Baffled Roku fans panicking over ‘$6.99 charge’ to use TV features – but you’ll only pay if you make simple app mistake
ROKU fans were left confused after being asked to pay a monthly fee.
The $6.99-per-month charge allowed users to take advantage of mobile feature.
But there’s no such fee for Roku – the users were simply downloading the wrong app.
A post to the Roku Community forums asked: “Why am I paying $6.99 a month subscription for Roku when my neighbor is paying nothing?”
They added: “Am I missing something?”
And a recent Reddit post saw a user share a screenshot of the charges, asking why they needed to pay.
But Cordcutters News noted that the user was actually sharing a screenshot of an unofficial Roku app.
It turned out that a third-party app maker had launched an app that was easily confused with the official one.
This alternative app had a $6.99 fee associated with it.
Of course the official Roku mobile app is totally free.
So if your Roku app is asking you to pay money for its mobile features, you’ve installed the wrong download.
And if you’re a true Roku TV fan, there are several great reasons why you should try it out.
FREE ROKU MOBILE APP PERKS
The Roku mobile app is free and packed with perks.
For a start, it functions as a remote – so you can control your TV even if you’ve lost the physical control.
You can also use the mobile app for private listening.
Just connect headphones to your smartphone, and then you can listen to your Roku’s audio.
“Private listening is a feature of the Roku mobile app that lets you listen to your TV on headphones that are connected to your phone or tablet,” Roku explains.
Where to buy Roku devices
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Roku streaming devices can be purchased from the following stores in the US:
- Roku – shop here
- Amazon – shop here
- Best Buy – shop here
- Walmart – shop here
- Home Depot – shop here
- Staples – shop here
Read more on Roku:
- Fire Stick vs Roku: which is better?
“When others nearby do not want to be disturbed, you can still enjoy the sound from streaming channels and live digital broadcast television on wired headphones plugged into your mobile device.
“Or Bluetooth headphones that are connected wirelessly.”
Just go into the Roku mobile app, tap Remote, and then hit the Headphone icon.
It’s worth noting that up to four mobile devices can be connected at the same time for private listening.
You can also use the Roku app to show off your personal media files – like photos or videos – on the TV.
It’s called the Play on Roku feature, and it works with a host of file types for photos, videos, and music.
And another great feature is the ability to use your voice to search and control your Roku.
Roku voice commands – the official list
Here are some voice commands to try with your Roku mobile app, as revealed by the TV giant itself...
- Find a specific movie or show
“Harry Potter”
“find Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“show me episodes of Silicon Valley” - Search for your favorite actors or directors
“Halle Berry”
“search for comedy movies with Will Farrell”
“find all Martin Scorsese films” - Browse popular genres
“show me comedies”
“find thriller movies” - Find content in a genre on a channel
“show documentary films on Sky Store”
- Launch a streaming channel
“go to YouTube”
“launch Prime Video”
“BBC iPlayer”
- Playback commands
“fast forward”
“rewind”
“pause”
“stop”
“resume”
“continue”
“skip”
“next”
“replay” - Closed captioning commands
“turn on closed captioning”
“hide the captions”
“show captions during replay”
“turn on captions during mute”
“what’s my captions setting?”
- Move forward a specific amount of time
“forward 15 minutes”
“skip 5 minutes”
“fast forward 3 minutes”
“go forward 10 minutes” - Move backward (or rewind) a specific amount of time
“go back half an hour”
“rewind 30 minutes” - Restart video from beginning
“start over”
- Search for content
“play Taylor Swift”
“play Daft Punk on Spotify”
“play S-Town on TuneIn” - Interact with your streaming service
“thumbs up/down”
“like/dislike”
“what song is this?”
- Switch devices
“switch the input to HDMI 3”
“switch to antenna TV”
“switch to Blu-ray player” - Change over-the-air broadcast channels
“channel up”
“channel down”
“tune to NBC”
“find channel 7.1″
“previous channel” - Launch or hide Live TV Channel Guide
“open live tv guide”
“open channel guide
“hide channel guide” - Adjust volume levels
“turn the volume up”
“volume down”
“mute”
“set volume to 50%”
“set volume to 5”
If your Roku remote doesn’t support voice controls, the mobile app will let you try it out.
For instance, you can ask for specific apps to open or search for a genre of movie.
Or on Roku TVs, you can control volume – or even turn the entire television off.
Just open the app and tap Remote on the bottom bar, then hit the Voice button.
You can also tap the microphone icon for Voice inside the Search box.