lyprulz wrote:

Rcosta wrote:

As I do this type of work professionally in the Silicon Valley, I can tell you that a large change in functionality does not happen in a vacuum. Many people have to sign-off on it. The only way to get a change is to let Roku engineering and support know of your displeasure and "MAYBE" the decision makers (Product managers etc. ) will reexamine the functionality if there is a large displeasure with the feature. 

Working in tech as well, I also know how hard it is for these changes to happen and how unlikely it is that the feature will ever change back (or that an alternative feature will be provided). That's why 1) I hope the e-mail was the correct response and this is just a bug needing to be fixed, or 2) that everyone also joins me in e-mailing and tweeting to Roku to express their displeasure at the new functionality.


@lyprulz, As I am one of the "decision makers", in reference to my work as the Program Manager/ Product Manager at the company I work for, if a change in functionality was met with a large outcry from my customers, then based on the business decision on how difficult it is to roll-back the previous software build, I may choose to do it, but it is always costly to the business due to the work needed by the software developers and to schedule it into a new sprint cycle, prioritization of the rollback and resource allocation versus a balance of what other bug fixes/feature releases are on the next sprint cycle and what you de-prioritize from your next release,the QA personnel for regression testing etc. It is possible that a feature can be redefined, but as you can see, this is what I do for a living, so I do understand the implications of a software/feature change.

Rcosta wrote:

lyprulz wrote:

@lyprulz, As I am one of the "decision makers", in reference to my work as the Program Manager/ Product Manager at the company I work for, if a change in functionality was met with a large outcry from my customers, then based on the business decision on how difficult it is to roll-back the previous software build, I may choose to do it, but it is always costly to the business due to the work needed by the software developers and to schedule it into a new sprint cycle, prioritization of the rollback and resource allocation versus a balance of what other bug fixes/feature releases are on the next sprint cycle and what you de-prioritize from your next release,the QA personnel for regression testing etc. It is possible that a feature can be redefined, but as you can see, this is what I do for a living, so I do understand the implications of a software/feature change.

TJ265 wrote:

Rcosta wrote:

lyprulz wrote:

@lyprulz, As I am one of the "decision makers", in reference to my work as the Program Manager/ Product Manager at the company I work for, if a change in functionality was met with a large outcry from my customers, then based on the business decision on how difficult it is to roll-back the previous software build, I may choose to do it, but it is always costly to the business due to the work needed by the software developers and to schedule it into a new sprint cycle, prioritization of the rollback and resource allocation versus a balance of what other bug fixes/feature releases are on the next sprint cycle and what you de-prioritize from your next release,the QA personnel for regression testing etc. It is possible that a feature can be redefined, but as you can see, this is what I do for a living, so I do understand the implications of a software/feature change.

I've got a couple questions for everyone. 
1st)  Has anyone received any notices in "My Feed" since this began? 
It seems like it's been almost two weeks since I first noticed an issue with "My Feed."  But this evening, I just realized I haven't received a single message regarding any updates during this period.    With the sales promo at Fandango, new videos @ Amazon, and all the shows from Drama Fever and Viki finally showing up in searches, I should be receiving at least one notice a day informing me of a lower price, new episodes, or something regarding an actor I'm following.  I was accustomed to getting a few per week.  Therefore, I believe they ran into some issues with the change(s) they were implementing and that application simply isn't working anymore. 
2nd)  If there was an "upgrade" push, wouldn't that be reflected in System Update?  I use a Roku 3.  It's showing Software Version 7.5.0, Build 4099, Last Updated on Dec. 1.   ???

Rcosta wrote:

TJ265. Have you manually checked for system updates?

Yes.  Often.  Especially after I encounter something amiss, like no feed notices, slow loading channels, no subtitles, voice-video tracking out of synch, etc.

Is your update date different?

TJ265 wrote:

I've got a couple questions for everyone.
1st)  Has anyone received any notices in "My Feed" since this began?

AChanceFind wrote:

Just wanted to add my voice to this and say that I also have noticed that "My Feed" is more or less completely useless now.  Shows/Movies that I know are available and following are not showing up and I am not being notified when new shows are available.  

For example, I had been following the 80s show "Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack" for a long time and had it not been for the advertisement box showing it as available on "FilmRise" I would have never known I could go watch it for free.

Some items also seem to be orphaned in that they can't be un-followed or even if un-followed then re-followed they don't show up again.

It's disappointing to see the inconsistent responses from Roku on this , but not at all surprising as this type of confusion/misinformation and obfuscation is the new modus operandi  for almost all tech support engagements with most companies these days. Glad I found the story here and didn't waste any time even contacting Roku about it.

Hopefully they will fix it soon but if not seems to me another nail in the coffin for Roku.

Pompey wrote:

I'm wondering when we might get some information about when the My Feed feature will be working once again?  ...... or will we have to execute a FISA warrant? 

TJ265 wrote:

Yesterday, I posted this question @RokuSupport on Twitter, "Has "My Feed" been disabled in Roku 3?"

Today, I received this response:  "We have made changes to My Feed to only show relevant updates. Don’t worry, we are still keeping track of what you are following! We’re just removing the clutter of the entire list and streamlining the updates to your favorite content directly into My Feed. You'll see updates when actors you follow have new movies, when new movies or shows you follow are available on Roku, and when movies and shows are available to buy, rent, or become free. As far as the content that appears to be missing, you're still following it! It'll just show you when you have a recent update instead of showing the entire list. Hope this information is useful. Let us know if you have any other questions, and happy streaming!"

Me:  "I haven't received an update in in weeks. However, I've conducted a search for a television series that an actor I'm following is starring in and saw the show's been added to a channel. I'm reporting to you that My Feed isn't working anymore. Also, as a customer who particularly liked My Feed the way it was, how is it determined that anything in the list I was maintaining is clutter?"

@RokuSupport:  We rolled out an update to My Feed a few weeks ago. The intended nature now is to only show where there is an update. We value your feedback and will send your note over to our dev team.
There are a few people who don't like the new behavior of My Feed, so you're not the only one.

Me:  "Last question: You stated you rolled out an update a few weeks ago. Wouldn't that be indicated in "System Update?" Mine states the last update was Dec. 1, 8:57 a.m. I click "Check Now" often and it always states my software is up-to-date. Is it possible that I've experienced a problem and wasn't properly updated?"

@RokuSupport:  "It wasn't a full OS update, it was just a feature update to My Feed.
We'll put out some official messaging soon.
But what you're describing is the change that was made."

jeffmim wrote:

I'll jump on board with this. I used My Feeds to follow my favorite shows, a number of which had previous seasons on Netflix or other services I subscribe to. I could use the My Feed to easily get to the previous seasons on Netflix as it showed up that way (current season as 2016- and previous seasons as range of years, i.e. 2012-2016). Now, the only seasons that show up are the current seasons on channels other than Netflix (Vudu, Amazon, etc.) and NO previous seasons are showing up at all.