Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.

This way, when an owner of a Roku TV takes a short break from playing a game on their Xbox, or streaming something on an Apple TV device connected to the TV set, Roku would use that break to show ads. Roku engineers have even explored ways to figure out what the consumer is doing with their TV-connected device in order to display relevant advertising.

    • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      While that sounds nice and all, I’ve had playback issues before…not to mention it’s bulkier than a chromecast, and I’d still need a remote…There’s no Android or Android-TV solution that’s privacy friendly right?

      • archomrade [he/him]
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        9 months ago

        Fair enough.

        Personally I use a shield, but there’s nothing about it that precludes the possibility of tracking. If all you need is to connect to jellyfin on your home server, you might be able to install something like tailscale on it and use a firewall to block any other connections.

        I don’t think there’s a ready made solution though