Zeno Marx
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2010
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Picked up a Roku cheap to try. Yet another device that you need your phone to fully control and set it up. Who the F thinks of this?
The Roku remote has a power button, but it only controls the TV power and TV volume. The Roku is designed to never shut off.* Which then means that your TV can't sense that the Roku is off, so it doesn't instinctively go back to cable TV or your other HDMI outputs when you are finished with the Roku. You have to have your TV remote to then switch back to the HDMI input to go back to your cable TV or blu-ray or game console. If you hit one of the buttons on the Roku remote, your TV does recognize that and goes back to the Roku device. It just can't instinctively leave the Roku. So, so stupid. I haven't used my main TV remote for maybe a year. Thankfully, because it is huge, so I keep it in a cabinet. Not any longer. If I plan to use the Roku, it has to sit on the table next to the cable remote and now the Roku remote. The Roku didn't just add its remote to the table decor. It also demands another remote be in common use.
*:
1) if you don't want the Roku remote to control your TV, you have to tell it is the wrong company. They say it right on their forum. So if you have a Sony TV and don't want it to screw with your TV, you have to tell it is a Samsung TV etc. It'll still control the Roku device, just not your TV. Why in the hell would I want the Roku remote to shut off/on the TV? How many people are going to want to hit that power button, thinking they are controlling the Roku, only to have to turn the TV back on with another remote (because if you turn the TV back on with the Roku, you're right back at being within the Roku system that you were trying to shut off in the first place).
2) If you want to change the power settings, you have to use your phone to access your account to see the entire settings menu. Only part of the menu is accessible directly through the Roku device and remote.
3) if you use your phone, the device is told (?) you're using your phone, and it then makes the phone take precedent over the remote. I haven't quite figured out what the hell is happening between the phone, remote, and device. You have to shut off the phone in order for it to want to listen to the remote. I think. I only know the phone gets in the way of the interface.
I borrowed an older Apple TV model from a friend a couple years ago, and the interface was very intuitive and simple. You hit the power button on the little remote, and the TV switched to Apple TV. When you were finished with the Apple TV, the remote shut it down, and it instinctively went back to cable. The remote didn't affect the TV. It worked like its own little unit, like I would guess people would want from each device. If you're thinking of either a Roku or an Apple TV, buy the Apple TV (unless they've changed things to behave this stupidly too).
The Roku remote has a power button, but it only controls the TV power and TV volume. The Roku is designed to never shut off.* Which then means that your TV can't sense that the Roku is off, so it doesn't instinctively go back to cable TV or your other HDMI outputs when you are finished with the Roku. You have to have your TV remote to then switch back to the HDMI input to go back to your cable TV or blu-ray or game console. If you hit one of the buttons on the Roku remote, your TV does recognize that and goes back to the Roku device. It just can't instinctively leave the Roku. So, so stupid. I haven't used my main TV remote for maybe a year. Thankfully, because it is huge, so I keep it in a cabinet. Not any longer. If I plan to use the Roku, it has to sit on the table next to the cable remote and now the Roku remote. The Roku didn't just add its remote to the table decor. It also demands another remote be in common use.
*:
1) if you don't want the Roku remote to control your TV, you have to tell it is the wrong company. They say it right on their forum. So if you have a Sony TV and don't want it to screw with your TV, you have to tell it is a Samsung TV etc. It'll still control the Roku device, just not your TV. Why in the hell would I want the Roku remote to shut off/on the TV? How many people are going to want to hit that power button, thinking they are controlling the Roku, only to have to turn the TV back on with another remote (because if you turn the TV back on with the Roku, you're right back at being within the Roku system that you were trying to shut off in the first place).
2) If you want to change the power settings, you have to use your phone to access your account to see the entire settings menu. Only part of the menu is accessible directly through the Roku device and remote.
3) if you use your phone, the device is told (?) you're using your phone, and it then makes the phone take precedent over the remote. I haven't quite figured out what the hell is happening between the phone, remote, and device. You have to shut off the phone in order for it to want to listen to the remote. I think. I only know the phone gets in the way of the interface.
I borrowed an older Apple TV model from a friend a couple years ago, and the interface was very intuitive and simple. You hit the power button on the little remote, and the TV switched to Apple TV. When you were finished with the Apple TV, the remote shut it down, and it instinctively went back to cable. The remote didn't affect the TV. It worked like its own little unit, like I would guess people would want from each device. If you're thinking of either a Roku or an Apple TV, buy the Apple TV (unless they've changed things to behave this stupidly too).