That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
The thing is, I like the Apple TV, at least in principle. But I've worked with both that and the Roku, and there are really only two reasons I preferred the Apple TV in principle: Being able to access iTunes content and AirPlay.
The iTunes content stopped being an issue the moment the Apple TV app came out for Roku, so that's not an advantage anymore.
And AirPlay to an Apple TV just doesn't work. I've spent countless hours of non-stop swearing trying to get AirPlay mirroring to stay connected without dropping out with an impenetrable error message the second I start to play video in some unsupported app or unsupported format. It basically *has never* worked for me, with multiple different models of Macs, on multiple networks, etc.
And now that Roku Ultra even has AirPlay support.... Yeah.
Sure, the Roku is slightly clunky at times, but it also can do a lot of things that the Apple TV can't, and their high end costs half as much as Apple's high end. And Roku's low end only costs $20, and is absolutely usable. I can literally connect every TV in my house and my next door neighbor's house for the cost of one Apple TV.
I just can't get excited about a $200 set-top box that you'll want to throw away in two or three years anyway, when you can get a throwaway set-top box for $20 that works just about as well, so long as you aren't doing something goofy like trying to use HomePods as speakers or whatever.
Now if Roku wants to guarantee that I never even think about moving back to the Apple ecosystem, they could do one little thing: Make the four "app launch" buttons reprogrammable. On each of my Roku remotes, exactly one of those is for a service that I would ever use in a million years. Let me configure them for Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, and Plex. But I digress. Still, that's one more than Apple's remote has, even in the new version, so....
And don't forget with Roku you pay for the device that tracks and sells every bit of your personal and viewing information without receiving any compensation in kind. Suck on that Apple.
It may be just you having issues with Airplay mirroring. I use it with iPhone, iPad and an old Macbook Air and several of my friends use it on theirs as well.
That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
At 1000x the apps (including all of Apple Arcade), that means the Apple TV pulls way ahead.
Roku is OK but it simply can't match the flexibility of the Apple box. And the AppleTV is a hub for Apple Home, so for instance actually secure security cameras can connect to it and be access remotely.
That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
At 1000x the apps (including all of Apple Arcade), that means the Apple TV pulls way ahead.
Ah but in terms of entertainment apps, Roku is way ahead, or at least it was the last time I checked. You have to include games for Apple to be ahead, and most people don't buy a set-top box for games; they buy it to passively consume content. Most people who want to play games (beyond dabbing) buy an actual game console.
Ah but in terms of entertainment apps, Roku is way ahead, or at least it was the last time I checked.
I don't think so, any app Roku would have also exists on Apple TV, then you have all the Apple TV apps Roku does not have, then you have Arcade on top of that... There is simply no category where Roku comes out ahead.
If you're looking for off-the-path content, however, Roku remains ahead of Apple's box. It boasts hundreds of channels and apps that are missing on Apple TV.
Never worry about theory as long as the machinery does what it's supposed to do.
-- R. A. Heinlein
Yay. They've Caught Up With the $99 Roku Ultra (Score:5, Interesting)
That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
The thing is, I like the Apple TV, at least in principle. But I've worked with both that and the Roku, and there are really only two reasons I preferred the Apple TV in principle: Being able to access iTunes content and AirPlay.
The iTunes content stopped being an issue the moment the Apple TV app came out for Roku, so that's not an advantage anymore.
And AirPlay to an Apple TV just doesn't work. I've spent countless hours of non-stop swearing trying to get AirPlay mirroring to stay connected without dropping out with an impenetrable error message the second I start to play video in some unsupported app or unsupported format. It basically *has never* worked for me, with multiple different models of Macs, on multiple networks, etc.
And now that Roku Ultra even has AirPlay support.... Yeah.
Sure, the Roku is slightly clunky at times, but it also can do a lot of things that the Apple TV can't, and their high end costs half as much as Apple's high end. And Roku's low end only costs $20, and is absolutely usable. I can literally connect every TV in my house and my next door neighbor's house for the cost of one Apple TV.
I just can't get excited about a $200 set-top box that you'll want to throw away in two or three years anyway, when you can get a throwaway set-top box for $20 that works just about as well, so long as you aren't doing something goofy like trying to use HomePods as speakers or whatever.
Now if Roku wants to guarantee that I never even think about moving back to the Apple ecosystem, they could do one little thing: Make the four "app launch" buttons reprogrammable. On each of my Roku remotes, exactly one of those is for a service that I would ever use in a million years. Let me configure them for Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, and Plex. But I digress. Still, that's one more than Apple's remote has, even in the new version, so....
Re: (Score:1)
Yea because pressing the netflix button to bring up Apple TV isn't kludgey at all :)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
And don't forget with Roku you pay for the device that tracks and sells every bit of your personal and viewing information without receiving any compensation in kind. Suck on that Apple.
Re: Yay. They've Caught Up With the $99 Roku Ultr (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Same here. For me it works fine; especially mirroring from iDevices works very well.
Re: (Score:2)
From iOS, it's fine. It's from macOS that it is problematic. For example, try to do AirPlay mirroring and then play a video in Safari, and it chokes.
Inputting asian characters... (Score:3)
I couldn't get asian character inputs to work with a TCL HDTV's Roku from an old iPhone 6+ (iOS v12). No problems with Apple TVs (3G and 4K) though.
What about the apps? (Score:1)
That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
At 1000x the apps (including all of Apple Arcade), that means the Apple TV pulls way ahead.
Roku is OK but it simply can't match the flexibility of the Apple box. And the AppleTV is a hub for Apple Home, so for instance actually secure security cameras can connect to it and be access remotely.
Re: (Score:2)
That puts them just half a year behind the competition, and at only twice the price.
At 1000x the apps (including all of Apple Arcade), that means the Apple TV pulls way ahead.
Ah but in terms of entertainment apps, Roku is way ahead, or at least it was the last time I checked. You have to include games for Apple to be ahead, and most people don't buy a set-top box for games; they buy it to passively consume content. Most people who want to play games (beyond dabbing) buy an actual game console.
Re: (Score:1)
Ah but in terms of entertainment apps, Roku is way ahead, or at least it was the last time I checked.
I don't think so, any app Roku would have also exists on Apple TV, then you have all the Apple TV apps Roku does not have, then you have Arcade on top of that... There is simply no category where Roku comes out ahead.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, iMore would disagree [imore.com].
If you're looking for off-the-path content, however, Roku remains ahead of Apple's box. It boasts hundreds of channels and apps that are missing on Apple TV.