I am a long-time Roku user, going all the way back to when it was a little square box that plugged into my TV with RCA jacks.I have several Roku TVs and a few streaming sticks as well.While there's plenty of competition out there, I've always stuck with Roku because it was simple and straightforward.
I would turn on the TV, choose a streaming service, pick a show and start watching.I never wanted Roku to recommend shows to me or make decisions for me.I just liked the fact that it was an easy way to access my streaming services.
In fact, simplicity was the biggest selling point in my opinion.Add How-To Geek on Google Add as Preferred Source Follow on Google Discover I found the most recent updates to Roku quite off-putting.What used to be straightforward is now cluttered with big advertisements, recommendations, and features I never asked for.
On each of my TVs and sticks, I've spent plenty of time hiding recommendation rows and changing the layout to regain some control over the experience.While those changes help, I shouldn't have to dig through menus just to make my TV work the way I'd like it to.I don't think I'm alone, either.
You can see in stories in the news today how people are dumbing their smart TVs down to make them more usable for their needs.Every new update seems to bring some other change I didn't ask for and I'm starting to wonder whether Roku understands why people like me like the platform at all.It seems to me that Roku is prioritizing what it wants me to see over what I actually want to watch.
Roku's home screen is becoming one giant advertisement I’m tired of being told what to watch Close Back in May 2026, Roku rolled out its biggest home screen redesign in over a decade.It promised to be a more personalized experience that would help you find things to watch.Before that, Roku's home screen was relatively straightforward.
It had a navigation menu that appeared on the left, and your streaming apps were the focus within the rest of the page.Don't get me wrong, Roku had advertising placements in it before this change.Those ads, however, didn’t span across the home screen where I spend most of my time when navigating to content.
My biggest complaint is the amount of screen space devoted to advertisements and promoted content.The large promotional panel is particularly irritating because there is no way to get rid of it.At least with sections like recommendation rows and Quick Access, you can navigate into settings and hide them.
I don't need Roku to offer recommendations for me.When I open it up, I typically know what I want to watch and what streaming service it’s on.If I don’t, Roku has a great search feature that can help me find it.
Everything besides my streaming apps on the home screen is just noise to me, like big banner ads on websites.Roku took away some of my home screen customization options Why can't I hide features I never use? I've always liked how easy Roku made it to customize the interface.I could remove menu options I didn't care about and keep things relatively simple.
Before the redesign, Roku let me hide individual navigation items, including Sports, Live TV, and Subscriptions, through the home screen settings.These days there are only three customization options under Home Screen settings: tile size, recommendation rows, and Quick Access.I've hidden recommendation rows and Quick Access, but that still leaves items in the navigation menu that I never use.
For example, I don't use Roku Sports or its Subscriptions section.Why should those options continue to take up space on my screen? Roku keeps adding features, but to me, it feels like it's taking away my ability to decide what I want on my home screen.What I find particularly irritating is that I already had everything organized exactly the way I wanted it.
I could hide menu items I didn't use, and once everything was set up, I didn't have to think about it again.I also have a few people in my house who aren’t comfortable with technology, especially when things change.When things get moved around, it can be jarring for them, and ultimately I get the questions.
I'm not asking Roku to remove features or disable anything.There are probably people out there who appreciate these things.I'm not one of them, though, and I like being able to customize my home screen the way I want it.
I bought these devices, and I don't think that it's unreasonable to want some control over how they're organized.Roku: Please stop fixing things that aren't broken I get that Roku is a business and it needs to make money.I also think it should continue improving its platform.
However, there's a difference between making something better and just adding features for the sake of adding them.With every update I feel like I need to make changes to make the interface more tolerable.I shouldn't have to do that on a device that I bought and paid for.
At some point, if there are options to make my smart TV dumb so that I can get some of the control back, I think I might do it.
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