Secret Roku Settings and Features You Need to Know! ｜ Setup Essentials

Whether you've just gotten a Roku stick or want to get the most out of your Roku TV, I'm here to help you get set up with the best settings for your Roku streaming device. Welcome back to Setup Essentials. Let's get into the video. I actually want to start with a quick breakdown of all the different Roku streaming devices. The most entry-level option is the streaming The basic model streams in 1080p HD, stick which plugs right into an HDMI port. the Streaming Stick Plus adds 4K and HDR, and the Streaming Stick 4K layers on Dolby Vision and longer-range Wi-Fi. Above that is the Roku Ultra, which does everything the Streaming Stick 4K can do, but adds Dolby Atmos, Bluetooth headphone pairing, hands-free voice controls, and an Ethernet port for ultra-stable streaming. Roku also sells the Roku Stream Bar SE, a super affordable combo device that gives you 4K HDR streaming and a legit sound upgrade with automatic speech clarity. And if you want the Roku experience built right into your TV, there's the full Roku TV lineup. You'll also find plenty of partner brands that come with Roku built in, so you really can pick whatever size and style fits your setup. I'll drop some links to all of these in the description if you want to check them out. To connect a Roku streaming stick, just plug it into an open HDMI port on your TV. Power it with the included USB cable using either a free USB port on your TV or a spare USB-A power brick. Roku doesn't include one, unfortunately. For the Roku Ultra, connect the power adapter and HDMI cable to the device, then run that HDMI cable to your TV. Pretty easy. The Roku Stream Bar is a little different. If your TV has an HDMI ARC or HDMI CEC port, use that one. It lets the stream bar become your TV's main audio output. Just use the correct HDMI port and follow the on-screen instructions to finish setting up your Stream Bar. Every Roku comes with a remote, but they're not all the same. Here's how to tell which one you have and how to pair a Roku remote. If your remote doesn't have a microphone button, it's the IR Simple Remote. It only works when you point it directly at the Roku and it can't be reset or resynced. But most newer Roku devices ship with a voice remote. This one uses Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so you don't need to aim it at anything. It's very convenient. If your voice remote has a pairing button on the back or inside the battery compartment, press it to enter pairing mode, then follow the prompts on your TV. If your voice remote doesn't have a pairing button, Just hold the back and home buttons at the same time to start pairing and follow the on-screen steps. And if pairing still won't cooperate, unplug your Roku, pop out the remote's batteries, and try again. If you're having remote trouble or misplace it, you can always use the Roku mobile app on your iPhone or Android to control your Roku device. You can even use your microphone with the app for voice commands. First, download the Roku app from your phone's app store. Open the app and log in using your Roku credentials. Click remote at the bottom of the screen. You may be asked to search for devices on your local network. Click allow. Select the Roku device you want to use with the app. You can now use your phone to control your Roku. The app is also a great way to search for content across all your accounts, including all the free Roku channels. And yes, the Roku mobile app is completely free, so I definitely recommend downloading it to get the most out of your device. Even if you don't have a Roku, the free content on there is available for anyone to stream. Roku devices come with most of the popular streaming apps installed right out of the box. But here's how to add apps to Roku to get more of the content you want to watch. Press the home button on your Roku remote. Select streaming store. From here, find the app you want to download or use the search bar up top. Select add app and follow the instructions and the app will download to your device. You can also use the Roku mobile app or head to channelstore.roku.com to add apps to your device. When you download an app, you're actually adding it to your Roku account, which means the next time you buy a Roku device and log in, all your apps will download automatically. Now that you've got your apps installed, let's get you logged into your streaming accounts. Every app is a little different, but most give you two options. The easiest is using a phone or tablet when you're already signed in. Choose the QR code or sign in with your device option, scan the code with your camera, and follow the prompts. You'll be logged in within seconds. You can also enter your username and password using the on-screen keyboard, but it's definitely slower, especially if you have a complicated password, which I sincerely hope you do because streaming apps do tend to fall victim to hacking. Roku actually had a pretty nasty one a while back, so just my PSA to use unique and difficult passwords across all your streaming accounts. But what if you've downloaded an app you don't actually want? Here's how to delete apps on Roku. First, press home on your Roku remote. Move to the right and highlight the app you want to delete. Press the star button on your Roku remote to open the option menu. Select remove app and hit confirm. You can also use the Roku mobile app to remove apps from your device and accounts. If for some reason you still can't delete the app, it might be one that has auto renew subscription enabled. Make sure you turn that off, then try to delete the app again. Roku devices support sharing what's on your phone or laptop screen, but how you screen mirror with Roku depends on your device. To connect an iPhone, iPad, or Mac and share your content or screen, you'll need to use AirPlay. Note that for AirPlay to work, your iOS device and Roku must both be on the same Wi-Fi network. First, find the video, song, or photo you want to share to your Roku. Tap the share button and select AirPlay, then select your Roku device from the AirPlay menu. You may need to type in a PIN number that appears on your Roku device screen to complete the connection. For Android phones, swipe down and go over to Cast, but on Samsung phones it might say Smart View. Select your Roku device to start the connection. Follow the instructions on your Roku device to allow the screen mirroring. Is your Roku running slow? You might find it runs better after clearing the cache. Here's how to clear cache on Roku. Press the home button on your Roku remote. Then press the home button five times. Push the up arrow once. Push the rewind button twice. Push the fast forward button twice. Wait for your Roku to restart. The Roku screen may freeze at this point, but don't worry. Give it some time and it will restart on its own with the cache cleared. If clearing the cache didn't do the trick, you might want to reset your Roku. You'll also want to reset your device if you're selling it or giving it away. Before you take this step, keep in mind that resetting your Roku will erase your personal preferences, remove all apps and account information, and reset the device to its initial setup status. To reset your Roku, press the home button on your Roku remote, scroll and select Settings, select System, select Advanced System Settings, Select Factory Reset. If you have a Roku TV, select Factory Reset Everything. Follow the on-screen instructions to reset your Roku. You can also reset your Roku by pressing the physical reset button on the device, which may be a pinhole design that requires a paperclip. Locate the reset button or pinhole on your Roku device, then press and hold the button firmly for 10 seconds. An indicator light on the Roku should blink rapidly when the factory reset is initiated. Every Roku device has access to hundreds of channels and apps with free, ad-supported content including ABC, NBC, and more. Here's how you can access local channels and other free content right on your Roku. The easiest way to access local channels is to access the Live TV Channel Guide. First, press home on your Roku remote, select live TV, Select live TV guide. Scroll through the categories to news and opinion. Scroll through the channel guide to find the local news channels from your area. Be sure to check out the rest of the live TV channels for even more free streaming content. Just keep in mind it's live, so no pausing or rewinding. You can also download free streaming apps from the streaming store, including Tubi and Pluto TV. You can also plug an HD antenna into your Roku TV to get access to more free local TV channels right in the same searchable live TV browser. The Roku interface can be customized with different theme packs which contains wallpapers, screensavers, and navigation sounds. Here's how to add a little style to your Roku. Press the home button on your Roku remote, select settings, select theme, select theme packs to browse your available options. A white check mark means the theme pack is installed and a green check mark means it's currently active. To download and install a new theme pack, select get theme pack. Once the theme pack is downloaded and installed, you'll need to select Set Theme Pack to activate your new wallpaper, screensaver, and navigation sounds all at once. Once the pack is installed, you can customize each element individually. Just open the theme menu and select either Wallpaper, Screensaver, or Navigation Sounds to change that specific element. The aquarium is my personal favorite. Your Roku will also automatically display seasonal themes for a few days each year, such as for Valentine's Day or Halloween. This is enabled by default, but here's how you can deactivate it. Open the themes menu, select seasonal themes, select off to disable seasonal themes. In addition to customizing your interface, you can actually use a feature called backdrops to turn your TV into a more dynamic display or piece of decor when you're not watching something. It's totally free, you can choose from a large library of curated artwork and photography, or upload and display your own images to personalize your screen. Yes, it is very similar to the Frame TV in some ways, but again, this is free and you just set it up in the Backdrops app. Speaking of some lesser-known Roku features, did you know that Rokus have secret settings menus you can access by entering a code into your remote? It even says secret right there on the menu. Here are some of the most useful Roku secret menus and how to access them. The first secret screen menu lets you check for firmware and software updates and test the USB port. You can also factory reset from the screen. To access the menu, press the home button on your Roku remote five times, then press fast forward three times, then rewind two times. The second secret screen menu lets you cycle through ad channels and servers, as well as change the image type of your screenshots. To access the menu, press the home button on your Roku remote five times, then press up, right, down, left, up. The wireless secret screen shows you information about your wireless connection, like signal strength and glitch rates, and lets you run an AP speed test. To access the wireless secret screen, press the home button on your Roku remote five times, then press up, down, up, down, up. The HDMI secret screen gives you exact information about the resolutions, refresh rates, and HDR your Roku supports. It also lets you run tests on your TV's HDMI ports. To access the HDMI secret screen, press the home button on your Roku remote Then press down, left, up, up, up. The platform's secret screen is packed with your Roku's hardware information, including CPU temperature, voltage, memory, and connected remotes. It also has menus for RF remote diagnostics, IPv6 settings, and even a log of your remote's button presses. To access the platform's secret screen on your Roku TV, press the home button five times, then press fast forward, down, rewind, down, fast forward. For all other Roku devices, press the home button on your Roku remote five times, then press fast forward, play, rewind, play, fast forward. Next, here's how to use your Roku as a Bluetooth speaker. Press the home button on your Roku remote, select settings, select remotes and devices, select smartphones and tablets, even if you are connecting a PC or laptop, select add new smartphone or tablet, On your device, open Bluetooth pairing and select your Roku device when it appears in the list. Your new device should pair shortly. Now, so long as you turn on your TV, you can use your Roku to stream music and audio. Roku's offered lots of ways to use Bluetooth and even wired headphones. Here's how to get connected. To pair your Bluetooth headphones, press the home button on your Roku remote. Select settings. Select remotes and devices. Select Wireless Headphones. Select add new wireless headphones, turn on your Bluetooth headphones and turn on pairing mode. Your Roku will scan for your device which can take up to 30 seconds. Select your device when it appears in the list of available devices. After a moment your headphones should be paired. After your Bluetooth headphones are paired, which you only need to do once, you may need to connect your headphones to start using them for audio. Press the home button on your Roku remote. Select settings, select remotes and devices, Select your headphones, select connect. There's also a quick way to switch to headphones after you've started watching something. Press the star button on your Roku remote, select Bluetooth headphones, select your headphones, select connect. Your Roku should automatically connect to your headphones when they power on, but if they don't, here's how you toggle this feature on or off. Press the home button on your Roku remote, select settings, select remotes and devices, Select wireless headphones. Select your headphones, switch auto detect on or off. Some Roku remotes also feature a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack that you can use with wired headphones. When you plug in your headphones, you'll see a headphone icon appear on screen to confirm that headphone mode is active and the audio from your TV speakers will be muted. Just make sure to adjust the volume lower before putting on your headphones. That's all for this episode of Setup Essentials. Hopefully this guide helps you get the most out of your Roku device, but if there's anything you think I should include for next time, be sure to let me know in the comments. Interested in picking up a new Roku or streaming subscription? Be sure to check the description for links to the best deals right now. Be sure to subscribe and hit that like button, and until next time, My name is Phil Rodriguez, this is Tom's Guide, and I'll see you in the next video.