One of the reasons that Roku has become the largest streaming platform in the United States is that its menu is intuitive and easy to use, whether you are a long-time cord-cutter or you are just dipping your toes into the streaming waters for the first time. On Wednesday, the company announced a slew of new features that will be rolling out in the coming months designed to improve the user experience on the platform even more.
The updates will be seen across the Sports, Live TV, What to Watch, Music Playlists, Roku Photo Streams sections of the platform, as well as in other locations. The goal of these updates is to help get viewers to the entertainment content that they want to watch more quickly, and as painlessly, as ever before.
“As the leaders in streaming TV, we’ve made it our priority to offer a platform that anticipates our user’s needs and adapts in real time,” Roku VP Preston Smalley said. “With endless content to choose from and ways to watch, we will continue to innovate and release feature updates to our millions of users that better the viewing experience, making Roku the go-to destination for TV streaming.”
Roku OS 12.5 will be pushed out to supported devices in the coming weeks to the over 73 million active Roku accounts around the world. But, what exactly will this update include? We break down all of the improvements to your Roku streaming experience below!
What updates are coming to the Roku streaming platform?
Streaming Sports with Roku
-
Favoriting: With Roku’s new favoriting feature, users can track live and upcoming sporting events for their go-to teams in one curated row. Simply add a team to the “My Favorites” row within the Sports experience by clicking the “Favorite” button on the game page and tune in once it’s game time.
-
Highlights: With the upcoming launch of “Highlights” in the Sports experience, users will be able to watch clips from recent sporting events they may have missed or want to relive.
-
Expanded Content: Additionally, the Sports experience will be expanding its offering to include motorsports in early 2024 and new sports content from Max in the coming weeks, which will join the list of currently supported channel partners across the platform.
Watch Hundreds of Live TV Options on Roku
- Personalized Live TV: With 400+ free live linear TV channels to choose from, Roku is introducing even more enhancements to the Live TV Channel Guide to better the Live TV streaming experience. New updates now will enable simpler live TV browsing by personalizing the order of channels in the Guide and removing channel numbers.
Stream Music Playlists, Concerts, and Videos with Roku
- Music Playlists: We’re enhancing the music experience in The Roku Channel to make it easier for customers to enjoy more than 250+ video playlists from our partners, including Stingray, Vevo, and Warner Music Group. Whether they’re listening to “Relaxing Jazz,” watching “Iconic Music Videos,” or revisiting their favorite “Boy Bands,” users will enjoy a more immersive experience, with new controls to shuffle, skip ahead, add video playlists to their Save List for listening, receive recommendations for similar playlists, and more.
Discover New Shows and Movies with Roku
- What to Watch Categories: We are making updates within What to Watch to get users to their content faster. In the coming weeks, users can browse by categories including TV Shows, Movies, New & Popular, Free, and more, and start streaming with ease.
- Experiences: New experiences related to a specific genre or topic such as food or home will roll out across the platform in the coming months. Within these new experiences, users can browse through a curated selection of entertainment specific to each genre.
- Roku Mobile App Search: Visual Search is coming to the Roku Mobile app, allowing users to discover new entertainment in a more visual and immersive way than before. Users can simply navigate to the “Search” tab on the mobile app and search for content with ease.
Stay Connected with Loved Ones via Roku
- Roku Photo Streams x Google Photos: Roku Photo Streams now supports Google Photos, allowing users to share special moments with loved ones more seamlessly. Head to Roku Photo Streams, upload images or link an album from Google Photos, share with family and friends, and enjoy.
Control Your Smart Home with Roku
-
Event History: With all-new support for Roku Smart Home Video Doorbell events, users with a Camera subscription can now go back and see who was at their front door using the Cameras app on any Roku streaming players and Roku TV™ models. As previously announced, users can also access Smart Home Camera events history within the Cameras app.
-
Notifications: No need to pause your favorite show to see if your package has arrived — Roku Cameras and Doorbell owners with a Camera subscription will now get instant notifications on their Roku streaming players and Roku TV models.
Customize Your Roku Streaming Experience
- Expert Picture Setting: We’re now bringing expert picture settings to 4K devices, offering more ways to customize picture settings when streaming on Roku. Adjust settings such as color temperature, color space, gamma correction, and noise reduction directly from the TV. Expert picture settings are already available via the Roku Mobile app.
Roku
Roku is a streaming device that can be used to watch Live TV Streaming Services and On Demand Streaming Services.
Limited Warranty
Your Roku probably isn’t covered against mishaps and malfunctions. We’ve partnered with 5Devices to give The Streamable readers a protection plan for any internet-connected device, including your Roku, iPhone, etc starting at $2.67 per device per month. And the good news is that it covers devices you already use (ie. no need for proof of new purchase).