• brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    31 minutes ago

    I have a Roku ultra in my kid’s room.

    I do not want her subjected to ads when she turns on the TV.

    This is unacceptable to me and I will be replacing all my Rokus immediately.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    58 minutes ago

    Anybody notice the Max app on roku requires clicking twice to pause and then twice to unpause? Very odd and annoying glitch or feature.

  • LucidNightmare@lemm.ee
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    2 hours ago

    Bought a Roku back in 2020 or 2021 because the Apple TV was more expensive.

    Now I know why.

    For what it is worth, I have Roku set up as a REGEX in my Pi-hole so for the most part, any of this nonsense is completely blocked on my Roku.

    Needless to say, I shouldn’t have to do this shit with a device I paid for and mainly use for Plex streaming.

    • brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      I know it’s being lazy. But if you have the regex you could post, I’d appreciate it.

      I had this happen to me just a few days ago. Within the hour I bought an Nvidia shield and came up with a plan to install the projectivy launcher and button remapper.

      I’m mostly happy, it’s much more snappy but it’s missing a couple apps I used on the Roku (WGN and Marquee Sports). At least I can use my own pictures for the background and screensavers.

    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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      55 minutes ago

      I was seeing the Moana promo with my Roku streaming stick on a Samsung TV. Didn’t look like an ad exactly tho, just a nice ocean background behind the menu.

      • candyman337@sh.itjust.works
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        30 minutes ago

        personally I prefer android streaming boxes, because you can install custom versions of android tv on them, so if the official release from google is bad, you can just go to the community version

        • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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          6 minutes ago

          There any custom versions you can point me to? I’ve been looking for a custom Android OS to install on my Insignia Fire TV.

  • cultsuperstar@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    I think this happened to me last night with an ad for Moana 2 playing automatically. I just assumed I accidentally hit a button. I was on the home screen but it enlarged and played in the basically the top quarter of the screen. I hit Close and it closed.

    Also, the Netflix app is absolute garbage on the TCL Roku TVs. Constantly freezes and crashes, sometimes while not even try to rewind or pause/resume. It just decides its had enough and causes the TV to restart lol.

    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      I noticed the Moana background a couple days ago and thought it looked very nice. But to me it didn’t seem like it was “playing” an add, in the sense that there wasn’t a noticeable wait time before the remote worked. Checked again just now and it’s gone back to a plain gray background.

    • ABonar@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      I thought the Netflix issue was just me! I also got the Moana 2 ad yesterday and assumed that I’d hit something, too. Good to know it wasn’t me, bad to know it was intentional on Roku’s part.

      • bearboiblake@pawb.social
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        2 hours ago

        you can get a raspberry pi and install something called pihole on it, it’s a DNS server with ad-blocking. basically, it converts a domain name like example.com into an IP address, but rather than just faithfully supply DNS, it also effectively blocks some adverts by acting like the domain names don’t exist for servers that run ads

        once it’s set up it’ll just work, and it should protect everyone on your network/wifi from some ads

        • alekwithak@lemmy.world
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          42 minutes ago

          Just gonna add that it can also be installed directly to any Linux PC or in a docker container. The raspberry pi isn’t necessarily necessary.

      • modus@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Install a Pihole server on your network. It’s a DNS filter. When a client tries to access a domain that has been blacklisted (ie a known ad or tracker domain), it denies the lookup.

        On my roku homescreen it just has an empty placeholder where it tried to put the ad, but my Pihole server denied it.

  • oyo@lemm.ee
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    7 hours ago

    If this happens on my box I’ll be taking them to small claims court and let you all know how it goes…

  • Tantheiel@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    So glad I blocked my TVs access to the Internet at the router level. Never complainrd about not setting up a network if the network doesn’t work.

      • brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        59 minutes ago

        When my girlfriend moved in, she had a big TCL Roku TV its software absolutely sucks. But it would keep a blinking led on ALL THE TIME if it wasn’t connected to wifi.

        I put it on my iot network, and I’m considering null routing it.

        I actually had a Roku box plugged into it since it had a better experience, but I’m probably going to switch that to a Nvidia shield pro because of this ad bullshit.

      • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Wish it had more apps, but Apple TV is pretty solid. With the Steam link app, it’s also good for couch gaming on your pc.

          • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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            4 hours ago

            I’m looking into alternatives. So far Kodi is the front runner for my use. I have not decided on whether to replace roku units with raspberri pi running kodi or try the jailbreaking roku route.

          • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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            5 hours ago

            Some people have mentioned apple TV, for now that at least isn’t riddled with ads. Others have mentioned getting android sticks, but I’m not sure how smooth that process is (or how well they work with remotes).

    • scala@lemmy.ml
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      8 hours ago

      Technically you can get commercial TVs but many companies stopped selling them. They are literally the new screen tech with no “Smart” capabilities. They are also much cheaper than their smart counterparts.

    • dan1101@lemm.ee
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      10 hours ago

      I’ve had luck with just not giving a smart TV my wifi password.

      • CatZoomies@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Just a heads up that the Smart Cancer has already begun infecting PC monitors. Samsung makes Smart Monitors.

        It won’t be long before there are no longer Dumb Monitors.

    • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 hours ago

      A Sharp Aquos TV from the late 2000s, pre-Hisense days. We have a 42" model from ~2007. It’s only 1080p (which is honestly just fine for its size and our usage), but there’s plenty of I/O for modern and legacy equipment, and lots of configuration options. It is an absolute monster at 75 lbs, but an incredibly high quality unit nonetheless, especially considering it’s age. I’ve owned it since 2019 and it’s needed zero repairs or anything.

      For comparison, we also have a much newer 55" curved Samsung TV (in our basement, wall-mounted up high) which has already needed a backlight driver board replacement. Luckily that was only $50, but still, I expect better.

      • Corhen@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        the largest problem with older TV’s isnt the resolution. even on my 75" its hard to tell the difference between 4k and 1080p… But HDR is amazing, it really blows me away each time a scene lights up!

  • _sideffect@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    This is why I disconnected my parents Roku tv from the internet last year, when they started to get updates that wouldn’t download, and freeze the whole tv, i said enough is enough

  • Brotha_Jaufrey@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    I only ever tried using a Roku so I could stream my PC to my smart TV, but it turns out there’s MASSIVE latency. Of course I returned it. If I had to deal with that AND ADS, I would have set that shit on fire

  • blazeknave@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    Almost downvoted instinctually as a reaction to the headline. Visceral reaction. I hate this beyond belief.

    • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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      24 hours ago

      This is already my experience but still use a Roku to access Plex. Looks like I’ll need to get something else or figure out if i can block them with Ad Guard Home

      • unconsciousvoidling@sh.itjust.works
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        23 hours ago

        I use pi hole and the experience is not entirely smooth. I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this but my pi hole blocks ads but every few weeks Roku has an update and it locks up the entire operating system and I’m stuck in a loop of trying to get my update so I can return to normal. I for the hell of it disabled pi hole for 5 minutes and it wound up working but not until I dropped pi hole. So it’s as if it every so often decides to hold the operating system hostage if I don’t drop pi hole for updates. Makes me think they likely get all the telemetry they are trying to collect for selling data. I like not watching ads 90 percent of the time but it pisses me off that they are likely still spying on me by forcing me to communicate with their servers every now and then.

        • Ulrich@feddit.org
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          19 hours ago

          My brother in Christ, please just connect another device to your TV and disconnect your TV from the internet. No one should be using the built-in software for exactly this reason.

        • LeeroyTubbins@lemm.ee
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          20 hours ago

          Interesting, I use PiHole as well and have no issues with any of my Roku devices. I wonder if you have more restrictive blocking or some particular rule that I don’t. What lists are you using in PiHole?

        • Tim_Bisley@piefed.social
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          20 hours ago

          I can’t recall having that issue but I stopped using pi-hole because it was blocking certain functionalities on some websites. It required a more hands on approach than I wanted to dedicate at the time.