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Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

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Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#181

Post by dangus »

slenk wrote: post #161
dangus wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot take: the Apple TV is easily the best device of its kind on the market and I’m continually confused at why it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to the most popular option. Every other steaming device I’ve ever tried is riddled with ads, dark patterns, and slow slow SLOW performance. I can understand the aversion to a $200 device just to watch some Internet TV but then I watch people making six figures pretend lik…

Unless you are fully in the Apple ecosystem already, it's not very welcoming. Price being one thing but with how Apple recently demonstrated they can just take away all your movies with no recourse, I will pass

1. I assume by “not welcoming” you mean “unable to buy/rent movies from Vudu/Amazon Prime on the box” and that’s a fair criticism. Someone wanting to buy/rent through third party services will find opening a separate browser to be annoying, but that leads me to...

2. iTunes is part of Movies Anywhere just like all its competitors. Being “required” to purchase/rent movies through iTunes isn’t really ecosystem lock-in.

3. “Taking away your movies with no recourse” is not unique to Apple’s iTunes Movies service. This is a standard movie industry practice that can affect you regardless of provider. Using an iTunes competitor does not remove this flaw.

Apple offers a way to back up purchases. They never promised perpetual re-download ability. From their support site: “The only way to back up your purchased media is to download your purchases to your computer.”

I would guess that no other content store can promise anything better than that. Apple didn’t make the rules here, WB/Disney/Universal/Sony did.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#184

Post by SR2Z »

mrtranscendence wrote: post #151
SR2Z wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be up to Roku if Roku were willing to support Google with resources for developing their YT/YT TV apps. They literally have no power beyond acting as a gatekeeper for their users. Their omnisearch (which was awful, at least the last time I used it) is a major part of their strategy to try and guide users towards content they profit from. Given that it's Google's job to guard the UX of their Roku apps, I thin…

> not gimp search inside the YT app. I could see this argument if a search for music would lead to a search for (say) a music video. But the idea, as I understand it, is that a request for music to be played would instead be routed through YouTube Music. Even if I'm in the YouTube app, I'm not going to want my music search to go through YouTube Music -- I'm not a subscriber.

I'm not sure exactly what qualifies a music search as a music search and not a search for a music video. The entire point of YT Music on a smart TV is that it's virtually indistinguishable from the default YT app.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#185

Post by morganvachon »

stephengoodwin wrote: post #47

Welp, I specifically bought a Roku device a few months ago just to use YouTube. I ran into major issues using Fire TV's YouTube app. The app would fail to get past the initial loading screen and hang forever. It would typically require 2-3 device restarts to work again, and even then it would only work temporarily. I tried completely resetting my Fire TV, relogging in, etc but never managed to get it to work properly…

> Welp, I specifically bought a Roku device a few months ago just to use YouTube.

We have Rokus (a 4K Ultra in the living room and a TCL Roku TV in the bedroom), as well as a 4K Chromecast, and until we got the Roku Ultra we had a Nvidia Shield TV. We keep more than one type of device specifically because it is inevitable that a provider (Roku, Amazon, Google) will drop a service we enjoy. This actually happened with the Shield which is why we replaced it with a Roku; it was no longer working with Emby at all, and it was flaking out on certain other services. It could have been just a case of bad hardware but it was flawless for two years straight until one by one services stopped working on it.

This is also why I have a Mac, a couple of Windows PCs, a Linux workstation, and a BSD laptop. When one of the above can't do something, one of the others can.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#186

Post by panopticon »

jedimastert wrote: post #168
cdiddy2 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use roku simply because its not connected to a big tech company. Same reason I use spotify. I wonder how many others there are like me

> Same reason I use spotify I think it's pretty safe to call Spotify a big tech company at this point

It's a weird world where a company that does billions in annual revenue isn't considered big.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#187

Post by eitally »

etempleton wrote: post #142

HBO Max was delayed in appearing on Roku because of negotiation breakdowns. In the case HBO it was Roku that seemed to have the demands. They are looking at revenue anywhere they can, but if their position weakens look for Google, ATT, and others to simply forgo working with them. I think Roku is in a perilous position in general. They generated a lot of buzz on Wallstreet with their high user counts. They also purch…

I use Roku [for my outdoor projector] simply because it was 1. cheap, and 2. has the fullest support for various VOD providers. The delayed launch of HBO Max was a bit irritating, but they did have Disney+, which at the time was missing from Samsung's native app store.

I don't care about YTTV at all, though, becasue I don't want any live tv, period.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#188

Post by heavyset_go »

galkk wrote: post #69
s3r3nity wrote: post #2

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora. > Roku says Google has threatened to require Roku to use certain chip sets or memory cards that would force Roku to increase the price of its hardware product, which competes directly with…

> Roku alleges Google has asked it to favor YouTube music results from voice commands made on the Roku remote while the YouTube app is open, even if the user's music preference is set to default to another music app, like Pandora This is what my Amazon Echo Show is doing when Youtube is open on it, and I find it rather logical and convenient. That lets me search on youtube with my voice. disc: Google employee

> disc: Google employee

It's probably not the best idea to be commenting on antitrust allegations against your employer unless you want your comment to be read out loud in a deposition.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#189

Post by dangus »

tyingq wrote: post #174
dangus wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot take: the Apple TV is easily the best device of its kind on the market and I’m continually confused at why it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to the most popular option. Every other steaming device I’ve ever tried is riddled with ads, dark patterns, and slow slow SLOW performance. I can understand the aversion to a $200 device just to watch some Internet TV but then I watch people making six figures pretend lik…

Last I used one, the Apple tv remote control sucks in comparison to Roku. No tactile directional buttons, I couldn't get used to the trackpad thing. No mute button. No "lost remote" button on the console to make the remote beep. Also, I know many will disagree, but...no headphone jack. I don't like bluetooth earphones.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Apple just last week updated the remote to address those criticisms. The new remote is compatible with old Apple TV hardware.

There are directional buttons, trackpad swipes, and a classic iPod-like fast forward and rewind touch gesture. Mute button and TV power buttons now included.

Re: Roku says it may lose YouTube TV app after Google made anti-competitive demands

#190

Post by CivBase »

Stuff like this is why "general computing" devices should (and will hopefully) never die. I just plug my laptop into my TV via HDMI and I can stream video, browse the web, play games, and do whatever. That solution has served me well for a decade now and I have zero interest in smart TV software, Roku, Chromecast, Fire Stick, Apple TV, or any of that crap.
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