It’s my year brought hundreds of free channels to its customers over the past few years, so it makes sense for the streaming service to make sure its users get the best experience no matter what device they’re using.
With the latest OS 11.5, Roku brings many improvements to its customers not only to the home screen menu, but also to the audio, voice and content detection aspects of the service. Additionally, the Roku mobile app also gets some love, although it’s pretty minimal compared to everything else.
However, the most important changes in Roku OS 11.5 are the addition of an expanded cross-platform save list, a continue viewing feature, and an all-new content discovery experience called The Buzz. The latter is implemented directly on the Roku home screen to make finding entertainment quick and painless.
Buzz provides an overview of different collections of posts containing trailers, interviews and video clips from your favorite streaming channels. You can even like posts, subscribe to channels, and save content to stream later.
New “Continue viewing” makes it easier to resume streaming movies and shows. It supports various channels including NetflixHBO Max, Paramount+ and The Roku Channel and can be found under “What to watch» in the Roku home screen menu.
Probably one of the most requested features by the community, the ability to save movies and shows across multiple channels on your Roku device is finally here. Save List is a new feature that allows users to save movies and shows with the click of a button. You will find the new feature under “What to watch» in the Roku home screen menu as well as the Roku mobile app.
The update also expands Bluetooth Private Listening and Roku Voice. Essentially, you’ll be able to pair wireless headphones from the Sound Settings menu to listen to streaming content. The new feature is compatible with the latest Roku Ultra, Roku Streambar and Roku Streambar Pro. Also, when using the Roku Voice Remote, channels matching your search will be displayed on the screen.
Finally, the Roku mobile app also received some tweaks. For example, a dedicated Live TV Channel Guide button is now available on the mobile app’s remote. The new guide button should make it easier to find live TV channels, watch live content and search by new categories.
