Own a Roku TV or streaming device? You're about to see a lot more ads on your home screen

After all the issues with software updates, ads, and just overall terrible experience of TV operating systems and those little media boxes, I just finally accepted that my life is better using my TV as a dumb screen that's connected to a PC and then using Steam Big Picture for games and Jellyfin for media.
- After various trial and error, not to mention irritation, I have determined that this is the way. It's what I did in the dark ages back in the day (with a Pentium 3 that had enough hardware acceleration to play DVD's!) and it's what I do once more. By hook or by crook, one way or another you're guaranteed to be able to retain complete control over a PC even if that ultimately means you have to install some flavor of Linux on the fucking thing.
  You can get a perfectly capable media center PC for very little money if you don't need it to be able to run AAA games, which in my case I don't. Even the various nanocomputer boards like one of the beefier Raspberry Pi's or any of its myriad competitors can do the job these days, fit in a tiny enclosure, make no noise, and consume very little power.
  Fuck all the Chromecasts, Fire sticks, Roku boxes, Apple TV's, and other sundry and bullshit devices of the world.
  
  Nvidia SHIELD is still ok, because it's Android TV, and you can install custom launchers on Android. Therefore no ads on your home screen.
  Granted, Nvidia is letting the SHIELD line twist in the wind, and the most recent model is from 2019, but it's not outmoded just yet. I'll still be using mine for a number of years.
- Inb4 Toyota ads start popping up in your Steam library.
  
  It’s already in some games unfortunately…
- Yeah I was getting fed up with apps and boxes said fuck it and am running a mac mini hooked up to a shitload of storage now and it's been great. Plays media, works as a competent file server for said media, and emulates a bunch of console games. We don't use anything else now.
  
  Isn't Apple TV the most ad free box now? I'm still on Roku but I've read that Apple TV is equivalent to a Roku but without the ads.
- I've been doing this for a decade.
  Highly recommend it. The only thing some people don't like is using a keyboard and mouse on the couch, but there are endless solutions for that.
  
  I have a little mini keyboard/trackpad controller. Primarily just use the directional pad and media controls to navigate Plex, but if I need to pop into a web browser or whatever, it works great.
  
  Actually...that's the sticking point at my house. I'm ok with mouse keyboard, but my wife and kids are not.
  Still trying to find a remote that will suit that use case.
  
  I have like four or five Logitech K400 keyboards, they’ve got a touchpad and they’re super inexpensive!
- I want to love jellyfin, but the Roku app is a buggy mess.
  
  The Roku app has had a major update recently. Might be worth checking again.
  
  I'm one of the Jellyfin Roku devs. What bugs are you experiencing?
  
  I've used it daily and never had a problem. What did you experience?

PiHole Domain regex blacklist:
(ads|logs|cloudservices).roku.com$
- And there it is, folks.
  I added the Roku and Samsung TV servers to my blocklist months ago, (maybe even years ago, at this point?) My three smart TVs are the most blocked devices on my network, by far. It’s not even close. Here are today’s stats from my pihole:
  For reference, my phone (my most used device) is number four on that list. My three smart TVs (two Rokus and a Samsung) are numbers 1, 2, and 3. I haven’t even watched TV today. These blocked requests are simply from the TVs idling. Smart TVs are hilariously, mind-bogglingly invasive, and you should block them ASAP.
  
  Why did you black out your private IP addresses?
  
  What does it look like on your tv after blocking the ads
  
  Did you add the expression by the user you are replying to?
  Does it just block the Roku / Samsung spam, while leaving the platform otherwise in tact?

Step one.
Buy a thing. It is a good thing.
Oops, now it only works if you pay monthly. Ok maybe they're doing some upkeep.
Now there's ads. You're paying them money, but they want even more so now you're the product.
Haha it broke! My family tech guy says it's literally impossible to fix without the cheat codes.
Final step. Don't buy the thing again. Don't buy anything with "terms may be altered. Pray I do not alter them further." Probably stick to open source.
- Me after getting those dumbass Canary cameras that cost $200 a piece then they completely wrecked the free tier then started giving them away for free to get more subscribers.
  Wyze cams with wz_mini_hacks firmware offline in a VLAN with Frigate and Home assistant from here on out!

For those with Roku TVs or any of their products, I found that a PiHole blocks the ads on the home screen so far. Hoping I could pick up an ONN box in the future so I can just not deal with this shit lol.
- A pihole is a whole "home" adware/malware/spyware blocker. It runs on a raspberry Pi but can also run on a physical/virtual install of several different Linux distributions. Not only can it block ads on your computer but can also block ads on technology that you can't (easily) block ads on ("Smart" TV / stock cellphone / IoT devices / etc). In addition, with some easy to instal additional (free) software you can block ads even when not at "home"!
  
  Pihole also has a docker distribution, so it’ll also run easily on “appliance” NAS solutions with minimal effort
  
  Thank you for the explanation. I felt very out of the loop on this whole thread. I'll look into pihole.
- Yeah, DNS blocking is quite effective for not just ads, but also telemetry on Roku.
  Personally, I use nextdns until I can can a good pihole setup going.
  
  You can comfortably run pihole, unbound, and a VPN like wireguard on a pi zero or zero 2. You can find entire zero 2 kits for under $35 if you're patient
- I can confirm that I'm blocking all the Roku ads with adguard now. You just plug this list in: https://oisd.nl/

Thank you Roku, a step forward towards self hosting and self managing of every service
- How are you going to self-host streaming hardware? A HTPC for every TV in the house along with a mouse and keyboard?
  
  I was already thinking of upgrading my old Roku to a $20 Onn (Walmart brand) Google TV box (which I'm told is hackable), but this will only accelerate that decision.
  
  Small SBCs and keyboard/remote combos. That's what we do.
  
  Yes I have a thinclient attached to my TV running linux mint
  
  Use Android TV with an alternate launcher like FLaunchee
  
  No need for HTPC, just a small USB device with HDMI output and DLNA support. You use your phone as a DLNA controller, a server running Jellyfin as DLNA provider, and the device attached to the TV as DLNA renderer. And sometimes TVs have DLNA support built-in (my Toshiba does).
  On Android there's an amazing app called BubbleUPnP that can source media from a wide variety of places, make playlists, and cast to DLNA devices as well as proprietary protocols like Chromecast.

Jesus, I hate that word, “shoppable”. It just sounds dystopian.
- it's not as brutal a construct as the other Sales-Bro trash we see: 'the ask', 'the spend', etc. It's too bad that no matter how much we mock the soulless people who parrot that crap, it's just our dumber friends who won't learn anyway.
  
  They're out to ~~stomp pressure on~~ er, maximize value proposition from your "pain points" with their ad-sponsored boots. (Uggs maybe idk)

Anyone jailbreaking these damn things yet?
- Rokus are not worth the effort. Nvidia literally publishes dev roms for the shield tv boxes.
  
  Are the dev roms fully compatible with Netflix & Co.? I'm running a shield and the one thing that kept me from rooting it was compatibility with hardware DRM. Have since cancelled all my subscriptions after they locked my family out and tried to hike the prices, but I'm still following the developments out of interest.
  
  I love the RF remote, the functionality, and the responsiveness.

Yes, this is what the people want! More ads! Skip the content, just show ads 24/7! That will definitely keep people from pirating out of sheer frustration.
- And dont forget about that ad space on the remote control too.

I just recently started using my Samsung TVs as dumb screens because they're slow as shit, but a nice side effect is zero ads.
ONN 4k streaming box for $20 at Walmart.
Install a custom launcher.
Install a button remapper for the remote.
Install SmartTubeNext for YouTube (no ads, SponsorBlock).
Install whatever other apps you need (Plex, etc).
FAR better experience. Turn the TV on and it's ready to go in a few seconds, not the ~60-90 seconds it takes the Tizen nonsense to "warm up."
It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better. Can recommend, especially for only $20.
- (Plex, etc)
  Just get started on the move to Jellyfin now.
  Seriously, people, use some pattern recognition here. Plex is already on its way down the enshitification pipeline, you'll be sick of it in a couple years too, just like Roku. Why wait?
  
  Jellyfin is definitely on my radar, and I'd love to make the switch. One thing that's important to me and my family, however, is the library sharing between accounts. To my knowledge, Jellyfin doesn't support this.
- Just picked up the Onn box and did all that. Also installed RetroArch and so far the SNES era stuff all plays good with my bluetooth controller though there is a slight input lag or i just need to adjust lol.
  
  Bluetooth does have latency issues, but setting your TV to Game mode (if available) will provide extremely noticeable improvement.
- Any guides/links on setting up my Onn box like that? It’s been great for the $20 but removing ads and deeper customization sounds amazing
  
  Directly from the play store, you can install alternative launchers. Some people like FLauncher; I did not. I went with Projectivy. Highly customizable, very clean.
  You can also grab a button re-mapper there. I went with tvQuickActions Pro - it's paid, but quite powerful.
  For SmartTubeNext, I followed this guide.
- SmartTubeNext might be the greatest thing about AndroidTV just for the sponsor block. It's so amazing.
- Your comment inspired me, so I picked one up today for my Roku TV, and I had it running in under an hour! We really don't know how many ads we'd been seeing until we stop seeing them. I already had a PiHole on my network, but getting SmartTube running is so nice.
  
  I'm glad you're having a better time with it! Honestly, if you watch any amount of YouTube on your TV, it's well worth the $20 just for SmartTubeNext. Such a massive improvement to skip all the sponsor, promotion, intro, etc segments.

Y'know what I love most about the high sea, matey? She never gets enshittified.
- If someone, let's say, happened to own a Roku TV and a NAS full of some sort of DRM-free video content ripped from home-video media they legitimately own and have legally format-shifted and backed up, to watch their stuff they'd still have to wade through Roku's enshittifying home screen to access the appropriate media player.
- How do i pirate an ad free tv
  
  Might not be the exact solution you're looking for, but I run my "smart TV" off a cheap ass laptop. The TV itselfbhas never been connected to the internet.
  
  Pihole helps. If you have androidtv you can setup a custom launcher and avoid it on your interface.

Can these ads be blocked with pi-hole?
- I block logs.roku.com and cloudservices.roku.com on my pihole without impacting any functionality.
  
  Is there a good resource to learn how to install that kind of a system for a person who's tech knowledge ends at one semesters worth of C++?
  
  what info is sent to these domain?
- Yea my Adblock Home (pihole alternative) blocks the ads on my Roku home screen. Now it’s just a big blank box.
  
  I do wonder how long it's going to take for these device manufacturers to get wise and start hard coding their own host file on these devices with the addresses they use.
- Yes.
  
  What domain list(s) are you using? Mine are still showing up with pihole. I do think some are being blocked, but not all.
- PiHole blocks the current ads. Hopefully these new ones too.

Google is already doing this with their default Android TV launcher. I tolerated their home screen 'recommendations' for a while as they occasionally highlighted something interesting to watch, but one day I switched on the TV and was greeted with a huge advert banner for a fucking watch on the home screen.
At that point I spent a few hours setting up FLauncher on all my ATV devices.
- I did the exact same thing. Also blocked androidtv updates in case Google starts pulling shit regarding custom launchers.
  It's gross how ads are being crammed in every little nook of our lives. Not like the ShieldTv was a cheap device either.
  Pretty sad to see Roku going down the same road. Guess forcing a third of the screen devoted to ads just wasn't enough.
- I prefer projectivy launcher. It's got a few more features and feels a little more polished.
- This launcher looks super cool, does anyone bychance know if it works on FireTVs? I was ok with the FireTV launcher up until they made it autoplay ads with sound everytime you turn the damn thing on.
  
  Same! I recently found this "feature" can be disabled in the preferences, along with a bunch of creepy tracking options.
  
  I can't speak from experience as I don't own any Amazon devices, but I have read reports that it seems to work fine with the FireTV variant of Android.
  The dev has only tested it against Chromecast with Google TV, with that said I'm using it on a Shield TV and a Shield Pro and it runs fine on both.
- That's the reason I've been using Roku. I couldn't stand all the suggestions and ads on my Google TV. If Roku does that, too, then there's nothing good to distinguish them.
  
  I like that I can install custom apps on Google TV, but Roku beats them in UI IMO.
- Chromecast 2. No ads ever. Just send stuff from your device to your TV.

God damn this shit is so fucking annoying. I paid something like $100 last year for the Roku Ultra because it was better than the built-in software on my TV and now I have to see ads? Fuck em, I'll repurpose a mini PC I have and replace the Roku.
- Nvidia shield is what I got instead of Roku and holy shit it's so much better. It can be flashed with another OS as well.
- Do you want Plex servers? BECAUSE THIS IS HOW YOU GET PLEX SERVERS
- This is the way. I've only used it for backed up movies so far but Jellyfin is SNAPPY.

Hey, nice, I get to build an HTPC again and check out the latest streaming shit for Linux.
I'm not even being ironic. Tired of this corporate hellscape and finding joy in returning to the kind of hobbyist tech I grew up on.
- corposhit used to at least be worth paying for with all it's flaws but they're shitting it up so bad it's increasingly not even worth it in the slightest
  
  Yep. There was a little while there where things coulda maybe been fine but the greedy psychopaths decided they wanted to fuck it up.

Enshittification strikes again!

Well time to replace my roku TV with a Goodwill special TV because fuck that shit. Fuck smart tvs in general and what they have become. They used to be neat little editions added on for value on your TV back when Netflix made sense. But now they don't especially with the ads that automatically get shoved into your face depending on what you are doing that have started to interrupt your viewing experience. It's not like I'll be downgrading at all when just using a computer with a TV using Stremio and AllDebrid.

After reading so much about this, I'm definitely going to start reading up on running a Pihole at home
I'd like to ask for suggestions on FAQs or guides that'd help me get started.
TIA!
- Your don't need to run your own pihole anymore, unless your goal is to not share your dns history of course
  Controld.com and many others has free dns which blocks ads
  
  That (and PiHole) will only work as long as Roku doesn't start using DoH.
  
  I'm going to take a look. Thanks!
  
  Is there a free DNS from Controld.com I can just put in my network settings?
  I only saw the paid option. - thx

I do see the appeal of non-smart TV's now. Just getting a device that host your media is a good option.
- All i need is to find one, preferably affordable obviously.
  Just the thought of being able to use it until the hardware fails, instead of when the maufacturer decides to abandon it after 2 years.
  I remember the 20 years i lived at home, we owned 3 tv's and 2 of those were passed on to people who didn't have the money to upgrade. The last one is still in use today, 15 years later.
  While my own tv now requires 2 devices to stay functional one of which i need to rent from my isp, in a way i'm being forced to buy a new tv even though i don't need one and then everyone wonders why the planet is going to shit.
  I'm surprised we aren't living in a cyberpunk esque landfill bordered city.
  
  Every smart TV is a dumb TV too. Mine has some smart stuff, I think, but I have never used it, and it has never been online.
  
  I'm looking into getting a projector and just hooking it up to my pc for media. I don't watch all he time anyways, it's mostly for movie/game night.
  
  All new Google TVs have a "dumb mode" that you can configure at startup.
- "commercial display" is the search term you want.

Not with pihole I wont.
- No, but 1/3 of your screen will be empty real estate.
  
  I'd rather have blank space than ads.
- This posted prompted my to set up pihole. My blank space has a big "not connected to the internet," although all the services work.
  Unfortunately, they also disabled accessibility settings, so I can't remap buttons or add another launcher.
  This is my last Google TV. Are there any other options?
  
  From what I gather, making your own little "media PC" connected to a "dumb TV" or never-connected "smart PC" can give you a similar if not better experience!
  KDE has a big TV style desktop environment they've made for TVs now, and you can use KDE connect to use any phone as a remote control.
  Completely open source! Wee!
  
  “Not connected to the internet” lol. How presumptuous of the designers.
  
  If it’s a Google TV you can always install a custom launcher and even disable the stock launcher via ADB and never be bothered by any of the curated bullshit again
  My recommendation is FLauncher

They've gotten great at this war of attrition. They know if they make changes incrementally people wouldn't accept all at once then most people won't notice or care. That's why I through that trash and two firesshits out in the garbage where they belonged when they started with "related" ads and app store ads.
- through
  You sure?
  
  Tru blu tru n tru

I've been doing some research for the last few days on setting up a home server/NAS. If anyone's going to ruin my entertainment, it's going to be ME
- You are still likely going to want some sort of streaming device though. I have an old computer of mine running unraid with Plex in a docker container and still use a chromecast in apps only mode to stream to my TV.
  
  Oh yeah, I already have a Chromecast. I know this is a post about Roku specifically, but it was just another example of enshittification getting me to finally set up my own system. It was honestly the HBO Max disaster that got me started.
  Good to know about App Only Mode, though! So far the Chromecast interface doesn't bother me, but it's good to know there's a ripcord I can pull if it gets worse (unless they take that away).

So you go from owning a multi media entertainment system to owning a online store front where you must buy crap that you don't need.
This is bait and switch level bullshit

Why won't anyone make a privacy focused premium streaming box with no ads? I'd pay so much for this thing that will never exist.
- Apple TV is a premium streaming box without ads. The privacy aspect is less clear, but probably better than Samsung, Google and Roku that are all harvesting data.
  An open source solution would be better.
  
  The privacy aspect is less clear, but probably better
  I love how dividing by an unknown somehow makes a bigger number for you. The bias is leaking.
- IMHO, for a quick out-of-the-box solution, the AppleTV is still the better streaming box.
  Performant, tight software experience, large software catalog, proactively asks about blocking tracking data, and no ads all over the place.
  
  It does advertise Apple content but its not too bad.
- Mainly because the major streaming services wouldn't allow their platforms to run on it.
  
  I don't use major streaming services. I just want something that runs NewPipe and Jellyfin. Lol
- Until then, a Raspberry Pi or SFF PC will do the job just fine. They even work with remotes if you get an IR receiver for them.
  
  How do you set up the IR receiver? I would like to use Linux if possible. It's often such a pain to set up things like this. Took me forever to get my Xbox controller to pair.
- Because people won't pay for it. We are in the minority.
- We need a fediverse streaming service.
  
  Torrent? PeerTube?
  For paid options I see no sense in decentralization. But a standard protocol for rental tied with some protocol for payments (like GNU Taler) to rent movies from any source with one tap and no install would be cool.

Is there any way to repurpose an old android phone into an android TV? Sometimes like Linage OS but TV focused. Even older Android phones can be considerably more powerful than any current streaming box. Add on privacy and you've got the perfect solution. It also would save on e-waste.
- Smart TV: Runs Android Smartphone: Runs Android
  Oh, so can I install Android TV interface to repurpose my phone as TV box?
  Google and capitalism: No!
  Also why I'm looking forward at Linux phones in the future.
  
  Let's say I got myself one of those arm-based single board computers that can run android. Is there not a way to install Android TV instead of "regular" android? i assume you're saying it's not because it requires GMS cert or something.
- Kodi is probably one way to do it
  https://kodi.tv/download/android/
- I'm not sure, but the easiest solution is an old laptop or a mini-PC.

Anyway to roll back firmware on some of these TVs?
Mine was never connected, except once a friend came over and connected it and it updated and now it requires a connection to rename inputs...
It's never been connected since that day either.
Hate this kind of crap.
- Why did they ever connect it? just wanted to watch the world burn?
  
  They didn't understand how the TV and Shield worked and had wanted to watch some sports thing on their ESPN account.
  I guess they thought i was mistaken when I told them they only needed the shield remote for everything and the shield could do it all.
- I don't think so, I searched around but didn't see anything noteworthy. Maybe a hacker will get bored one day and jailbreak them, but seems like there's no hope as of right now.
  
  It's honestly kind of surprising this hasn't happened yet.
  I guess TVs don't have much processing power or room for it. Or maybe all the drm in them is a nightmare.

So how about a Raspberry pie with jellyfin connected to your TV?
- Not connected, but works fine as a media server. Less issues with Plex than Jellyfin in its current state.

I don't mind if it's an ad for a new tv show or movie or streaming platform. But if it's shopping stuff I'll need to find a new tv.
- I just shuffled some hardware around and got an old Roku that I thought was dead going again. One of the ads that appeared on the homescreen was "Cancel THIS! the Rosanne Barr Special" so if that's the kind of movie ads you're looking for you'll love Roku!

DNS blocking at the router never fails.
- Rumor has it Roku hard coded Google DNS nameservers on some devices so along with pihole, you have to block direct access now. FYI
  I had a pihole that worked until an update. Had to block Google nameservers to restore blocking.
  
  Similar to what Google does with some Chromebook devices. They don't respect router DNS settings. So if I wanted to block YouTube on my kids machines I had to create a black hole on my router to send all requests from 8.8.8.8 and then and only then would the Chromebook use my adguard DNS.
  
  I expect you can seal this off with pfblockerng.
  The big issue is that they might start putting a checkpoint in place wherein the application (roku device) will not proceed unless it gets an expected response token from a call to an ad service. At that point we're at their mercy.
  They could even run under their own VPN and hook up the ads on their side... Ugh...
  
  Interesting. So far so good for me.
- Until they put everything onto the same domain
- Linux and Finish jelly is the way

Pi-Hole/AdGuard works to stop these ads, never even have to see them.

For anybody who has one, here's a dns block list specifically for Roku: https://github.com/asimcard/roku-ad-list

my streaming device is a 4th gen Intel i5 computer with Kodi.
I don't think I'll see more ads in the future 😆

I know a lot of people here reeeeeaaaaalllly hate apple, but, having used many different streaming boxes over the years, I’ve never had a better experience than with my Apple TVs. I have a Gen 4 (Apple TV HD) and a Gen 5 (Apple TV 4K first generation), and they both have worked flawlessly and trouble-free since they day I bought them many years ago. I primarily use them for the Plex app (there are very nice Jellyfin, Kodi, and Emby apps too, chill), and sometimes for some other stuff, all of which they do very well, even the older one, and even still after all these years. tvOS updates have, historically, been pretty essentialist— that being, slim and performant. Old Apple TVs still run great.
YES, for those who don’t like Apple and/or who aren’t totally into the who Apple ecosystem, one won’t get all of the benefits (yet will still get about 90% of them) and one might see friction with some of Apple’s “way of doing things” — especially that fucking annoying remote of theirs - but, all things considered, it does what it does extremely well, and it’s far better and more powerful than its competition IMO (for which you do pay a premium I feel is well worth it). and it is especially good at both protecting your privacy (compared to its competitors) and keeping ads far, far away (except when individual apps insert them, i.e. Hulu or Netflix with ads).
I have had Rokus in several TVs I’ve owned, and… yeah, they were, technically, the closest to the great functionality I came to expect rom my ATVs, but, still, nowhere close. On top of that, my Rokus all wanted all my data and sleazily blasted me ads while making it nearly impossible to disable the ability to disconnect my wifi, disable ads or tracking, etc. The whole device/os seemed designed for data mining first, and showing me media second. ew. the only upside was that the Roku Plex app has one or two interesting UX and UI features the tvOS app didn’t due to some weird programming quirks in SwiftUI and tvOS limitations that didn’t exist in whatever development framework that Roku uses.
- I came here to say something similar. I love my AppleTV. Works like a charm and has a no-nonsense interface if you enable the grid Home Screen. No ads. Runs great. It’s perfect.
  
  Even for Apple haters, it’s a pretty decent device. Even for people who hate Apple stuff, you don’t have to have other Apple devices to make great use of an Apple TV. You do have to create an iCloud account in order to sign into it, but you can always use an iTunes account for that purpose.it’s just for the purpose of downloading apps and so forth. No other Apple device or service is required. It really does work great on its own and isolated from any other service or device. However, it does work excellently in concert with other Apple devices, if that is your thing.
- AppleTV would be my recommendation for people that want a clean interface with no ads and they don't want to or can't modify an android TV box to a custom launcher. It's just about a perfect experience right out of the box. It's a shame about the shitty remote though.
  For people willing to get their hands dirty, androidtv having SmartTubeNext is a killer tool for YouTube and for me gives it the edge.
  
  Just buy one of the 4K’s and it comes with the power button and better remote. Also, the remote isn’t bad if you turn off the swiping and just use the 4-way as a D-pad. You still get its great circular scrolling too.
  
  It's a shame about the shitty remote though.
  That has been fixed on the last two models. It now uses a circular d-pad instead of just swiping.
- Do you need any other Apple devices to make good use of an Apple TV?
  
  No! Shockingly, this is the one Apple device, even aside from the iPhone, that you really don’t need another Apple device for it to be at nearly it’s maximum usefulness. Yes, more Apple devices do make it more useful, but on its own, it’s at nearly 100% of its usefulness. It does want you to have an iCloud account and register for that, but it doesn’t need to go further than that. All of the regular apps like Hulu or prime video or Netflix or whatever work normally on Apple TV, but they work in an Apple TV sort of way. For the most part, it’s actually much better than another platforms, but it is in Apple TV sort of way. It does take a little getting used to.you can always go into an Apple Store and try it out if that is convenient for you.

As long as they don't remove the option to startup on input #1, I'm good 👍
- I have the remote with two shortcut buttons, so I can map them to my favorite apps and never see the homescreen. It's actually pretty nice!
  
  How do you map the custom buttons? I've literally never used mine

Wild idea - if you’re concerned about ads, maybe don’t buy the streaming box or TV that puts permanent ads on its remotes.
- People are not that smart.
- Which ones don't?
  
  I’ve had a bunch of streaming boxes and smart TVs, and my old AppleTV is the one I usually go back to. None are perfect, but it annoys me the least.
- ~~Is there some sort of FOSS DIY thing you can make (or buy) that would function like a Roku/Chromecast stick for any TV with a USB port?~~
  Er I guess a raspberry pi or similar micro computer could do it quite easily.

looks fucking stupid

My Roku TV is basically unusable at this point. Opening Netflix takes about 10 minutes to get to the main menu. Then launching the video is like rolling a D12. Except it lands on a 1 every time and crashes. It also restarts randomly for “updates” in the middle of watching something. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!
- Bruh, it sounds like your Roku TV is just broken in general.
  
  It was working fine then an update made it this way.

Apple TV boxes have no ads.
I know everyone here hates Apple, but, there it is.
- Technically that Home Screen can display an app’s featured content. And Apple and other apps often use that space to promote new shows. But you can turn off TV+ promos and or move apps out of that region.
  Roku actually installs physical ads onto its damn remotes. I have remotes that promote streaming services that don’t even exist anymore.
- You can turn that off pretty easily. The AppleTV+ app has the ability to configure how it uses that little quick look space. You can set it to only display your “up next” content.
  Any apps in that dock region can show featured content when they are highlighted by the user. Any app can do that, not just Apple’s. Quite a few third party apps use that space to show featured or watchlist content.

I just saw enough ads trying to read the damn story
- Firefox with uBlock Origin!
  
  I actually have that on my phone but there was still 7-8 ads

PiHole takes care of that.

Anyone ever read the short story "Sales pitch" by Philip K. Dick?

They've already been adding them to mine. My home screen inputs got smashed into one (because I don't use any of the home screen apps, I only use the two HDMI inputs) so they could jam a bigger ad on the right, and then make suggested things some of the options. Like the last month or so it's been wanting me to watch super girl or Wonder woman or some dumb shit.
My other personal favorite thing they do is that they load slowly so sometimes I'll go to select an input and the cursor will jump to the wrong place because an ad loaded. Fun!

Yeah, that sucks. That will definitely drive me elsewhere.
Like a modified Android TV or Apple TV or something
- Highly recommend Apple TV. My only issue is the insane amount of YouTube ads. Feels like more ads than content some days.

I guess I get to ad more devices to my pfsense Adblock rule

What would one recommend as more of a custom build version of these with a way to connect a convenient remote (smartphone or otherwise)? Alternatively is there a way to sort of jailbreak many of them, or does that just become more cumbersome?

I only use my Roku streaming stick for Youtube and Plex. Should be easy enough to replace with a mini-PC or equivalent, if it really becomes bad enough.

As I have found trying to see if I can sideload or jailbreak or otherwise hack the software of my Samsung TV, I have found plenty of ways to totally disable ads on a Roku or Android TV or anything that runs on Android in general (Chromecast, and firestick also IIRC). Too bad I don't have one of those... 😩

For the approximately 1 second a day I look at the Roku home screen?

LOL "Roku was one of the platforms with fewer ads" my ass. Every. Fucking. Menu. Had that shit.
That's why I stuck with Google TV/Nexus TV for so long - because despite Google collecting that viewing info, I wasn't getting feature-length ads interrupting my shit.
- Maybe I'm not using all of Roku's features but the only ad I see is the one box on the right of the homescreen. To me that's much less intrusive than the full screen stuff I see on Google TV or Fire Stick.
  
  Yeah, GTV and Fire Stick have become awful for sure - On the lookout for alternatives to all 3 at this point. I shouldn't have to run a pihole just to connect to my jellyfin instance.
- I've seen ads on one screen and that's it. Static ads for shows on the initial home page, nowhere else. Have 5 Rokus and have been using them for a decade.
  Oh. Also I guess they started advertising shows in some of the screensavers, too.
- I blocked it with nextdns, my Roku shows no ads at all. Instead there's just a blank space where the ads would be, which is so much better and less obnoxious.
  
  How do you set the Roku's DNS server?