Features, settings & updates

[RokuDanny-R]

@Carolynff

Thanks for the post.

Can you please provide us with more information about the issue you are experiencing?

-Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)

-Where are you currently located?

-Can you provide a picture of your Home screen where the Search option would normally be?

With more information, we will be able to assist you further.

Thanks,
Danny

[Mich3]

Hi,

I am in South African and subscribed to Amazon Prime but can't find it on my Roku,

Please help me as I can't search and Amozan Prime does not come up as a channel.

Regards

Michelle

[renojim]

@Mich3, South Africa isn't a Roku-supported country.  It's up to Amazon to make their channel/app available on Roku in unsupported countries.  Search is only available in a few Roku-supported countries and no unsupported countries.

[Mich3]

Why not???

If we pay for the subscriptions, Why don't they support South Africa?

What do they have against South Africa??

It would be appreciated to have a valid explanation PLEASE.

[renojim]

First, who is "they"?  As I said, it has nothing to do with Roku.  All channels/apps can be configured by the developer/provider to be available to a selection of regions/countries on a short list of possibilities or everywhere ("rest of world").  South Africa isn't on the list because Roku doesn't support that country.  Therefore, Amazon would have to select everywhere and for whatever reason they haven't done that.  Again, ask Amazon, but be prepared for them to not have any idea of what you (or I) are talking about.  Now if you're asking why Roku doesn't support South Africa, well that's anyone's guess, but there's a long list of countries they don't officially support.

[RokuDanny-R]

@Mich3

Thanks for the posts.

Channel availability/access on Roku devices will vary from region to region. A Roku device will work in any location, however, channels may not be available on your device in that location, based on each channel provider's discretion. For more information, you'd want to contact any specific channel/service provider to inquire further about whether they offer their channel/service on the Roku platform in your region. 

Thanks,
Danny

[Roeleveld]

Roku simply doesn't care about their customers.

If you want evidence for this? Just see the amount of posts about missing features and Roku keep blaming geofencing for this.

Search function: Limit it to a few countries and forget about the rest

Disney+: Limit it to a few countries and forget about the rest

How difficult is it for ROKU to FIX their devices and have proper geographic regions (if they insist on doing something braindead like this)?

[davidjazz]

It's not up to Roku to "fix" geofencing. Geographic blocking usually has to do with rights for programming. When a company like Netflix or Amazon negotiates rights to show a movie or program, the rights must be set and paid for country by country and device by device.

What often confuses people is why say Amazon might be available in their country on a PC or cell phone, but not on streaming. Weird as it seems, many of the  contracts are negotiated by device: one for broadcast, one for PC, one for streaming, etc. It is up to the licensor (e.g. Amazon) to decide what in countries it will pay for licensing.

In the case of Roku, if you live in a country where Roku is not supported, licensors may simply decide they can't make enough money to make licensing worthwhile.

[Roeleveld]

I really don't think you understand the issue here.

Roku added a few countries into their geofencing as option and put EVERY SINGLE OTHER COUNTRY as "REST OF THE WORLD".

This is too large an area for any content provider to accept.

As long as Roku refuses to fix THEIR brainDEAD implementation of Geofencing, it's a braindead solution.

On top of that, WHY put basic and common functionality like a SEARCH behind a geofence? Can anyone explain the LOGIC behind THAT???