“Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen
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I see this thrown around a lot.
90% of us watch Netflix, Plex, YT TV or some other streaming service, how do I watch these with 4k quality without connecting to the Internet? That's just an unrealistic request for 90% of TV users.
Use a separate, not ad-riddled device plugged in via HDMI. If you have a game console it can do this.
I don't know what's good for Android TV boxes it used to be the NVIDIA Shield was a well regarded streaming device but it's really old now. Google makes one (Google TV Streamer) and you can install a custom launcher if you're a bit technical and the "suggested content" of the stock launcher bothers you. Same for other Android TV boxes.
Apple, like them or not, makes a really decent TV box with no system level ads and an interface that mostly stays out of the way.
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Get an Nvidia Shield Pro and disconnect your TV from the internet.
My tv is dumb. The roku is the device that connects to the internet.
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I just block all ads at the router level. When looking through the most blocked domains I see a lot from Roku.
Im not very computer savvy and currently only have a tablet and a mac mini from 2008.
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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
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.
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I have been using an onn 4k streaming box, which runs Google TV. They're $20. It's pretty easy to disable the default launcher and have it boot to Flauncher. Then you can side load smart tube for an ad free YouTube experience asking with Plex, stremio, or whatever else you want to stream.
I've got a couple of those that I bought shortly after the LTT video, but I'm still using my Roku because I still haven't gotten around to jailbreaking and configuring them.
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It’s approaching 1984 levels of BS control.
Sorry to inform you, but we are already in the Brave New World.
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Shit. I got a Roku TV. That's one big fucking stick to toss.
Shall I introduce you to the folks over at [email protected]?
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Shit. I got a Roku TV. That's one big fucking stick to toss.
Step 1. Factory reset.
Step 2. Do not allow it to connect to the Internet.
Step 3. Connect a Linux based computer to it and run everything through the computer.
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Shall I introduce you to the folks over at [email protected]?
We’re pretty neat I like to think
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Roku had the best smart tv ui. I was seriously bummed when the ads started rolling in a few years ago.
I want an open source streaming client, but from what I hear DRM gets in the way of that.
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I've got a couple of those that I bought shortly after the LTT video, but I'm still using my Roku because I still haven't gotten around to jailbreaking and configuring them.
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Shit. I got a Roku TV. That's one big fucking stick to toss.
Eh, I just started connecting cheap ($30 or so) used Apple TVs to mine. I saw the writing on the wall.
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Use a separate, not ad-riddled device plugged in via HDMI. If you have a game console it can do this.
I don't know what's good for Android TV boxes it used to be the NVIDIA Shield was a well regarded streaming device but it's really old now. Google makes one (Google TV Streamer) and you can install a custom launcher if you're a bit technical and the "suggested content" of the stock launcher bothers you. Same for other Android TV boxes.
Apple, like them or not, makes a really decent TV box with no system level ads and an interface that mostly stays out of the way.
Shield is very old, but it still works pretty well and unlike apple TV you can have true surround sound with bit pass audio.
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Shield is very old, but it still works pretty well and unlike apple TV you can have true surround sound with bit pass audio.
Yeah but I wouldn't recommend anyone go and buy one at this point.
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Apple has absolutely no interest in injecting ads like this. That’s not their business model. Apple has a thousand things wrong but it’s reasonable to assume they aren’t going to pull this kind of rug pull.
Apple has some serious catching up to do with enshitification on the appletv end. I think they are going to really blow our minds when they finally release a new appleTV. It's quite overdue and I'm guessing they are cooking up a doozy for us!
My predictions : still don't fix bit pass audio issue, eliminate ethernet port, crappier remote that still has no back lighting, siri/ appleai is everywhere but only makes things more frustrating, and who knows - maybe ads!!
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Apple has some serious catching up to do with enshitification on the appletv end. I think they are going to really blow our minds when they finally release a new appleTV. It's quite overdue and I'm guessing they are cooking up a doozy for us!
My predictions : still don't fix bit pass audio issue, eliminate ethernet port, crappier remote that still has no back lighting, siri/ appleai is everywhere but only makes things more frustrating, and who knows - maybe ads!!
Like I said, lots to complain about. But intrusive ads is not really their style.
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So, I use regex to block all Roku domains on my network via pihole:
(ads|logs|cloudservices|image|images|web|prod.mobile|wwwimg|captive|customer-feedbacks|amoeba|amoeba2|sr|giga.sb|cs).roku(.admeasurement)*.com$Then, possibly overkill due to the above, I used OpnSense firewall rules to block all traffic from my Roku tv. I think I just got fed up with seeing Roku spam in my pihole, as the above regex seems to completely "break" Roku.
After that, I set up FLauncher (following the method #2 instructions on the gitlab page) on my shield. This makes it so I only see the Roku launcher for a few seconds while the shield starts up, and then I'm dropped straight into flauncher. I chose flauncher because it's very simple and barebones, so you might want to explore other options if you want more advanced features. I don't really need those features since I'm usually using an app anyway.
Note that I did all of that after the tv was configured and set up, YMMV if it's a brand new tv as it may need to call home to do the initial set up.
Why is your Roku TV even on the Wi-Fi if you just block its internet?
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What’s the best alternative? I have a fire cube, and I’m getting sick of it. Apple TV? Is there a FOSS solution that’s close to the same quality interface?
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There you go putting words in my mouth again
Other people having their own opinions isn't putting words in your mouth.
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Step 1. Factory reset.
Step 2. Do not allow it to connect to the Internet.
Step 3. Connect a Linux based computer to it and run everything through the computer.
Instructions unclear. TV now controlled by Nicole the fediverse chick.
