Features, settings & updates

[JCG75]

@AvsGunnar  The only extra click I ended up making was the one that purchased my Google TV from Hisense that will be arriving at my house on Friday.

This is the 3rd or 4th major screwup from you guys in the last few years and it's clear you no longer care about your users at all. I'm ending over a decade of Roku use because you've abandoned providing a good, clean user experience for cramming as much **bleep** as possible on the screen and literally making it take several extra steps to do simple things like get to your favorites in the live guide.

Every single person responsible for this **bleep** should be fired.

[toddar]

A lot of us just want to click back to recents/favorites and go where we want to go.  But Roku is forcing THEIR suggestions on us.  They don't care what we want.

Think I'll try fire stick can't be any worse.

[AvsGunnar]

I'm actually wondering if you have to watch a bit of the Roku Channel LiveTV for the above recommendations to reflect/populate to your interests.

Then ten above me are the channels I watch most often (or at least have watched when troubleshooting user issues).

I understand some posting here are opposed to any change at all, but adding some content suggestions to the top of the Guide seems to be pretty innocuous to me.  I was around when Roku tried to remove the channel numbers from the Guide. (without an option to show them).

What was learned from the channel number removal fiasco is that Roku does listen to user feedback. (not immediately, but may tailor future fixes/options from user suggestions).

[JCG75]

@AvsGunnarI watch a ton of live TV. I NEVER watch the Roku FAST channels. None of them interest me compared to their competitors. Literally every suggestion in that stupid row is a channel I don't watch and have literally never watched.

On top of that, it's not innocuous to have the left click that used to bring us directly to the guide now force us to click down afterwards, EVERY SINGLE TIME, just to change channels or browse the listings.

It's a garbage move done by people trying to justify their employment and it is the final straw in stupid changes that is an obvious negative to anyone who actually watches live TV.

Worst of all, the redesign has forced the Favorites option down the list to the point that it takes 4-5 clicks to get there and apparently the option to default to Favorites is gone. What's the point of having a Favorites list if it takes that long to get to it?

[AvsGunnar]

@JCG75 

The Favorites should definitely be moved up the list right near the All Channels and Recents.  Roku has been pretty tone-deaf on the Favorites for awhile.

When the Guide was initially redesigned, Favorites was always selected.  But then users complained they had to exit the Favorites to get to All Channels.  Roku basically threw their hands up, made it go to All Channel by default and Favorites for some reason has been getting bumped further down the list and harder to access.

I also watch alot of Pluto also and their Guide went from easy to use to a bit overwhelming if you haven't used it in awhile. (a lot of clicking on that one to watch something).

I have a feeling that many of the developers are not really Live TV watchers though.  I kind of think they just steal ideas from each other's guide and don't consider existing users.  New users won't know the previous behavior so will just learn where everything is.

[easytodobetter]

Plex Live TV is honestly a better option.

You STAY in your category as you browse it! Looking at favorites? It stays there.

There are many of the same channels as Roku, meaning it's literally just as good.

The guide actually works and wasn't made by complete morons who don't use the software they're developing.

I can't possibly speak any more poorly about Roku's development of this app, but as someone with experience managing such projects I believe most of their employees should be fired. They're not developing, they're not going through the process of refining their software for the customers needs, they're just throwing stuff at a wall. It's embarrassing and amatueur.

Honestly, I could easily do a better job managing the entire project than whoever currently is, just fire them.

It takes 7 clicks, SEVEN, to get back to my favorites, and then I have to scroll down past where I'm currently at. That is unforgivably terrible. I should press one button and see the section I was browsing until I've gone through all of those channels.

This is such easy stuff, it's appalling Roku can't handle it, they must have the most incompetent HR people who are terrible at hiring and can't tell when someone is a good dev or not.

To anyone in management who reads this: People need to be fired over this, I am not overreacting, I'm a project manager.

[easytodobetter]

I switched to Plex Live TV and the Guide is nearly perfect.

It's free, on basically any streaming device. No purchasing a new stick or anything.

They have many of the same channels.

The guide stays in Favorites or wherever you are.

It just works!

Everyone, let's switch!

Maybe then Roku will see people need to be fired over this. This is an inexcusable mistake, that makes using their guide worse in every way, not even showing me channels I watch.

[JCG75]

Google TV's live guide works as well. I got one of the $20 4k streaming boxes to try it out, and it integrates all the FAST streamers you have into categories while also having a separate tab for your antenna channels. You can select favorites from any of those sources to be displayed at the top of the live guide.

Not all TVs with Google TV integrated have the antenna option, so I grabbed one that the reviews say does. Can't wait to try it out because just a few days of using the Google TV interface showed me it is light years ahead of Roku's current UI in all categories, not just live guide.

[DJHawk]

"adding some content suggestions to the top of the Guide seems to be pretty innocuous to me."

Except it's not innocuous, it's extra steps that are completely unnecessary. The GUIDE button should simply take us to the TV guide where we left off last. Especially since there are no numbered buttons on these remotes. We can choose to click UP to their menu if they want to leave their banner, but the guide button should actually be the guide as it was when I purchased these Roku TV's. I find it archaic, irritating, and completely useless.

[TexanLee]

From all I have read, this new feature on the top of the screen is not a welcome addition. I, for one, completely agree with the other posters, this was not a good enhancement. 

The big question that I am certain others have, how do we disable this "viewing enhancement" feature???