail. I was completely ignored,  and I'm not the only one.

You are engaged enough in the Roku community to have taken the time and trouble to enter this conversation (about a configuration you say you don't have on any of your devices and that you simply "noticed" but "haven't really looked at or used")  You certainly must know that Roku has received a lot of complaints about these changes. 

You like the look and want the changes on your devices? Fine. 

We didn't like the look.  We don't want the changes. 

Make it an option? Sure. That's how you make it  an added value to the consumer, rather than a nuisance to people who bought the product because they liked it the way it was. Roku certainly could fix this for long time customers like those of us who reached out to them,  posted, were patient when they promised to fix it.  They simply haven't. This,  I contend,  is where the "drama" has come  from.

Search the community forums. There are a number of threads about this.  The people who have the feature forced on them do not like it. That's the overwhelming concensus. 

[Strega2]

It’s fairly common that most comments on a change, especially a surprise non-optional change, are negative.  I’m watching this on my email client right now.  They made significant changes (and are promising more, to make it look modern). I grumbled, then I took some time to work with it, and now I like it.  But there are some threads where people are just piling on top of each other about how awful it is.  One complaint started with: As someone who has maintained COBOL systems for 50 years…  And I just shrugged and scrolled on…

Plus, in this thread, there have been some people who liked it, but they got responses like the recent one questioning their authenticity.  Not too surprisingly (human nature), some people expressed their preference for the 4-column format, only after it was randomly removed on their Roku.

On a similar note, I’ve made no attempt to post in that email client thread, but if I did, I might mention that I’ve previously relied on two once popular email clients that became dated and were eventually dropped, so trying to keep up with the newer clients may not be so bad.  Likewise, I would have trouble counting how many versions of MS-DOS or Windows I’ve been told not to buy because of some awful change. (Often a “worthless” security improvement that stops something like Quicken Deluxe 1998 from running. Gee I don’t run a 25-year-old version of Quicken Deluxe, so maybe that security feature is fully acceptable to me.)

The world keeps moving on and unless some product wants to be remembered as that really cool thing that we used a couple of decades ago, they usually have to do some things to keep up.

But as I have said before, the randomized rollout of this with no option, and apparently not even informing the support staff ahead of it, seems pretty bad. 

[jakecentric]

Apology unnecessary but accepted.

I never questioned why people were worked up. I totally get it. I like the change but totally get that some don't. I've been a longtime Roku supporter too. From practically the beginning. I've had multiple streaming sticks, multiple boxes, and 7 Roku TVs total, including one I won in a TCL contest. Also in the beta program and I recommend Roku TVs to anyone I can. Personally, I'm excited to see something different. I love silly stuff like new screensavers so this is a cool change for me. Will I like it? Not sure yet, but I'm excited to do get my hands on it and take it for a spin. I was the same way with Dish Network...every time they updated the UI, I couldn't wait to get it. Which is why, in a forum full of people who have the 4 column and don't like it, I thought I would ask if they knew of a way to get the update. 

I had heard the change was coming, I saw it on a friend's device, and I asked if anyone knew of a way to get the update. You seem to be hung up on the fact that I don't have it yet and I "noticed" and "haven't really looked at or used" it...that's exactly why I wondered if anyone knew how to force the update. I WANT to try it. You got to try it and you don't like it. That's great. I WANT to try it and decide for myself. You seem really bothered that I like the change (from what I've seen so far) and I have a strong feeling that I will like the change after using it or, at the very least, be mildly bothered and not upset about the change. 

I actually didn't know that people didn't like the new configuration until I found this particular forum via a Google search. I read every single post to see if my question had already been answered, and I posted. I'm allowed to do that, even if my opinion differs from yours. In my eyes, it made sense to ask how to change the display from 3 columns to 4 in a forum asking how to change the display from 4 columns back to 3. 

You don't like the look and don't want the changes? Fine. Don't lash out at me about it because I do. 

The drama I referred to is not from Roku not immediately reverting a change that some people don't like (as we all know, forums consist of mostly complaining, not praising, so I wonder how many people DO like the change), the drama I referred to was your response to my post that wasn't parallel with yours.

I have searched the forums since posting. I have seen the threads. Again, I wonder if the complaints constitute a majority or a minority of users who have gotten the update. 

None of this changes the fact that said I liked the new look, that I wanted to try it, and I asked if anyone knew how I could go about doing so, which is not off-topic for this thread. Attacking me because I disagree with you is a waste of everyone's time, but you do you.

[renojim]

@jakecentric, I'm with you.  I don't know if I'll like it or not, but I'd like to see it.  Unlike the "On now", "Continue watching", "Consolidated TV inputs" and other "features" that I haven't seen, but know I won't like, this one is a maybe.  I don't know how Roku decides who to inflict pain upon.  I have at least one device that gets beta updates and doesn't have it leading me to believe it's not part of any beta test - they just force it on some users.

[XT1]

I think the limitations of written communication is giving you the sense I'm aiming my frustration at you,  JakeCentric. I'm not intending to make give you that feeling.  Again,  all apologies. 

The point of the dialog I am engaging in, in this forum,  is to continue to reiterate to ROKU support (who have repeatedly made it clear they read these threads) that they continue to have long time customers who are not happy. 

At this point, even I agree the point has been beaten into the ground. "Enough said", indeed. 

Like you,  the devices I have currently (11) are just scratching the surface of what I have purchased from Roku over the years. That should indicate the positive feelings I've had for the company in the past. I just wish that brand loyalty was respected enough to provoke them to provide some resolution. What a shame that it hasn't to this point. 

Griping on here,  for many of us,  has been a last resort after trying ad nauseum through the traditional processes. 

[atc98092]

@XT1 when even those of us that Roku has granted the "expert" status to are saying Roku botched this one up, that's a good indication they really should be making a concerted effort to resolve the situation. I wish I had some idea why Roku is letting this stagnate like they are, and I do feel bad for the community moderators here, because all they can do is repeat what is being told to them. They are in the dark about this as much as we are. 

I too have several Roku devices in the beta test group, and I've still not seen the 4x4 grid on any of my devices, beta or otherwise. And so far no OS build has added the menu to switch between 3x and 4x, as they keep promising. 

[jakecentric]

Understood! Definitely no hard feelings on my end. I hope you get the answers and solutions you're looking for eventually and I look forward to seeing where it all ends up! 

[Polkadot46]

I have 2 tv’s a LG and a JVC….I can change to 3 columns on the LG by going to settings and arrow down to Home Screen …arrow over to tile size.. and pick larger...you are now back to 3 columns…but on my JVC tv I don’t have a option yet…we’ll it’s a start

[atc98092]

@Polkadot46 LG does not and never has built a Roku TV. If you have Roku on your LG TV, you must have a Roku player connected to the TV via HDMI. 

[MikieAC]

@atc98092 - you are incorrect. In fact, LG does have a built-in ROKU, specifically, https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-55-class-54-6-diag--led-1080p-smart-hdtv-roku-tv/4529100.p?skuId=452....