10 ms·

Can confirm Apple is best but Roku is amazingly good number 2. In some ways its UX beats Apple.

by rhubarbtree 3mo ago

pseudosavant 3mo ago
Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. I would guess most Roku users aren't using a box these days.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- ilinx 3mo ago
  With Roku built in as well as whatever ad pipeline(s) the TV manufacturer wants. These days my AppleTV is allowed to talk to the internet. My television is not.
  - cebert 3mo ago
    I have a Samsung TV that I intentionally didn’t connect to the Internet for that reason. I occasionally get an annoying pop-up randomly, encouraging me to connect it to Wi-Fi.
- solid_fuel 3mo ago
  Eh those TVs are a dubious value proposition. I grabbed one and wound up returning it because it won't even let you use the TV as a damned TV without connecting it to the internet and creating a roku account so they can track you.
  - brewtide 3mo ago
    My Roku TV (that hasn't been turned on in years, but was left plugged in for years...) literally tries to reach out every minute to home servers. Before u plugging it, I had blocked it's DNS, and was blown away at how frequently it tries to phone home. Easily the noisiest device on my home network.
- xp84 3mo ago
  > I would guess most Roku users aren't using a box these days. Sure I guess. But those devices objectively suck. the CPU and storage in "smart TVs" are so underpowered that using streaming apps on them is painfully sluggish. For comparison, I've used the "Chromecast with Google TV" (a $50ish at its release 4k streaming stick that uses the 'Google TV', fka 'Android TV' platform) and a Sony TV on the same platform, released the same year. The Sony UI is a lot more sluggish than the Google stick device. Also tested running an SNES emulator. The Google device can easily do it, the Sony TV can't keep up even on a basic game like Super Mario World. And then of course, on the other end of the spectrum, the Apple TV exists, which specs-wise can easily play 3D racing games at a fine framerate.
  - sgerenser 3mo ago
    Agreed. I currently have a “Roku TV” that is hooked up to another Roku device, because the one built into it is so slow and outdated as to be almost unusable. The $29 (on sale) Roku stick I hooked up to it works fine. Getting a built-in Roku IMHO is a false economy, the built-in thing will almost certainly go to crap before the TV itself does.
  - pseudosavant 3mo ago
    Maybe it is just the devices I have, but I've had the higher end 4K-capable Roku boxes before I eventually got all Roku TVs. I would say the experience with my Roku TVs (TCL, Phillips, and Sharp) has been the best. Nothing slow about them. I don't try to do anything like run a console emulator on them though. Just watching streaming channels and YouTube TV.
    - xp84 3mo ago
      I wish I could come back and ask you how they perform after a couple more years of "software updates" from the app providers. Considering, too, that they will also be vibe-coding them from here on out. IDK about the specs on yours, but even things like bloated sizes of apps themselves on disk can become a problem. What happens when the OS and the apps inevitably go up in size such that the 8GB or whatever TCL has decided to give you cannot hold the OS, Netflix, Disney+, and HBO at the same time? They don't just let you stay on old versions anymore, either.
- reaperducer 3mo ago
  Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. I believe there are TVs that come with AppleTV built-in. I'm not in the market, so I haven't looked, but I suspect they're not the bargain basement Wal-Mart sets.
  - Marsymars 3mo ago
    There are TVs with Apple TV the streaming service, not Apple TV the OS. (Or Apple TV the app.) https://dcurt.is/apple-tv-all-the-way-down https://dcurt.is/apple-tv-all-the-way-down (Since that piece, they've renamed Apple TV+ to also be "Apple TV".)
- throw0101c 3mo ago
  > Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. Except in that case don't you have to give the TVs themselves Internet access? Do you trust any TV with such access nowadays given all the tomfoolery with surveillance that most OEMs do?

Can confirm Apple is best but Roku is amazingly good number 2. In some ways its UX beats Apple.

pseudosavant 3mo ago

Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. I would guess most Roku users aren't using a box these days.

deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
ilinx 3mo ago
With Roku built in as well as whatever ad pipeline(s) the TV manufacturer wants. These days my AppleTV is allowed to talk to the internet. My television is not.
- cebert 3mo ago
  I have a Samsung TV that I intentionally didn’t connect to the Internet for that reason. I occasionally get an annoying pop-up randomly, encouraging me to connect it to Wi-Fi.
solid_fuel 3mo ago
Eh those TVs are a dubious value proposition. I grabbed one and wound up returning it because it won't even let you use the TV as a damned TV without connecting it to the internet and creating a roku account so they can track you.
- brewtide 3mo ago
  My Roku TV (that hasn't been turned on in years, but was left plugged in for years...) literally tries to reach out every minute to home servers. Before u plugging it, I had blocked it's DNS, and was blown away at how frequently it tries to phone home. Easily the noisiest device on my home network.
xp84 3mo ago
> I would guess most Roku users aren't using a box these days. Sure I guess. But those devices objectively suck. the CPU and storage in "smart TVs" are so underpowered that using streaming apps on them is painfully sluggish. For comparison, I've used the "Chromecast with Google TV" (a $50ish at its release 4k streaming stick that uses the 'Google TV', fka 'Android TV' platform) and a Sony TV on the same platform, released the same year. The Sony UI is a lot more sluggish than the Google stick device. Also tested running an SNES emulator. The Google device can easily do it, the Sony TV can't keep up even on a basic game like Super Mario World. And then of course, on the other end of the spectrum, the Apple TV exists, which specs-wise can easily play 3D racing games at a fine framerate.
- sgerenser 3mo ago
  Agreed. I currently have a “Roku TV” that is hooked up to another Roku device, because the one built into it is so slow and outdated as to be almost unusable. The $29 (on sale) Roku stick I hooked up to it works fine. Getting a built-in Roku IMHO is a false economy, the built-in thing will almost certainly go to crap before the TV itself does.
- pseudosavant 3mo ago
  Maybe it is just the devices I have, but I've had the higher end 4K-capable Roku boxes before I eventually got all Roku TVs. I would say the experience with my Roku TVs (TCL, Phillips, and Sharp) has been the best. Nothing slow about them. I don't try to do anything like run a console emulator on them though. Just watching streaming channels and YouTube TV.
  - xp84 3mo ago
    I wish I could come back and ask you how they perform after a couple more years of "software updates" from the app providers. Considering, too, that they will also be vibe-coding them from here on out. IDK about the specs on yours, but even things like bloated sizes of apps themselves on disk can become a problem. What happens when the OS and the apps inevitably go up in size such that the 8GB or whatever TCL has decided to give you cannot hold the OS, Netflix, Disney+, and HBO at the same time? They don't just let you stay on old versions anymore, either.
reaperducer 3mo ago
Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. I believe there are TVs that come with AppleTV built-in. I'm not in the market, so I haven't looked, but I suspect they're not the bargain basement Wal-Mart sets.
- Marsymars 3mo ago
  There are TVs with Apple TV the streaming service, not Apple TV the OS. (Or Apple TV the app.) https://dcurt.is/apple-tv-all-the-way-down https://dcurt.is/apple-tv-all-the-way-down (Since that piece, they've renamed Apple TV+ to also be "Apple TV".)
throw0101c 3mo ago
> Especially because you can get TVs with Roku built-in. Except in that case don't you have to give the TVs themselves Internet access? Do you trust any TV with such access nowadays given all the tomfoolery with surveillance that most OEMs do?