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Roku OS’s home screen now features a large, permanent ad (arstechnica.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 49 points 3 months ago* (7 children)

FYI if you already have a Roku, you can block these with a network level ad blocker like Pihole.

Edit: Here’s a list of common Smart TV domains to block.

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  • [–] 34 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I was using NextDNS instead of pihole because I wanted my ad blocking to still work when I’m out and about.

    Couldn’t stay on the free tier because I make so many DNS requests. Which seemed weird - it’s just the two of us using the network?

    Lo and behold, the fucking forgotten Roku attached to a TV was doing a fresh DNS lookup every 30 seconds to try to call home and send telemetry data. It accounted for like 60% of my DNS traffic!

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago*

    I use a simple WireGuard VPN to use my home DNS when I’m out. This container from linuxserver.io was really easy to set up, and the WireGuard app works great on iOS/Android. You can even have it automatically turn on and off depending on your network.

    I tried fancy mesh networks like Tailscale, but it was over-complicated for my setup and kept causing DNS issues. Some people find this works well for them, though.

    Either way, you can go full self-hosted this way and save money.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    If you already have a Roku you can probably just stop using a Roku.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    What do you recommend instead for $30-40?

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago*

    One of the Onn streaming devices from Walmart. Picked one up last month to replace an old Fire Stick, and it's been great. Runs stock (or close enough to it) GoogleTv and it only cost about $40. Downloaded Projectivy Launcher and set it as my default home app, so no more home screen ads. Will probably end up throwing ReVanced on it, too.

    And when Google inevitably pisses me off enough, I can unlock the bootloader and try my hand at flashing a custom ROM without any Google Play services.

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