Roku App wants to help you with burn in (by burning a qr code into your screen)

8 months ago by themeatbridge to c/assholedesign

Yes, I know, Roku sucks for a variety of reasons, and we can just add this to the pile.

Roku launched a new feature, Backdrops, which is just a screensaver that they foist upon you. But they must have gotten complaints about screen burn in, because months after the lauch, they pushed an update that adds this notification pop-up.

A few things that should have been obvious:

  • A television with the screensaver on is probably unattended.
  • The point of a rotating screensaver is to avoid static images that cause screen burn
  • The pop-up never goes away and covers the bottom of the screen across all images, with the QR code in stark black on white, which is most likely to create screen burn.

The thing is, this is such a small issue, but it belies a foundational disrespect for users. The carelessness and incompetence could be ignored, but the obligatory nature of pushing this out without consent or care is why it fits squarely in asshole territory.

scrubbles 21 points 8 months ago

That is phenomenal. Just absolutely stunning. The sheer stupidity of how they did that as astounding.

path: 0 22087855, hotness: undefined, score: 21, children: 1
Steve 22 points 8 months ago

Its got that vibe coded energy

path: 0 22087855 22091708, hotness: undefined, score: 22, children: 0
Reygle 11 points 8 months ago

The only correct way to use a Roku TV is to never allow it access to any network.

Or factory reset it and use it as a TV (never allowed on a network after) if it's too late for that

path: 0 22088117, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 6
wreckedcarzz 7 points 8 months ago

'to reset this device, it needs internet access. it will automatically reconnect during setup.'

path: 0 22088117 22088887, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 5
Reygle 4 points 8 months ago

Uhhhh, apparently not THAT "factory reset", unless it's applied enough updates that they got wise to it? Good lord

path: 0 22088117 22088887 22089697, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 0
Retro_unlimited 2 points 8 months ago

If it requires internet then it’s time to side load another OS.

path: 0 22088117 22088887 22091649, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 3
Reygle 1 point 8 months ago

Interesting thought, but I recommend a small linux PC over HDMI instead.

path: 0 22088117 22088887 22091649 22104495, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 2
Retro_unlimited 1 point 8 months ago

But you can’t setup the TV to use HDMI because it requires internet. Unless you mean to an HDMI monitor instead?

path: 0 22088117 22088887 22091649 22104495 22111961, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 1
morto 4 points 8 months ago

Wait, do modern tvs have burn in?

path: 0 22089469, hotness: undefined, score: 4, children: 1
alt_xa_23 14 points 8 months ago

Yeah, OLED displays can develop burn in.

path: 0 22089469 22090167, hotness: undefined, score: 14, children: 0
Brkdncr 1 point 8 months ago

You have opt in to Backdrops. It’s not default.

path: 0 22089591, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 2
themeatbridge 3 points 8 months ago

You're right. They add it to your homescreen without asking, and then one of the kids clicked on it. It's not a terrible app, actually, I just resent having to turn off all the bullshit they keep adding to my home screen. Once I realized that someone had enabled it, I picked some images that weren't too bright or distracting, and left it alone because I figured why not? Then I walk into the room where someone left the tv on, and it's got this qr code across the bottom.

Thankfully, there wasn't any burn in, but still. It felt like a "Beware of Sign" sign.

path: 0 22089591 22121863, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0
scrubbles 2 points 8 months ago

Which is stupid by itself. It should be assumed that a TV can be burned in, with the option to disable it if they don't like it or don't care.

path: 0 22089591 22091225, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
assholedesign
assholedesign

@lemmy.world

login for more options
11620
119
40

This is a community for designs specifically crafted to make the experience worse for the user. This can be due to greed, apathy, laziness or just downright scumbaggery.

go to feed...