Remotes

[Sr_Will]

I have a Roku Ultra - I am new to Roku.

I wonder how to turn off the Roku unit when I press the power button on its remote.  I read on several other posts that Roku devices don't turn off.  Running my Roku Ultra takes a lot out of my bandwidth and I would like the unit off when it's not in use to save resources. 

Suggestions please..,

[AvsGunnar · Accepted solution]

@Sr_Will 

The most important thing to do is remembering to press the "Home" button on the Roku device when you are finished streaming.  This will return you to the Home Screen and stop all streaming (bandwidth usage).

You can also enable "Bandwidth Saver" under Settings/Network/Bandwidth Saver/ [On] that will automatically stop streaming after 4hrs if there has been no interaction with the device for awhile.

The Power button is simply a "TV control".  It turns on/off the TV and has no effect on the Roku device.

Just press Home when you are finished streaming.  The Roku device should eventually go into a sleep mode.  To resume streaming next time (after the device has gone to sleep), press the Home button to wake it up.

[Sr_Will]

Thanks! 

That explains things...

[RokuJharra-Q · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sr_Will, Greetings here in the Roku Community!

Thanks a lot for bringing this issue to our attention. Your input means a lot to us. I just wanted to add our Roku expert's response. You can visit our support page for detailed guidance on enabling the bandwidth saver and How to set up your Roku voice remote to control your TV.

Please let us know if the issue is fixed or reply to the thread for further assistance. We will be glad to help you.

Best regards,
Jharra

[NigelPound-Sand]

I just installed an Ultra 4k (replacing an older Ultra) and notice that Youtube and YoutubeTV appear to continue streaming when I exit the apps via the Home button. e.g., when I return to either of those apps, playback resumes from the previous session.

No other apps that I have tried do this. Is it possible to turn this "Feature" Off? This behavior is the main reason I don't like Firesticks.

[atc98092]

@NigelPound-Sand When a Roku is on the home screen, there should be nothing streaming from any provider. I don't have/use YTTV, but YouTube does not continue streaming when it's not being actively viewed. I've never seen any app continue to stream content when the app is not directly in use and viewed, and this applies across multiple platforms, not just Roku.

[NigelPound-Sand]

Well, what I'm experiencing with the new Ultra 4K device is as follows:

1) Initiate the YTTV app and view something live (or recorded)

2) Press the Roku remote Home button, to return to Roku Home screen

3) Initiate the YTTV app again and the stream viewed in 1) automatically resumes playing at the point that 2) was executed

Earlier today I streamed a news channel on YTTV, paused it and returned to the Roku Home screen. Over an hour later I initiated the YTTV app and it displayed the news channel paused at the same point. Pressing the play/pause button resumed the stream.

Youtube behaves similarly. The other installed apps that I have tested acted as I would expect; returning to an app displays it's menu, home page, etc.

One my televisions has Amazon Fire embedded. I can watch local news on YTTV, return Home and shut the TV off. The next night when I select YTTV it immediately starts playing the local channel live, not buffered.

Restarting either device eliminates the auto resume, but just for the current session. Manually putting the Fire TV to Sleep also stops auto play for the next session, but is kind of a pain.

 I have had YTTV since the day it became available to me, I like it, and am not considering ditching it. I'm also firmly in the Roku camp. But I sure would like to have the Roku Ultra 4K/YTTV operate like my older Ultra.

[atc98092]

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@NigelPound-Sand wrote:

Well, what I'm experiencing with the new Ultra 4K device is as follows:

1) Initiate the YTTV app and view something live (or recorded)

2) Press the Roku remote Home button, to return to Roku Home screen

3) Initiate the YTTV app again and the stream viewed in 1) automatically resumes playing at the point that 2) was executed

Earlier today I streamed a news channel on YTTV, paused it and returned to the Roku Home screen. Over an hour later I initiated the YTTV app and it displayed the news channel paused at the same point. Pressing the play/pause button resumed the stream.

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True, when you exit an app (most don't have an actual exit function) if there was media streaming it goes into pause. That doesn't mean it's using any data, and I have returned to an app I exited and found myself where I had left off. But I've seen the same thing happen with my Shield players if I don't actually exit the app. I don't know what the timeframe is that Roku will eventually shut down an app not in use, but it does happen eventually. Of course, one could always pull the power cord, and that kills everything and it just boots to the home screen when power is restored. It doesn't keep an app running after a power cycle like my iPhone or iPad does. 

[NigelPound-Sand]

I'm not aiming to get into a debate since you seem to know more about streaming devices than I do. But this is my fourth Ultra and I've also had four Roku sticks. None of the other ones exhibited the scenario described in my previous post.

I started using streaming devices seven or eight years ago, and from the start I was miffed that none of the apps I used had an Exit/Quit/Stop option. Having never written any apps myself, perhaps there's a good reason for why this is the case. And maybe I'm nitpicking, but when I'm watching content and decide to exit the app, I'm done, I don't want to be returned to it the next time I run that app.

[AvsGunnar]

@NigelPound-Sand 

It is possible that Youtube is using a different version of its app for the 4850.  Can see the version under the Youtube Settings/App version (from within the Youtube app).  This differs from the version of the Roku app version seen by highlighting app and pressing asterick button on Roku remote.

I don't use Youtube on Roku but just noticed when I installed it that a setting for autoplay can no longer be changed unless signed into Youtube. (this is unlikely your issue, just mentioning as a fyi that the issue you are having is likely a Youtube setting, and not a device issue, per se.).

On my Ultra 4660 using Youtube app version web_20241015_13_RC00 (version 2.2 build 130000104), not seeing the behavior you described.

Maybe you can look at the version numbers between your models and see if a difference in the app versions may be responsible for this.

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Personally, I have never cared for Youtube apps and the way they behave so I just always cast it to a connected TV through a web browser and laptop so I can control its behavior if viewing directly through Youtube.