My dog tore up the remote so we were forced to use the roku app to control the tv.
They’re showing ads on the remote app. It feels like we can never escape this dystopian hellacape.
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I mean… you bought a Roku.
Of all the streaming devices you can purchase, I’d argue Roku is the most privacy invasive: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/roku-streaming-sticks/
Yes I am aware. I mainly use the Jellyfin app on it. I have a PiHole but I unfortunately can’t change the DHCP/DNS settings on my router (i have no admin access to it) so i have to rely change the DNS for every client on my home. But unfortunately Roku does not allow for changing their DNS server.
I have heard about putting my roku on another submet but i don’t know how to do this. Any thoughts 🤔
I have heard about putting my roku on another submet but i don’t know how to do this. Any thoughts 🤔
I believe that would rely on the modem settings… If you buy a router (eero, Google WiFi, etc.) and connect it to the Ethernet port, you could create a separate network and your modem would see your router as a single device. I have T-Mobile Internet but don’t trust them with my data, so in conjunction with the above, I have all my network traffic tunneled into AdGuard DNS (Personal Plan)(they have a free version that works well, but you can’t customize it).
oof.
I mainly use the Jellyfin app on it.
Hope it’s working well for ya’!
Yes! I noticed the video player UI changed, it looks pretty clean. Are you a Jellyfin developer? If so, I love you.
Are you a Jellyfin developer?
I am. Funny enough, I’m the one who made the new video player OSD 🤘
If so, I love you.
Oh. Well, this is awkward. I think of you more as a friend…
I didn’t know it was quite this bad. App uninstalled, and TV blocked from WiFi. I have connected devices I typically stream from, but that data collection is crazy. Next TV I’m going to rip the WiFi antennas out of it if I have to.
No worries.
It’s a shame because if you look at the history of Roku, it was founded with technology and ease of access in mind. Unfortunately, like many things, advertising and invading a users privacy is the “best” route for these companies to become profitable.
Google is a perfect example of this, especially after Eric Schmidt and the introduction of Google accounts.
That’s crappy, but have you seen what other remote apps are doing?
Vizio has an ad that takes up around 25% of the screen!
MyQ has a large scrolling ad at the top, and they are actively hostile towards any integration that allows you to control your garage door without using their app (unless you use one of the very few subscription-based integrations they offer, of course).
hot damn 😵💫
And at least when I tried to pihole the tracking bullshit, it got mad and stopped working.
Honestly, if I saw this after installing a new TV, smart home appliances, etc. I would rip them back out of my house and return them all. That is absurd.
fuck a roku for hardcoding their DNS.
I had something similar happen. You can find loads of replacement remotes online for very little money.
A replacement remote for my roku stick cost more than a whole new roku box.
Use RoMote Roku remote: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/wseemann.media.romote/
Although, theoretically if a FOSS Android app can act as a remote, could there also be a way to self-host a Roku remote? 🤔
There’s code you can download from github that would let you control your Roku device from terminal on a PC. I’ve used it to facilitate the design of my own Roku GUI applications. I think there might also be a TUI you can install. A lot of this is going to be easier on Linux, if that’s something you’re familiar with.
Yes! (arch user btw) Github link?
https://github.com/jcarbaugh/python-roku <- for a python code API
https://github.com/benthetechguy/controku <- also comes as an AUR package
I’ve used the first one. Never used the second, but I just happen to know about it.
Oh i think i’m gonna nut
I was sent down a rabbit hole of iOS roku apps. Fuck the iOS ecosystem dude, I am not paying $20 a year subscription for a remote app.
I did find a decent one for free, no ads (i have a pihole so it may show ads for people, idk yet) and only asks for donations from time to time. I had to scroll a bit far to find it
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rocky-roku-remote-control/id1598795880
Thank you!
You bet! I use it all the time, plus you can enter channels, which for the life of me, I cannot understand why Roku never allowed a long press on their reomte in order to enter a channel number with the arrows. 🎶Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb!🎶
Oh that’s cool! Unfortunately I am on iOS.
Hopefully sideloading becomes a thing for iOS users. Used to have an iPhone, can’t say I miss it.
To be fair the physical remote has had ads in it since the beginning.
I’m not getting this, at least not yet.
Maybe it’s because I run Pi-hole; I know it filters out a TON of Roku’s telemetry and other traffic. Might be worth setting up Pi-hole on your network and see if stuff like that goes away?
How did you set your roku to use your pihole? I have no router access so i have to change each client’s dns. Roku doesnt allow changing their dns
It requires your pihole to act as DHCP server as well. From what I can tell, Roku is hard-coded to use whatever address is handed out. It’s easily responsible for 60% of the blocked domains on my pihole.
If you don’t have admin access to the ISP router, your only recourse is to put a consumer router behind it (You’d just hook up the consumer router’s internet port to one of the LAN ports on the ISP router) and connect all of your devices to that. That way you can disable the DHCP server on the router and enable it on the pihole.
Can’t you just tell your current dhcp to use the pihole as dns? That’s how I set it up.
My router, (a TP-Link, can’t remember the exact model) will still list itself in the list of nameservers even if I just specify the pihole. Since I can’t seem to find anywhere in the router’s interface to turn that behavior off, I’ve resorted to using the pihole as DHCP as well.
But yeah, usually you can just use whatever DHCP server you have already
Are you on Android?
If so: RoMote is pretty good. Here’s the releases page for the APK. It’s also F-Droid.
Gross.
Well, it is a Roku.
If you don’t want ads, spend more on an AppleTV, which seems to be the only thing that isn’t trying to jam ads down your throat.
I don’t think you need the rest of the Apple system, you can just install Netflix and Plex and whatever else you use.
Don’t buy apple’s expensive garbage. If you are thinking about getting some Apple TV device you should get a shield, an Android TV, even a raspberry pi 4b would be better than bending over for apple.
Just stop giving that fucking company your money.
AppleTVs are really nice. It’s easily the best streaming device for the layman and I say that as someone who generally dislikes Apple’s products. It’s solid, small, and is fairly easy to integrate.
An Nvidia shield costs more money than an Apple TV. Unless you need those extra features, it’s a waste
It’s insane that you’d recommend an Android TV, though. Shit performance and data harvesting galore. Never connect your tv to your network.
All of the data harvesting of Android TV can be blocked with ease. None of the closed ecosystem, price gouging, or feature rot of Apple devices can be worked around in any way.
If you’re content with the limited offerings available on Apple devices and the exorbitant prices you have to pay to get access to them then by all means continue to fund that nightmare company and it’s war on consumers.
OP is using Jellyfin. I don’t think they’re planning on subscribing to Apple’s monthly services.
AppleTV (the device) is cheap as fuck for what you’re getting because subscribers is the real money maker for them. What feature rot do you speak of? I installed AppleTVs for years and the only functionality my clients ever lost was when they forced iCloud integration for awhile. I also think it has by far the best remote of any streaming device but that’s personal preference.
I use a heavily-blocked Roku Ultra so it’s not a fanboy but you’re like…a reverse fanboy. Hating on it for the weakest of reasons
If I could get Apple devices in an open compatibility I wouldn’t hate them I probably still wouldn’t buy them though.
My hatred comes from the fact that I believe critical thinking and mental flexibility are very important skills for people to develop at a very young age. I think one of the most important avenues for the development of reasoning and technical skills is through interaction with technology.
That technology should encourage and reward your curiosity. Apple does not reward curiosity or encourage it, it taxes it to such a degree that Apple users are by and large technologically illiterate.
I grew up on Apple computers, and when I was little the Mac nerds we’re doing some pretty cool and impressive shit with their Mac tech that you just can’t do now. It was a gateway to me learning about a lot of this technology, but they are a walled garden now, and it gets worse every year.
I’ve been programming on apple devices for over 15 years, you can do a lot with a Mac.
What can’t you do now? It’s still a full on unix system, in fact it’s way easier to get stuff done with Brew than when I started using Macs.
Show us on the doll where Apple hurt you.
A large part of my job is helping young people and seniors learn how to use technology. Apple makes that much more difficult because Apple stuff only works the Apple way none of it translates to any other technology.
Whenever I talk to somebody who doesn’t know what a folder is, what a browser is, that when they download files they go to a place, how to share content with non Apple users, how to use non Apple software, how to use any other non Apple technology, its because Apple wants it that way. I just don’t understand why a company this abusive would have fans.
It’s like being a fan of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Wells Fargo, or The Pinkertons. You are paying extra for fashion accessories that are objectively lower spec and with a reduced feature list than the alternative that is cheaper. The only benefit of Apple devices is the security, And that’s easily bypassed because they don’t need to compromise the device to get your information from Apple.
I’ll admit I don’t know much about Android TV but is non trivial to set up a raspberry pi for TV.
The apple solution just works and seemingly doesn’t hate the user.
Android TV allows you to sideload apps very easily. I use several sideload apps. It’s friggin wonderful.
That is the side of iOS and Apple’s stuff I hate.
What kind of apps are you side loading? Apple TV has VLC and Plex, which seem like the apps people who manage their own media use. Of course you need a NAS or server to host your content and it won’t do that. Then all the major streaming services have first party apps (though Netflix seems to neglect theirs)
Smart tube The best YouTube app. Strips all the ads and much more.
And another one for IPTV.
There are no ads in your screenshot
“Featured” tab on the bottom right
Setup a pi-hole, you’ll never be happier.
this ad in particular goes through it. I have one and set up my phone to use it.
Doesn’t help with YouTube, has to be constantly updated, requires more tech know-how than the average person, unfortunately. Most people don’t feel comfortable digging around in their modem settings.
We need more consumer protections. The floor is too low.
You’re mad that the free options has ads? You’re free to buy a new remote and avoid this….
It’s a remote dude there are some boundaries. Not everything cheap or free needs to become a billboard. This isn’t Idiocracy despite how much people like to parrot that “it’s a documentary.”
Also, it wasn’t free. They bought a tv and remote. They spent money.
This
Tech companies nowadays are so brazen on stepping and crossing boundaries.
