Features, settings & updates

[CliffsideJim]

Not only does Photo Streams not work on my TV but everything I read here and online elsewhere bears little relationship to how my TV works.

I have uploaded photos.  I have linked my google photos account.   In the online app it says I have 22 streams.   I have gone to Screen Saver on my TV (which, by the way, was not where various instructions say it should be, but rather was buried under Settings>Themes), I have chosen Photo Streams as my screensaver.     But all I see when I preview Photo Streams or when I let the TV go naturally to screen saver is a beach (not a photo I uploaded), another beach (not a photo I uploaded) and a forest (also not a photo I uploaded) endlessly alternating among the 3 canned photos.

Here is an example of impossible (for me) instructions gleaned from this forum;

"

@lilliames @tfarner7

Thanks for the posts.

Try removing the channel from the Roku home screen by navigating to the channel tile, pressing the * key on your remote and choosing 'Remove channel'. Then restart your device from Settings>System>System restart. Once your player starts up again, add the channel back once more. 

Does this clear up the issue you are seeing? Please keep us posted what you find out.

Thanks,
Danny

Danny R.
Roku Community Moderator

I say impossible because when I go to the Photo Streams tile and hit * I am not presented with the option to remove the channel.  So, how do I remove the channel?   (Maybe not important because another poster was able to remove the channel and reinstall it and it did not help them.)

I tried calling customer service.   All I got was robots and eventually, a robot that just said something like "we don't help with that" and hung up on me.

This is terrible customer support!   A feature that does not work.   "Support" that advises doing things that are not doable, and that apparently don't help anyway.  And a customer service number staffed by rude unhelpful robots.

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @CliffsideJim,

Thank you for posting here in the Roku Community!
We wanted to earn back your trust and apologize for the inconvenience. Since your photostream is not displaying the photo you have picked, we wanted to collect further information to look into this matter. Could you tell us what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far?

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks,

John

[CliffsideJim]

I am not sure what you mean by troubleshooting Steps. I have just linked my account to my Google Photos account and uploaded some photos from my phone in addition and I have selected photo streams as my screensaver. I have turned the TV off and on and I have deleted photos and brought it back. I have verified through the web interface that my photos have indeed been uploaded in my Google Photos account has indeed been linked. I have verified through the web interface that I have many photo streams in place. I can't think of anything else I have done that you might call troubleshooting.

[renojim]

@CliffsideJim, 22 streams?  The website says you can have up to 10 with 100 photos in each stream.

How to use Photo Streams on your Roku® streaming device | Official Roku Support

[CliffsideJim]

I'd be happy with one that worked.   

22 streams wasn't my idea.   I just followed instructions.  Those 22 streams were created by the website, not me.

There are many things on the website, on the TV and on the forums that just aren't apparently true.

[ginfay]

I think I figured this out.  It took me way longer than it should have.  If you are signed up on the Roku to an account, you have to sign out of it and then into the account of your stream.  A friend gave me a Roku stick and I tried to get Photostream to work but it wouldn't work because it was still under his account.  Roku does not make it easy to sign out of an account so I had to reset the Roku stick to factory default.  Once I reset it to factory default and signed in with my own Roku account, I was able to stream easily.  

To see which account is signed in, go to Settings > System > About > at the top, you will see an email address.

I could not find a way to sign out of the account so I just went to Settings > System > Advanced System Settings and did a Factory Reset.  

[renojim]

@ginfay, there's no way to sign out of a Roku account on a Roku device.  The factory reset is the only way to switch the account of the Roku device.

Using a Roku device that isn't linked to one's own account isn't something most here would thing to ask about.  It's just assumed.

[ginfay]

I was given the Roku stick from a family member so that's how I inherited the Roku.  I'm sure others on here might have been given their Roku stick or maybe bought it on eBay or something.  The first thing Roku should suggest, if there's an issue, is to reset the Roku stick back to default before using the Photostream.