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Starting today, you’ll notice a brand new home screen when you start your Roku TV or Roku streaming device. Roku is calling this its “biggest update in over a decade,” and for good reason. Before that, Roku’s latest update fixed a speed issue and slightly improved the streaming experience; many of the company’s updates have been similarly modest over the years. Roku’s new home screen, however, is a major overhaul.
The revamped home screen puts your most-used apps front and center with the Quick Access feature. The system determines which apps to put in place using AI to learn your routines. There’s also a new Top Picks for You section that Roku says will provide relevant recommendations for what content you should check out next.
Another new feature is “Destinations,” which are hubs that recommend content from various streaming services based on mood categories. In Destinations, you’ll also find Your Daily Scoop, designed to deliver the latest pop culture stories. If this all looks like clutter, you can tuck it away in the new minimized Home screen menu while still keeping your favorite features close at hand via shortcuts.
Is Roku’s new home screen actually an improvement?
Roku’s new home screen is definitely “smarter,” but will it actually improve the experience? There are reasons why people hate Roku, and this new batch of changes probably won’t convert those haters. The company has a history of privacy issues and alleged misuse of customer data. There have even been accusations that Roku TV streaming sticks openly spy on users. Since the new home screen uses AI to learn user behavior, this major change won’t be an improvement for people who value privacy.
People who enjoy using Roku devices might appreciate the changes, however. In a press release, Roku shared a statistic indicating that 82% of streaming viewers “wish they would turn on their TV and have the show they want to watch right there on their home screen.” This update aims to do just that. The idea is that the Quick Access area will learn to display exactly the app you want to use, at the time you want to use it. The new personalized “For You” bars will attempt to recommend shows you want to watch before you even know you want to watch them. Whether it actually works well is something that 100 million Roku users will determine for themselves starting today.
