Roku Rolls Out Redesigned Home Screen With More Personalization and Larger Ads

Roku today announced that its home screen is receiving its biggest redesign in more than a decade. The new home screen will begin rolling out to Roku TVs and streaming devices across the U.S. starting today, with more countries to follow later. The changes will appear automatically, with no software update required. At the top of the home screen, a new "Top Picks for You" section provides recommendations based on your watch history and what is trending on Roku. A new AI-powered "Quick Access" section surfaces the apps you use most, such as the Apple TV app. There is still a separate page containing a complete list of apps that you have installed on your Roku device if you need it. New curated hubs called "Destinations" offer content organized by genres and moods, such as comedy, reality, movies, sports, documentaries, and more. The menu on the Roku home screen now has a collapsed design with icons, rather than expanded text labels. Roku says this change provides a cleaner canvas for discovering content, but it also results in a large ad being shown persistently on the right side of the screen. Previously, the ad would only appear in certain views. A new "Shortcuts" section provides quick access to features like Continue Watching, Sleep Timer, Save List, and more, all in one place. If you are a fan of the Roku City screen saver, there is now an on-screen tile that you can select to view it at any time. You can explore the screen saver's iconic cityscape, plus access Daily Trivia and other mini-games.Tags: Home Screen, RokuThis article, "Roku Unveils Redesigned Home Screen" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Roku is rolling out its first major homescreen update in a decade. The UI doesn't look too dramatically different, but users will notice more personalization-driven changes, including frequently used apps, "top picks," household-specific layouts, and recommendations based on viewing habits. Rest assured, Engadget adds, "Everything is still in various shades of purple and Roku City is still available as a screensaver." From the report: Today's update certainly brings more clutter into the mix, including a new "marquee" ad spot that takes up a large chunk of the screen. It's worth remembering that Roku makes most of its money on ads and not its hardware. "More than 100 million households will feel the difference the moment they turn on their TV -- and it opens up a better, more powerful experience for our partners as well," CEO Anthony Wood wrote in a blog post. The update does bring one novel feature, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company says the new homescreen platform will adapt to how households use Roku devices. This is to accommodate "multiple people living in homes." For instance, a child's bedroom TV might have a different homescreen than TV in the living room, and so forth. This expansion is rolling out right now to US-based customers, though it might take a while to reach every user. Roku says "additional countries will follow in the coming months." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The first big change in a decade also includes recommendations and a quick access bar.

Don't worry, Roku City isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's going interactive. But there will be more personalization, and a more prominent ad unit too.

Roku Inc. unveiled the first major update to its home-screen user experience in a decade, a move that sets the platform up for additional advertising opportunities.