Remotes

[SWM]

The most recent products introduced by Roku continue to have buttons for streaming services I do not use.  Roku does not have their customers interests in mind.  I purchased both an Apple TV and an Amazon streaming device.  Both of these devices are superior or equal to any of Roku’s devices.  After using Roku for quite a long time I can no longer recommend their products and glad I made the switch.  Both of the new devices appear to produce a higher quality picture, a side benefit I was not expecting.

[Ello2022]

@SWM  The 4 preset buttons that come on a Roku remote are not set by Roku. Companies like Disney, Hulu, Netflix and Apple pay Roku to advertise their services. Part of the advertising is the buttons on the remote. Just cause you may not use those services millions of others might. But it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the Roku. There’s a button on mine for AppleTV+ which I don’t use. But it’s no big deal to me

[SWM]

Maybe you got your Roku for free or you troll for Roku.  I purchased my Roku's.  They were not purchased by Hulu, Netflix, etc.  It is my hardware so button assignment should be my choice.  In any case my Roku Ultra, Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Express 4k+ are in the garbage can waiting for pickup by Waste Management.  The Apple device I am using has an interface superior to Roku's.  The quality of the streaming in a side by side comparison is significantly better using Apple TV in place of the Roku Ultra on my Sony XR65A90J.

[Ello2022]

@SWM  Nothing in the world is free and a troll is someone like you who comes into a community or forum just to bash a product for no reason. So your saying you bought all 3 Roku’s with your hard earned money but then you turn around and threw $100+ of Roku devices in the trash? Find that very hard to believe over 4 commercialized buttons on your remote. Roku is not a billion dollar Corporation like Apple. But companies ask Roku and pay Roku to advertise their products on the Roku remote. It’s not Roku demanding money from companies. It’s called simple advertising it’s done every day. 

[atc98092]

@SWM If you look at a remote for almost any electronic device, you'll see a button for Netflix. There's one on every remote I have in my home, other than a Samsung remote that has almost no buttons at all. Netflix pays for those buttons. It's the same with the preprogrammed buttons on your Roku remote. They buttons might change slightly depending on where you bought your Roku, but I guarantee there's a Netflix button. And you know what? I don't subscribe to Netflix, so that button is useless to me. But because Netflix (and the other button providers) pay Roku for those buttons, Roku is able to keep the cost of their devices lower. 

If you're happy with the Apple TV, that's great. It's a good piece of equipment, and supports most of the major providers. I would ask you to consider doing two things with your old Roku devices. Take them out of the garbage and do a full system reset to remove all of your personal information, then donate them to Goodwill or some other worthy organization. There's no sense in throwing away something that works correctly, and ecologically they shouldn't go into the trash anyway. Also log into your Roku user account and remove the devices from your account. That's one more smart thing to do to protect your personal information.

[Buddo]

I am a brand new Roku user as of today. I too was a bit put off by the 4 buttons on the remote for services that I am not interested in. Thus I did a search online and found this forum. I appreciate the explanation that the buttons are paid advertising by those companies and help keep the cost of the Roku nice and low. So now, instead of grumbling about the buttons I will be grateful that they are there. Thanks for the explanation.

[Emissary35]

Someone posted earlier:

"The 4 preset buttons that come on a Roku remote are not set by Roku. Companies like Disney, Hulu, Netflix and Apple pay Roku to advertise their services. Part of the advertising is the buttons on the remote."

By Roku allowing companies like Disney, Hulu and Netflix to set the buttons for advertisement in the first place it IS in fact Roku who is responsible for this. Instead of choosing to make those four preset buttons  programmable in order for the user to assign them to whatever channels they use the most they are instead locked to specific channels that many users many not use or want.

So you can't use the excuse that it's 'other companies' and 'not Roku's fault' for how the buttons are set. Roku is CHOOSING to sell those buttons to those other companies so it ALL starts with Roku and their decision. Roku is choosing advertisement revenue over customer satisfaction, plain and simple. So all the Roku apologists out there can continue to blame it on other companies, but Roku is the one granting those other companies the permission to take over those buttons.

It would be much better for the user if you could program those buttons to open any channel you want and not have completely useless buttons taking up space on your remote for channels you don't subscribe to.