If you wish that your Roku was a bit more customizable, you’re in luck. Roku OS 11 will begin rolling out to supported devices in the coming weeks, and the software update will introduce a number of big new features, including Roku Photo Streams. This will allow users to upload images and use them to make personalized screensavers.
When the update arrives, users will be able to upload images directly to their devices from a phone or computer. Once you’ve uploaded a few photos, you can turn your TV into a digital photo frame. You can also share Streams with other Roku device owners. Once the Stream has been shared, other users will be able to add their own photos as well.
New features in Roku OS 11
Beyond Photo Streams, there are several other new features coming in Roku OS 11. In order to enhance content discovery, Roku is adding a “What to Watch” option to your home screen menu. This will surface new TV shows and movies from the streaming services you spend the most time interacting with. It focuses on popular and trending content, so you can find great new shows and movies without opening any of your apps.
Roku is also putting more emphasis on live TV. At the beginning of the year, Roku added Live TV Zone to the home screen menu. After Roku OS 11, the Live TV section will include recently watched content as well as the latest news, sports, movies, and more.
More upgrades coming to Roku devices
OS 11 also brings some useful upgrades to audio on Roku devices. Roku’s audio products now include an automatic speech clarity setting that dynamically identifies and amplifies dialogue. There are also new sound modes — Standard, Dialogue, Movie, Music, and Night — for Roku Streambars and speakers. You can access these sound modes by pressing the star button on your remote or through the Roku mobile app. Plus, a calibration tool will make it easier to sync the audio with the video on the screen.
Roku is also refreshing its mobile app with OS 11 to make it more useful than before:
With OS 11, the free Roku mobile app will provide users with a more visual experience when searching on the platform, allowing you to get more out of the channels you have access to. When you search for TV shows or movies, new visual elements with OS 11 highlights which channels are streaming the TV for free or where it can be streamed with your existing subscriptions. The new content details on the mobile app also show visual images of the cast and crew to assist with choosing what to watch. All of these updates are the perfect match to the recently added Save List, which allows you to save movies and TV shows while on the go so you can stream them when you’re back home and ready to watch.
Finally, voice-enabled keyboards will be available in Spanish, German, and Portuguese. You can see the full release notes for OS 11 on Roku’s website.
More Roku content: If you’re looking for more Roku content, check out our Roku guide.
