Solving playback issues

[tightpurchaser]

Last week I posted twice about my Roku functioning; and the posts disappeared.  How am I supposed to diagnose and fix anything with this happening in this forum?

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Thanks for sharing in the Roku Community, @tightpurchaser.

We appreciate you for bringing this to our attention. To help us understand the issue you're facing with your Roku Device, may you please tell us more about your concern? We are willing to assist you and provide a better resolution.

In the meantime, you may visit our Official Roku Support Website for additional support.

We are looking forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Emman

[tightpurchaser]

Emman, thanks for getting back.  Now that the heat index isn't so high as the last couple of weeks, My Roku Streaming Stick+ should not be so sluggish.  Since my whole apartment is hot, I don't know what to do about overheating.

For one thing, I only use the default screens, basic screens, nothing more than the word "Roku" when unattended.  What's with this black instead of purple?  At first I thought it was promotion for the TV series Yellowstone.

Then, there are a couple of apps showing free movies and TV series.  They were available when I first added them.  Now they do not come up on a search through the Streaming Store.  Free Classic Movies has an icon of a film reel with a star in the middle.  One stream had too many showings of the same add.  At times I thought it would never advance.  I doubt the developer is maintaining this app.  The same goes for another one, Free Movie Classics.  The icon for this one looks like one of those cards that the director on a set opens and closes in front of the camera to begin shooting.  I had no trouble when I first added it to my home screen.  Now, the links, or icons, for the individual videos do not download.  So, there are blank spaces where there should be a video frame above the title.  Will these apps cause something to crash?

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop, @tightpurchaser.

We want to investigate more about the issue you're facing; kindly refer to the following questions provided below:

• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?
• Have you tried accessing those channels inside "The Roku Channel" App?
• Can you please specify all the channels that are affected?

In the meantime, try rebooting your Roku by performing a System Restart (Settings > System > Power, skip to System Restart if there is no power option). You can also refer to this support FAQ on what to do if the red light is on or you see a "Your device is overheating" message to fix the overheating issues on your Roku Device.

Please keep us posted for further assistance.

All the best,
Emman

[tightpurchaser]

The channels I refer to are no longer in your store; so there is no option to remove them and add them back.  Occasionally I check for updates to the Roku OS and the apps.  Thanks for the link on overheating.  I just sent for the extender.

[RokuEmmanuel-D]

Thanks for your prompt response, @tightpurchaser.

To examine this further, please specify which channels are no longer available. Also, please tell us the Software Version of your Roku Device (Settings > System > About) so we can check if the channels you're referring to are still available to stream on our platform. 

This information will be able to isolate the root cause of the problem.

Please keep us updated.

Thanks,
Emman

[tightpurchaser]

This post is getting cumbersome because these developers who leave apps up there do not choose distinguishing enough names for them.  As I said a Search on your App Store will no longer bring them up.  Besides, other apps that I took for granted are now too difficult to use.  Right now I decided to take off Spotify because their developers decided to screw around too much with a good thing.  That one is now too difficult to use; and at this hour in the morning I do not need a menace that causes me to screw around too much with my remote control.

[Strega2]

Some of the apps that appear in the Roku channel store are a little “fly-by-night”.  Channels created by very small “organizations” (typically one guy in his spare time) that often have no way to contact them.  I think the lack of contact details is sometimes intentional because some of them are not showing licensed content.  Some of the stuff I’ve seen looks like it came from some guy’s VHS tape collection. These apps are sometimes not well-debugged either.

[tightpurchaser]

Strega2, That's all well and good; but what about Spotify?  They are a big Swedish company headquartered in the UK.  Why don't they allow direct communication?  Since I could not figure them out or the new quirks in their app, I deleted it this morning.

[tightpurchaser]

Roku's free extension cord came yesterday; and I connected it today.  I don't know yet if it will prevent Streaming Stick+ from overheating.