Roku No Mo

March 17, 2025 7:35 PM

So, OK, I've had it with Roku. Over the past few years, their user interface has become unusable, filled with advertisements and lots of other garbage. But now they've gone too far. They are now injecting video ads you cannot skip upon entry to the home screen.

So now I am seeking an alternative to Roku. I have no problem with purchasing a new piece of hardware. My Roku stick is probably 5 years old anyway. I also just looked Roku up on Goods Unite Us and they are 92%evil. So what are my options? I have spent the last couple of months weaning myself off of Amazon and Google, so both of those are out of the question. I could use the "apps" on my smart TV (Samsung Frame) but that brings a lot of (privacy, etc. ) issues with it as well. So is there a straightforward streaming device out there that's not evil? I just need access to Netflix, Hulu and Max. Suggestions?

posted by Rivvo to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

NVIDIA Shield.
posted by toxic at 7:38 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]

Apple TV is great. No ads (outside of the ones served by and within the streaming services), privacy is taken very seriously, great user interface, and Apple is only 15% evil according to Goods Unite Us. And it will last you years without going obsolete (one of mine is 9 years old and I’ll only need to upgrade it if I upgrade my TV to 4K).
posted by ejs at 8:01 PM on March 17 [14 favorites]

If you can install Plex on your tv you could just use that
posted by ashbury at 8:54 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]

+1 to Apple TV really being the best option here, even if you're not otherwise in the Apple ecosystem. Every other choice is worse in some way.
posted by Pryde at 8:55 PM on March 17 [3 favorites]

Apple TV FTW
posted by tubedogg at 9:09 PM on March 17 [3 favorites]

If you have the physical space, I use a 13 year old laptop (an old macbook in this case) with an HDMI output that plugs into my TV (of which is also about the same age). The old laptops must be really cheap to buy second-hand these days.

The laptop battery life is pretty much shot anyway, so it stays plugged in next to the TV as the main media player.

I connect a bluetooth trackpad and keyboard as my 'remote', can use any web based streaming service and join things like Discord shares. It can also play virtually any downloaded media through software like VLC, from external hard drives plugged in, so most of the time it stays offline.

And I still have an old multi-region blueray player for physical disk media too, that also connect via HDMI to the TV.

It's not 4K, but for me it's plenty good enough.
posted by many-things at 10:39 PM on March 17 [3 favorites]

Apple TV has everything you want
posted by girlmightlive at 1:30 AM on March 18 [3 favorites]

Nvidia Shield is reputed to be 'best' for a number of reasons - generally a far more powerful, flexible, and capable system. However it is more on the expensive side of things and a lot of people don't have any reason to need the extra power. Still, worth looking at if you are interested in such things.

We got a Onn Pro and it does pretty much everything you would want such a thing to do, for just $50. Downside, it is some kind of Walmart store brand.
posted by flug at 2:08 AM on March 18

After the forced liability changes were pushed onto everyone last year I disabled the network connection on my Roku powered TV and haven’t looked back. Fortunately I can totally skip the UI and go straight to the Apple TV, which has always been a much more pleasant experience than the Roku and is probably the best way to go…
posted by rambling wanderlust at 5:00 AM on March 18 [3 favorites]

Ars reported that it was a test, but the point is still valid.

If you want completely ad and tracking free, roll your own with a lightweight computer connected to your tv (I’ve been happy with either a Raspberry Pi or a Beelink EQ12 + FliRC). Kodi or Plex HTPC are decent front ends, but I’m haven’t found any software/interface that works well with multiple streaming services. Plex will tell you which services content is on, but I’ve found it’s never just point and click like with a dedicated streaming device.

As flug said, surprisingly the Walmart Onn streaming devices are pretty capable and run effectively stock Google TV. There’s still an ad at the top of the home screen for content, but it’s not as bad as Roku.
posted by hankscorpio83 at 5:11 AM on March 18

I came to suggest the Walmart ONN streaming devices. For how cheap they are, I cannot believe how good they are. The cheapest level ($15) ones can be a little slow, IMO, but the $20 one converted me away from my Roku.

As a bonus, if you play Steam games at all you can use an app on the ONN to stream Steam games from your computer and play them on your TV. This works best with slower paced games, cozy games, etc.

You can also download an app called Stremio that some people are very interested in using for various reasons.
posted by fennario at 5:20 AM on March 18

If you have the individual apps on your phone or tablet, try casting them to your TV. Example instructions for Max with AirPlay
posted by sageleaf at 7:51 AM on March 18

Note that the OP mentioned getting away from Google, so if that extends to software then the NVIDIA Shield, ONN, and other Google TV based streamers are out. HTPC options could work, but they also asked for something straightforward.
posted by Pryde at 11:23 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

This person has somewhat the same question as you, got an Apple TV, and loves it. So one more vote for Apple TV. Downside, it is about $190.
posted by flug at 4:47 PM on March 18