Remotes

[DanUK]

Not so much a feature but definitely critical updates and changes REQUIRED

STOP RELEASING FIRMWARE UPDATES THAT TAKE AWAY FUNCTIONALITY WE PREVIOUSLY HAD, E.G. MY REMOTE USED TO CONTROL MY SAMSUNG TV, NOW FIRMWARE UPDATES HAVE REMOVED THIS ABILITY WHICH MEANS I NEED TWO REMOTES TO WATCH TV. 

I HAVE FOOLISHLY BOUGHT 4 ROKU DEVICES ONLY TO FIND THE REMOTES ARE REALLY BADLY MANUFACTURED AND THE BUTTONS FAIL, PARTICULARLY THE ARROW BUTTONS UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT.

THE OLD REMOTE IS FAR SUPERIOR BUT YOU HAVE DISABLED THE VOLUME FUNCTION ON SAMSUNG TV'S

1. YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO OLD REMOTE MANUFACTURER, UNTIL YOU DO I WILL NEVER BUY ROKU AGAIN AND I AM IN THE PROCESS OF DUMPING ALL MY ROKU PRODUCTS.

2. YOU NEED TO PUBLISH EVERY ITERATIONS OF FIRMWARE UPDATES (BY MODEL) AND PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION FOR WHAT EACH VERSION FIXES.  FIREFOX DOES THIS SO NO EXCUSES.

3. YOU NEED TO STOP FORCING UPDATES BY PROVIDING AN OPTION FOR USERS TO DISABLE YOUR FIRMWARE UPDATES, THE LAST ONE CRIPPLED MY REMOTE

4. YOU NEED TO PUBLISH YOUR CODES SO THAT 3RD PARTY UNIVERSAL REMOTE MANUFACTURERS CAN PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE FOR THE SHIITE REMOTES YOU MANUFACTURE.

5. YOU NEED TO MOVE AWAY FROM CLIPS AND PROVIDE SCREWS SO THAT USERS CAN ATTEMPT TO GET THE FAULTY ROKU REMOTES WORKING.

6. YOU NEED TO STOP PRETENDING YOU WILL REACH OUT TO CUSTOMERS BY PM WHEN YOU DO NOTHING OF THE SORT AND YOU NEED TO STOP MARKING POSTS AS HAVING PROVIDED A SOLUTION WHEN NO SOLUTION HAS BEEN FOUND.  THE USUAL ETIQUETTE IS TO STOP NEW POSTS WHEN THERE HAS BEEN NO NEW COMMENT FOR 3 MONTHS. IF PEOPLE KEEP POSTING AND THERE IS NO THREE MONTH PERIOD WHEN NOBODY POSTS THEN THAT SHOULD TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

[ROkooFlix]

@DanUK I've had this happen, an old Toshiba television in a guest bedroom with a Roku Ultra.  None of the Toshiba codes worked so I tried different brand of manufacturer IR codes and found one that worked.  I don't recall which manufacturer code ultimately worked, it may have been a Sanyo code.

If your Roku remote previously worked to control your Samsung and stopped after a Roku OS update perhaps it's possible the update mixed up the remote codes.

There is hope, keep trying different manufacturer codes if none of the Samsung codes are working for your television.

[DanUK]

From the posts on this site it is clear that nothing got mixed up, the upgrade removed functionality, Roku has admitted it.

Such is the contempt they have for their customers, no wonder their share price has dropped from $473 to $49.

[ROkooFlix]

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try using different manufacturers IR codes, have you tried?

[DanUK]

What go spending money on things I have no idea if work NO,

There are posts on this forum that suggest the IR functionality has been removed.

I also looked on eBay where there are many clones that all say DOES NOT WORK WITH ROKU DEVICES ONLY ROKU TV.

That is why I suggested they publish their codes

[ROkooFlix]

Not talking about spending money, I believe you indicated you have a Roku remote that was working to control your Samsung television and it stopped.  If that's true then it's worth a shot to try different manufacturers IR codes.  You may just find a code that will work to control volume and power for your Samsung television.  I found one that worked with our Toshiba television after none of Roku's Toshiba codes worked.

[FranklinJ]

Sometimes, I mistakenly hit a button, and lose the stream I am watching. 
I’d like a button to return my viewing exactly where it came from. In the case of Paramount Plus, I am set for 2 people. 
So I have to go to Paramount, select myself, find the show, and return to where I was. One “Quick Launch” “return to last viewed” would do it. 

[atc98092]

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@DanUK wrote:

4. YOU NEED TO PUBLISH YOUR CODES SO THAT 3RD PARTY UNIVERSAL REMOTE MANUFACTURERS CAN PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE FOR THE SHIITE REMOTES YOU MANUFACTURE.

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They do publish their codes, and 3rd party universal IR remotes do work with Roku devices that support IR. Just remember that the Roku Stick (any model of Stick) does not support IR, so will only work with an official Roku WiFi Direct remote. 

Sorry you have had issues with their remotes. I can't say I've experienced the same problem, and I've been using Roku players for over ten years now. I no longer have a Roku connected to a Samsung TV, but the two I did had no issues with the remote working over CEC. I never bothered programming the remotes to use IR, because CEC worked fine for me.

[RokuAustin]

Hi @DanUK ! We'll ask our remotes engineer about your model of Samsung and see if we can try to help out. Would you mind posting the model here, along with the model of your Roku player so we can identify the remote attached to it? 

[DanUK]

I hear you but Roku no longer allow me to choose a TV, previously it would guess I am using Samsung and then do the can you still hear music test, but since they removed the code from the firmware it now says "the current remote control does not support TV Control".

I know for a fact that it used to work, because as I get a new TV the old one gets moved to a different room.

Now it does not support Samsung who are one of the biggest manufacturers of TV's worldwide.  It does not support the old or the new.

As a Roku customer I have no control or choice in the matter, the arrogance of Roku is that they just assume they know best rather than giving us the choice.  Perhaps they hope we will buy one of their newer kwappier models but I will never buy another Roku product unless Roku reverts to the old design.

I am also phasing out the four Roku streaming products, I am testing devices that originate from China because I don't like the Amazon interface, although I do have a couple around and I gather they improved it. 

The lack of trust in Roku privacy and this arrogant attitude means I will not buy ANY Roku products, I was surprised to find out they did smart home devices, but they are the absolute last company I would trust. 

When companies like Roku sell their soul and assume they have a right to spy & share out data the only way to persuade them to mend their ways is to publicly disown them, inform their retailers and shareholders and share one's experiences.

It seems to me that Roku started to sell it's soul when it took members of  Sky on it's board, soon after Roku blocked sideloading.  My response was to kick Sky to the curb, they used to get eighty a month from me with sport and movies etc.  Now they get zero. 

At the time I had one Roku product and one Sky device, so the Sky device would not do what I needed it to do.  I was annoyed at Roku but angry with Sky, however, now I am more than angry at Roku.  The sheer arrogance, the utter contempt and disdain towards customers, it makes me feel that the whole board needs to be replaced because this BS comes from the top down.