Wondering why your Roku looks…different? Roku occasionally changes the background for its millions of users, something they call a “featured theme.”
Sometimes this is fun! For example, here’s a change they’ve made on firework-ready holidays in the past:
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Nothing to complain about here! But Roku also has a history of using this feature to advertise movies and TV shows, which you might not be as thrilled about that (especially if you’ve already removed the Fandango store from your Roku.)
Thankfully, you can turn this feature off as well. From the home screen on your Roku, head to Settings > Themes > Custom settings and you’ll find the option to “Enable featured themes.”
Uncheck the option, and featured themes will be the thing of a past. No more random interface changes!
While you’re here, you might as well check out some of the other themes offered in Settings > Themes.
None of them are radically different than the default, and I honestly prefer the standard look to all of them. But reasonable people can disagree!
There are a few more themes you can download, but the selection is limited. If you’re inclined to spend some money, you can buy a limited number of alternative in the Roku store. This Star Trek: The Next Generation one costs $3:
It be nice if Roku allowed users to create their own themes, instead of charging $3 for what amounts to a branded wallpaper, but whatever. Micro-transactions are fun…right?
