Roku makes streaming media boxes and software for smart TVs, and I've stuck with it because I like how simple it is compared to the unusuable mess that Android TV amounts to or the smooth limits of Apple TV. But if I start seeing autoplaying video ads when I'm trying to use the home screen I'll be done. "Awful," says one user subjected to the test.
Reports of Roku customers seeing video ads automatically play before they could view the OS' home screen started appearing online this week. A Reddit user, for example, posted yesterday: "I just turned on my Roku and got an … ad for a movie, before I got to the regular Roku home screen." Multiple apparent users reported seeing an ad for the movie Moana 2. The ads have a close option, but some users appear to have not seen it.
When reached for comment, a Roku spokesperson shared a company statement that confirms that the autoplaying ads are expected behavior but not a permanent part of Roku OS currently. Instead, Roku claimed, it was just trying the ad capability out.
Another story at Ars is about Roku patenting a method to superimpose ads on whatever's running on the screen, e.g. game consoles. It's the budget brand, sure.
Previously:
• Roku's 3600R streaming stick just rules
• Roku's Streaming Stick helps make travel not as horrible
• Roku welcomes conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Infowars (Update: Jones removed)
• My dog is on a mission to destroy all Roku remotes
