Given the 3000 “channels” Roku boasts, you’d think the streaming pioneer would provide some sort of sensible organizational structure. Sadly, many owners (such as myself) are left with an unwieldy scrolling grid of providers. Yeah, we can rearrange app placement within the grid.. but there’s no way to isolate by category or viewer. And it’s not like this is a new concept as WDTV brought way more robust presentation, including tabs and folders, to the television… about three years ago.
Well, the “new” Apple TV is poised to leapfrog Roku (and Amazon) when they release tvOS 9.2 in the coming weeks. Beyond a new (and improved) podcast app and Bluetooth keyboard support, Apple will port a variant of their rudimentary mobile OS foldering feature to the big screen.
While I can’t speak to actual folder usage (as the feature is in developer beta), given Apple TV remote control fussiness, advanced app management may not be the most comfortable to implement. Yet, I’m highly confident it’ll be worth the effort and look forward to getting organized on my brand-spanking-new unit.
I was just thinking the other day that folders would be helpful…. I have my Video options, such as Plex, Netflix, Hulu (which I have yet to sign up for, but probably will soon), etc. I then have a few games that would be nice to group. This will be much better, as I expect that at some point, more and more apps will become available, and I don’t like to scroll page after page. I use folders extensively on my iPhone and iPad, and would love this on the Apple TV.
Not super sexy, but I can dig it….
“Well, the “new” Apple TV is poised to leapfrog Roku (and Amazon) when they release tvOS 9.2 in the coming weeks … Apple will port a variant of their rudimentary mobile OS foldering feature to the big screen.”
Well, the downside is that you have to use an Apple TV instead of a Roku…
Yes yes yes. This is going to be a great feature. And it’s absurd how few streamers have it.
Both the Apple TV and Roku’s have their uses, I’ve got both. Both camps spread lies about the other.
Chucky,
We get it, you don’t like anything with an apple logo on it. Give it a rest.
I’ve never understood people picking sides and being so vocal about it when it comes to electronic devices. I own Rokus, Apple TVs, a Fire TV stick, a Tivo, an HD Homerun, Plasma TVs, LCD TVs, etc… They all have their strengths and weaknesses and I value them all. Much like politics, no one cares about your personal feelings toward a particular party / brand.
“Chucky, We get it, you don’t like anything with an apple logo on it. Give it a rest.”
I rock an all Apple CPU household.
Multiple Apple laptops, multiple Apple Mini’s, and many iOS devices.
But you are generally relevant in the sense that I do have profound issues with Cupertino’s direction of late.
However, on this particular thread, it’s not generalized. It’s specific. I was just being snarkily opposed to having an Apple TV as your primary streamer. To be non-snarky, it just seems like a very poor choice to me. Talk to me about PC’s or Touch devices, and I’d have a radically different opinion.
I read a review that said the off-white background is “deafening”. Overwhelming, especially in a dark room.
Folders — that took, what?, five years longer than it should have.
The biggest problem with the Apple TV (and Amazon Fire TV) is…
If you are not interested in iTunes ( or iPayDEARLY LOL! ) you cannot get rid of it.
Can you get the iTunes app crap off the top line?
Can you get iTunes off of your searches?
One thing I really hate about Safari lately is when I do a search for TV shows and such it pulls up a quick link to iTunes first instead of Wiki which I prefer.
“The biggest problem with the Apple TV … is”
IMHO, the biggest problem with the Apple TV is that you’re locked into a TV/Movie vendor that is firmly tied to a single hardware supplier.
TV must be purchased, of course. And while I generally rent movies, for certain movies I expect to eventually rewatch, I’ll often buy if the differential is 2x-3x.
So any non-trivial content library you accumulate means you’re permanently tied into a single hardware supplier, even if a far more desirable hardware solution appears in the near-term or mid-term. Hell, while I recommend the Roku, I’ve shifted the great bulk of my OTT viewing from Roku to TiVo as a more desirable hardware solution which I didn’t imagine when I first started accumulating content. And I couldn’t do that if I’d gotten sucked into the Apple single hardware supplier model…
(There are multiple other problems, but that’s the biggie, IMHO.)
It’s so WEIRD to me that people “buy” movies or TV shows anymore, especially “buying” in the streaming world. Reminds me of people who INSIST on watching sports (or any TV) LIVE.