https://www.yahoo.com/tech/roku-search- ... 30335.html

I can see this on my Roku but I do not have a number of the channels that it appears to need.

Are others finding it useful?

I'm really not sure where they are getting their info from. There were far more than 6 to begin with, and some of the "new" channels have been used for months, if not years...

There are comments available, but my tablet won't let me see them. The webpage also locked my tablet up for awhile.

Might as well get the info from the horse's mouth:

https://blog.roku.com/blog/2016/06/17/r ... ding-news/

This is excellent news....can't wait to check it out tonight

Nice, but a lot of those require a cable subscription. It looks like cable is pushing hard to stay relevant. Hopefully CrunchyRoll will get on board soon.

Since Crunchyroll has its own search function, and anything that it would carry is unlikely to be on anything else (except possibly Hulu), I would think there would be no reason to add it to the universal search.

The Roku blog article is less misleading (and more underwhelming) than the yahoo piece.

dfgsrzwer wrote:

Since Crunchyroll has its own search function, and anything that it would carry is unlikely to be on anything else (except possibly Hulu), I would think there would be no reason to add it to the universal search.

The Roku blog article is less misleading (and more underwhelming) than the yahoo piece.

They might want to add it to the universal search to increase people's knowledge of the channel and its offerings.

Hello:

I am quite happy that Roku's search is now more robust. However, it does not yet include Youtube in its search. Given that YT has many free TV episodes, movies, etc. Roku's search function is not as functional as say the universal search functions of Android TV, Google TV and TiVo.

As a tip:

You can use the search function in PLEX to locate relevant clips and supplemental videos to a main search like for previews, promos, behind-the-scene stuff, etc. similar to how TiVo does it but who wants to launch PLEX and then do a search there for YT clips? The benefit to this approach is that PLEX search includes: YT, Vimeo and other sources for the results of a universal search query.

Keep up the good work. Kudos. Hopefully additional sources like YT can be added and integrated in the near future.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Google to allow Roku to search its Youtube database, considering how little they care about supporting the app at all on Roku (comparing Youtube on Google TV and Android to Roku is a bad comparison for obvious reasons).

dfgsrzwer wrote:

I wouldn't hold my breath for Google to allow Roku to search its Youtube database, considering how little they care about supporting the app at all on Roku (comparing Youtube on Google TV and Android to Roku is a bad comparison for obvious reasons).

Hello:

While I can see your point that Google, Inc. may favor its own devices and software platform (GoogleTV and Android) as you point out, you seem to have omitted my comparison of Roku's search with that of TiVo. TiVo's search does include YT as part of its database source.

I also agree that when it comes to Roku, Google has always been resistant to working with them. For the longest time (quite awhile back) Roku was pretty much the only popular streaming platform that did not have an official YT app. And "unofficial" versions were asked to be taken down. I remember those days and it is the reason I learned to use alternative YT players like "MyVideoBuzz".

But, who knows what future updates and enhancements will Roku search obtain. All I know is that it will seem "incomplete" until it includes Youtube, Vimeo, Rooster Teeth, MetaCafe and other video sources of free video content. Again, with so many free TV episodes, movies, etc. on YT wouldn't it be nice to catch a free episode of your favorite show found from Roku search instead of it only being available in a subscription required type app (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) or just buy episodes (Vudu, Amazon, etc.)?

Is there anything I need to do to activate this expanded search functionality on my Roku SE?

I did a restart, tried searching random titles and all I got were the pay sites. I even tried searching the Hunger Games episode displayed on the Roku
page and again...only the pay sites.

regnad kcin wrote:

Is there anything I need to do to activate this expanded search functionality on my Roku SE?

I did a restart, tried searching random titles and all I got were the pay sites. I even tried searching the Hunger Games episode displayed on the Roku
page and again...only the pay sites.

In the image on the Roku blog post, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 shows only on pay sites, whether for purchase or as viewing with a subscription. Are you saying you didn't see it on Hulu (which isn't free, by the way) when you searched for it?

regnad kcin wrote:

Is there anything I need to do to activate this expanded search functionality on my Roku SE?

I did a restart, tried searching random titles and all I got were the pay sites. I even tried searching the Hunger Games episode displayed on the Roku
page and again...only the pay sites.

I think you misunderstand what the "expanded" search does. It is not going to add pay content to free sites, it is just adding more free sites (which are often just indie or B movies and public domain TV shows) and news sites to the search database.

As I said above, many of the listed sites have been in the database for months if not years.

Basil wrote:

regnad kcin wrote:

Is there anything I need to do to activate this expanded search functionality on my Roku SE?

I did a restart, tried searching random titles and all I got were the pay sites. I even tried searching the Hunger Games episode displayed on the Roku
page and again...only the pay sites.

In the image on the Roku blog post, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 shows only on pay sites, whether for purchase or as viewing with a subscription. Are you saying you didn't see it on Hulu (which isn't free, by the way) when you searched for it?

Yes that is what I am saying. Its not really a big deal but if Roku is offering "expanded search functionality", I'd like to be able to use it as a Roku owner.

Thanks

dfgsrzwer wrote:

regnad kcin wrote:

Is there anything I need to do to activate this expanded search functionality on my Roku SE?

I did a restart, tried searching random titles and all I got were the pay sites. I even tried searching the Hunger Games episode displayed on the Roku
page and again...only the pay sites.

I think you misunderstand what the "expanded" search does. It is not going to add pay content to free sites, it is just adding more free sites (which are often just indie or B movies and public domain TV shows) and news sites to the search database.

As I said above, many of the listed sites have been in the database for months if not years.

When I use Roku search, I usually only get results from VUDU, Amazon, Cinema Now etc. That's why I tried the example given on the Roku page where I did not see Hulu listed as an option.
Hence my question did I have to do something to activate it.

Not a big deal, thanks for the reply.