Roku today took the wraps off its Roku OS 10.5 update, which is full of all kinds of things that you’re going to want to get your hands (and eyes and ears) on just as soon as you can. It’ll push out “in the coming weeks,” Roku says, which perhaps tempers that excitement just a tad. Among the changes: Roku streaming players will no longer get an update months before Roku TVs.
“The Roku OS is purpose-built for streaming TV, and our laser focus enables us to deliver updates that have an impact and make streaming easier for our wide variety of customers,” Ilya Asnis, senior vice president of Roku OS, said in a press release. “With
Also new today is the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Streaming Stick 4K+, which solidify the midrange of the Roku lineup quite nicely. But for now, let’s talk operating systems and what’s new in
Probably the biggest change you’ll notice out of the gate is in the Live TV Channel Guide on The Roku Channel. It now sports more than 200 free live channels (of varying degrees of interest and entertainment), and you can now add the Live TV channel directly to your home screen. It’s further proof that advertising-supported channels aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, and we all just better get used to it.
All you have to do is search for “Live TV on The Roku Channel” and install it. We recommend using voice search over typing, which is convenient since the
And to make the voice experience even easier, Roku has beefed up its Voice Help section, which is available in the settings menu. There, you’ll find all sorts of education on what you can say and do — and that goes for using the new
Roku is right up there with its competition in terms of ease of setup, and it’s getting even easier with
The Roku app on iOS and Android also getting a bit of an overhaul. You’ll now find a new Home tab that gets you quicker access to what
You’ll also find a new “Search Music and Podcast” row that does just what it says, including within Spotify. Along with the music integration come new sound settings and speaker integrations, including the ability to combine Roku’s soundbars with the