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
    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).