Roku devices have a feature called More Ways to Watch. This purpose of this feature, according to Roku, is that it “enables you to stream live broadcast shows from the beginning, find full episodes of shows you missed, discover similar shows and movies and see ads that are more relevant to you.”
While that sounds harmless and even helpful, not all users are excited about Roku using Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) to keep track of what they’re watching, or the ads that come along with that. More Ways to Watch is not automatically enabled, but if you did enable the feature during setup or in the Settings menu, you’ll need to go back and disable it if you decide you no longer want it.
Luckily, Roku makes it easy to turn off the feature.
- Go to the Home screen on your Roku.
- Select Settings
- Select Privacy, then Smart TV Experience
- Find the option for Enable Auto Notifications. If you check this box, you’ll be opted in for More Ways to Watch. Uncheck the box to opt out.
For more information about how Roku uses Automatic Content Recognition, here’s the section about this feature from their privacy policy:
When you use a Roku TV with the Smart TV experience enabled, we also receive information about what you watch via the Roku’s TV’s antenna, and devices connected to your Roku TV, including cable and satellite set top boxes. Using technology such as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, we receive information such as the programs, commercials, and channels you view, the date, time and duration of the viewing, and how you use the on-screen TV guide. When you use a Roku TV with the Smart TV experience enabled, we use this information to personalize your TV viewing experience and advertisements. Please visit Settings > Privacy > Smart TV experience on your Roku TV to learn how you can enable or disable the Smart TV experience.
If you do not wish for us to enhance your TV viewing experience using ACR technology to collect viewing information from your Roku TV’s antenna and devices connected to your Roku TV, you can uncheck this option during device setup or de-select “Use Info from TV Inputs” under Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience on your Roku TV’s Settings menu. Your choice will only affect the Roku TV on which you disable the feature. Your selection will not affect data Roku collects through its streaming service. If you enable the Smart TV experience and later disable it, Roku will retain the data it collected while the feature was enabled and may still share it with third parties for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
Did you know we now have a FREE app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire? Click HERE to download our app.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews. Need cord cutting tech support? Join our Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.