About two weeks ago or so, I booted up the Roku TV in our living room and flopped onto the couch. But to my surprise, the TV featured a tutorial-like screen letting me know that Roku had pushed out a big update to the home screen and UI. I hated it; however, I figured that after a few days I’d get used to it. Nope. I still hate the new design. And a lot of other Roku users are fed up with one of the best smart TV UIs around getting filled up with ads and algo-powered slots while also seemingly introducing new, terrible bugs.
Before the update last month, the Roku home screen was a fairly simple, no-frills experience. You had your apps and inputs, which you could manually organize how you wanted; some sections labeled clearly on the left; and three boxes at the top which would show “recommended” programs or movies. It was snappy, easy to use, simple to tweak, and efficient.
But the old design also wasn’t filled with tons of bullshit algorithm-powered slots and ads. And because companies are desperate to make more money at all costs, the worst phenomenon in the tech world happened as Roku’s home screen suffered a nasty case of enshittification. The old layout, fast and clean, was killed without warning and replaced without choice in June.
Now my Roku home screen is a jumbled mess that looks different every day I boot it up. Annoyingly, my various HDMI inputs are no longer pinned to the top like before and instead exist in a weird area labeled “Quick Access,” which is annoying and not as easy to customize. There’s also a bunch of new areas on the home screen controlled completely by Roku, which are just more places for them to push content and make money. I really don’t need my TV to recommend five different TV shows from services I don’t even subscribe to or use. Nobody wants that.
Some users have figured out ways to make the home screen look more like the old version and shared the steps. But the end result isn’t quite the same, and in some cases people have reported that removed sections and features can return, like a “Soccer Zone” that seems to be forced on Roku users during the World Cup no matter how many times people delete it.
As the update rolled out over the last few weeks, more people have booted up their TV and discovered the new, cluttered, hard-to-use mess, and many are not happy. Many want the old home screen back and don’t understand why it was even changed in the first place.
“The new Roku update is terrible. Lost my settings on the Home Screen, cannot change the position of apps,” complained one user on Reddit.
“Does anyone actually like this new Roku home screen layout?” asked one user on Twitter. “It’s dogshit and clearly they ripped out custom setup to try and force more ads on you. Shame been a supporter from day one, but all good things come to an end.”
“Can you bring back to old [sic] interface as an option for those who don’t want it?” asked a top comment on a video Roku posted about the new update on YouTube.
“All I see is more ads – while the Software/OS keeps getting more laggy as hell!! When will more focus be on speed of all apps and the OS!!??” said another person on YouTube.
If you dig around, you’ll also find people complaining about all kinds of new bugs. One that I’m dealing with a lot is a squished screen that appears anytime I turn on my PS5 or Xbox or switch inputs between them. And the only way to fix this is to unplug the TV and let it boot back up. It seems to have no fix and is so bad that I’m now thinking about buying a new TV for the living room, preferably a non-Roku device.
Of course, the problem is that finding a smart TV in 2026 that isn’t horrible bullshit is becoming tricky. My big, dumb 4K LGTV in my office is still mostly fine, but recently got an update that has literal ads pop up on the bottom when I turn it on or switch inputs. I recently messed around with a Google TV and that seemed worse than the current Roku shitshow, which doesn’t give me hope that I’ll be able to replace my living room set with anything decent.
I know I sound old, but fuck it. I miss dumb TVs. Just some inputs, and I flipped between them. All my devices have YouTube, Netflix, and other such things. I don’t need them built into my TV, too. But even if I bit the bullet and bought a new TV, the cost for any electronic device in 2026 is going up and up and up. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: The future fucking sucks, man. Also: The people of Roku City deserve better.
