So lets say I'm watching something and someone else wants to watch regular TV (so we're switching TV inputs). Do I just hit pause and wander off/sit to watch what they want? Can I just leave it like that indefinitely- even if I come back tomorrow, or hours later after forgetting about it? Should I?
I guess what I'm asking is, is there a more energy efficient thing that I should be doing? Is it wasteful to just leave it hanging?
I read that there's no power off process, and that all the power button on the controller is for is to turn on/off your tv (it has nothing to do with the Roku stick itself)...?
Also, I woke up this morning (second day of owning it) and had to unplug/replug to get it to turn on... just thought I'd throw that out there in case there's an obvious explanation/setting/whatever that a newbie wouldn't be aware of that I missed.
Re: unplugging/replugging to start up:
Quick suggestion: If your Roku has a "Settings > System > Power > Auto power savings > After 20 minutes of no interaction" setting, try disabling it.
Longer explanation:
A "Power" item has been added in the "Settings > System" menu for some of the newer Roku device models. At this writing they are Streaming Stick 4K/4K+ (3820/3821), Express 4K/4K+ (3940/3941), Roku 4 (4400), and Ultra/Ultra LT (4800/4801). You can check your model and model number via Roku menu path Settings/System/About.
If you have one of these models, the new "Auto power savings" item in the Power menu will put your Roku device into a low power standby condition after a 20 minute period of inactivity (i.e nothing has been streaming and no user interaction has been received). In this low power state neither its connection to your home network nor its HDMI connection to your TV are active. If your TV was off and you turn it back on while the Roku is in this state, this often leads to a "no connection" error display on the TV, and on some TVs can lead to HDCP copy protection errors and other connection problems when the HDMI connection is reestablished.
Pressing a Roku control key (like the Home button) on your Roku remote (not Power, Volume, or Mute buttons, if your remote has them, as they act on the TV, not the Roku) should bring the Roku out of standby and back to full operation. Pulling the power for a few seconds to restart the Roku will restore full operation as well.
If you disable "Settings > System > Power > Auto power savings > After 20 minutes of no interaction" it should prevent your Roku from going into standby in the first place. The power savings are very small and for the hassle it causes many users, I don't think it's worth having this feature activated.
For further details, see this Roku information page: https://support.roku.com/article/6306527767575