Roku TVs could one day show ads as soon as you pause playing a game on a connected Xbox, or stop a stream on an Apple TV.

Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.

This way, when an owner of a Roku TV takes a short break from playing a game on their Xbox, or streaming something on an Apple TV device connected to the TV set, Roku would use that break to show ads. Roku engineers have even explored ways to figure out what the consumer is doing with their TV-connected device in order to display relevant advertising.

  • tjhart85
    4•3 months ago

    We’re a non-iPhone household and went with the AppleTV when my Nvidia SHIELD died.

    Ads were getting put on the SHIELD and I definitely didn’t want to buy another one because of that and it has been a while since its had a refresh, so went with an AppleTV instead.

    The device itself is fantastic, the UI is so smooth and so much nicer. OTOH, I miss being able to cast to the TV more than I expected. It works decently with the Macbooks though (we’re a weird household … like Macs, hate iPhones).

    So … if ya’ll have iPhones or don’t care about casting, I’d definitely recommend an AppleTV with Plex (the Dropout, Youtube, Disney+ apps are all good too).

    ETA: Apple is also making some pretty awesome TV content as well and IIRC you’ll get a couple months free with the purchase … verify that yourself though in case they’ve removed it, but Foundation, Severance & See are fantastic shows if you’re looking for something to watch.

    • @aesthelete@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3•3 months ago

      I’m thinking of buying one of these after ditching two Roku TVs. I bought LG OLEDs instead and am just using the apps for now, but who knows how long it’ll be before WebOS follows Roku down enshittification avenue?

      • @root_beer@midwest.socialEnglish
        3•3 months ago

        I quit with apps on LG after whatever I was watching or doing would cut out with an error message saying that the TV was out of memory. It was particularly egregious when I was playing video games. Now I have a Roku sound bar, but look where that’s gonna get me.

        • tjhart85
          2•3 months ago

          My SHIELD would just randomly restart itself until eventually it stopped coming back online.

          I definitely got my monies worth out of it, but didn’t like that a device with no ads all of a sudden became a device with ads (and this is a Google thing not an Nvidia one, but still)

    • @rolaultenEnglish
      3•3 months ago

      +1. We are a household of sysadmins/engineers. Sure I or my wife could design a PC for media in an afternoon - but I don’t want to deal with it.

      An apple TV was a no fuss, no headache media box that can interface with the servers that store my media.

      • tjhart85
        1•3 months ago

        Yeah I used to have a PC and a Harmony remote that would send macros to a custom script and Kodi would do different things or it could switch to Netflix and … Like, we just want to watch a movie or TV show not have to perform tech support whenever Netflix changed their webpage!

        • @rolaultenEnglish
          1•3 months ago

          Id say if it’s in your budget - get one. We have no other apple products in the house but that. The biggest annoyance was making an apple account (for some stupid reason they require it…)

      • tjhart85
        3•3 months ago

        You specifically said you use a 3rd party launcher. You know why you specifically mentioned that.

          • tjhart85
            1•3 months ago

            Ah, my apologies for the assumption, it’s been almost a year but I’m still too used to Reddit apparently!

            Yes, the default launcher had ads, the SHIELD itself didn’t, but I also didn’t like any of the 3rd party launchers I used but I don’t remember specifically why. Then, the SHIELD stopped booting so I didn’t want to buy another one and went with the ATV instead.

            As I mentioned, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone who knows they’d regret not having the cast functionality, but, if you just want a device that works very well and doesn’t ever have so much as a hiccup during navigation, it’s been great!

            I would still recommend the SHIELD for someone that wants cast or who wouldn’t have a problem with (mostly) relevant ads being shown on the device (stock).