Roku announced on March 22 that they will be rolling out their Roku OS 11 firmware update in the following weeks. With this major update, Roku users will unlock a host of new functionalities and features, such as new sound modes, auto speech clarity, and added photo sharing and viewing options. Many Roku users have been waiting for this update, so here’s a quick summary of what to expect!
Automatic Speech Clarity and new Sound Modes
With their OS 11 firmware update, Roku is finally fixing one of the worst issues in streaming, the audio. We know you know about them—those movies where you have to crank up the volume to 11 and still the dialogues sound whispered. And then you totally forget that you maxed out the volume until that scene with insanely loud music over stock footage reminds you of it. You no longer need to suffer through that ordeal.
Roku’s new Automatic Speech Clarity and Dialogue Sound Mode identify and amplify dialogue in a way that balances the movie’s audio—something today’s movie sound engineers just can’t seem to get right, anymore– and gives your thumb a well-deserved rest.
When you don’t need the Dialogue Sound Mode, you can conveniently switch it to Standard, Movie, Music, and Night.
Other Exciting New Features of Roku OS 11
The audio upgrade alone makes this a major improvement, but Roku further enhances user experience and personalization with Photo Streams, the expanded content discovery, Roku voice, and the Roku mobile app.
Photo Streams is a nice little touch that lets you upload personal photos directly to your Roku device to be displayed as a screensaver. The cool thing about this is that your Roku device is usually connected to the biggest screen in the house, and you can now effectively turn that screen into a digital photo frame.
The Roku Home Screen Menu got a new What to Watch section that personalizes recently added titles and recommendations based on popular and trending content. In the new Live TV zone, that streams free live and linear content, you will now also find your recently watched live tv content and see what’s new in news, sports, movies, and more.
Roku Voice, which allows you to set up your device using Roku voice remote, has been expanded to include Spanish, Portuguese, and German with the OS 11 update.
The Roku mobile app also got a little TLC from the OS 11 firmware update, offering users a more visual search experience. You can easily find new free tv streaming of movies and shows thanks to the new visual cues. Also, the content details now have added images of the cast and film crew to help you choose what to watch.
