Roku has a few new features coming to its devices. These includes an alert when new movies hit streaming services, badges for award-winning films, and sports highlights for the teams you support. These updates will be rolling out over the coming months, the company said. Here are all the new features Roku announced in its most recent blog post.
An easier way to find and watch movies
Roku is releasing a feature called Coming Soon to Theaters, which displays the biggest theatrical releases from Hollywood in a new row on the home screen. You can use this to quickly discover interesting new movies that you'd like to watch the next time you visit a theater. If you'd rather watch it at home, you can add those movies to your Save List on Roku, after which the device will notify you the moment that movie is available on a streaming service. In a related feature, Roku's adding a new badge for award-winning films, making it easier to spot films worth watching.
A more personalized sports experience
Roku is also bringing in a personalized highlights row in the Sports Zone section, a hub for all sports-related videos. With improved personalization, you'll be able to see clips from your favorite teams front-and-center. You'll also be able to turn on notifications for when your favorite teams from various sports are playing. Additionally, Roku said it's adding Sports Zone to more regions across the world, starting with Mexico.
More short-form content on display
In the All Things Food and All Things Home sections, Roku will show dedicated rows for short videos. If you'd like to watch short clips related to food or homes, Roku will make it easy to do so.
An upgraded Roku app
Roku's mobile app is getting the ability to use your phone as a remote for the TV. The app is also adding more details to its content pages, such as cast, crew, trailers, and IMDb ratings. This will let you get useful information about the content you're watching without having to leave the app.
A trivia game for nerds
Roku's Daily Trivia game is back after a brief pause. The game shows you 10 questions every day and after you're done, you can take a look at content related to the topics in the quiz. The trivia section now boasts improved visuals, and lets you access questions from older quizzes as well.
Access Roku City whenever you want to
The Roku City screensaver is quite popular among users of the company's devices. It's a fake city that appears if your Roku is idling. With these updates, a Roku City tile will appear on the device's home screen, allowing you to visit the fictional locale whenever you want to. Roku also announced that Backdrops, its wallpapers functionality, is coming to its devices in Canada. The feature has been available in the US for a while now.
