Enhanced File Management with Roku OS 12.5, Now Integrated with Google Photos

Roku regularly updates the operating system on its TVs and streaming devices, adding new features and improving the underlying platform. The Roku OS 12 update arrived in March , with improvements to local TV channels and an overhauled Roku mobile app. The company is now rolling out Roku OS 12.5, which will make the ever-increasing amount of streaming content easier to find and add new integrations with Google Photos.

Roku has spent the past few years adding more built-in entertainment, especially live shows, and now the company is trying to better organize everything. The “What to Watch” will be broken up into categories including TV shows, movies, “New & Popular,” and free content. The order of channels in the Live TV guide are now “personalized,” without channel numbers. The numbers were never necessary for channels from Roku itself, especially since most Roku remotes don’t have a number pad for quick channel entry, but the numbers for TV antenna channels are a bit more useful.

There are also a few more customization features on the way. You’ll be able to upload images or link to an album on Google Photos, and then set those images as your Roku Photo Stream . The update also adds the option to favorite a sports game, which will pin it to the “My Favorites” row in the Sports screen for checking later. Roku is also adding an “expert picture setting” panel to 4K devices, allowing you to customize the color temperature, color space, gamma correction, and noise reduction. Those are the same options already available in the Roku app.

Speaking of the mobile app, the app is also getting an update alongside Roku OS 12.5. The search feature is getting an overhaul, allowing you “to discover new entertainment in a more visual and immersive way than before.” The update comes after the mobile app already received changes earlier this year, including a new hub for creating and managing Roku accounts, a simpler home page, and easier uploading for Roku Photo Streams.

Roku OS 12.5 will roll out to supported Roku TVs and streaming devices over the coming weeks.

Source: Roku

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