The Roku OS is an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

software developed by Roku, Inc. It has powered consumer electronics products such as

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

-branded streaming players and TVs since 2004. The Roku OS is the most popular TV operating system in the U.S., reaching an estimated 90 million households as of 2025. The Roku OS works as a

streaming platform An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satell ...

that hosts both "free" and paid streaming channels through its

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

. It has been reported to be easy to use and powerful. The operating system initially powered Roku's streaming players in 2004, extended support for smart TVs in 2014, and since also to Roku-branded home entertainment devices such as

smart speaker A smart speaker is a type of loudspeaker and voice command device with an integrated virtual assistant (artificial intelligence), virtual assistant that offers interactive actions and Hands-free computing, hands-free activation with the help of o ...

s, as of 2023.

History

2004–2013: Origin as a media player OS

In January 2004, Roku's digital media player, called HD1000, was powered by the Roku OS. The Roku OS was reportedly based on Linux with kernel version 2.4.18, and leveraged

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

software, including

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

Busybox BusyBox is a software suite that provides several List of Unix commands, Unix utilities in a single executable file. It runs in a variety of POSIX environments such as Linux, Android (operating system), Android, and FreeBSD, although many of the ...

, jpeglib, and

zlib zlib ( or "zeta-lib", ) is a software library used for data compression as well as a data format. zlib was written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler and is an abstraction of the DEFLATE compression algorithm used in their gzip file compre ...

. The Roku OS also accompanied a C/C++ based software development kit (SDK), for its media player, in order to provide a development environment supporting

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

, or Linux-based hosts.

2014–2017: Extension to smart TVs

According to a news report in August 2014, The Roku OS featured on a Hisense TV model. Later, in June 2015, it was reported that the operating system powered an Insignia TV model. In October 2015, Roku announced the release of Roku OS 7. This release allowed television viewers using Roku’s streaming devices to "follow" actors, directors, as well as TV shows and films. In June 2016, Roku OS 7.2 was launched, followed by a Roku OS 8 release announcement in October 2017. The latter operating system release featured single sign-on for paid TV customers and integration of

TV programming Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automatio ...

from over-the-air TV, among other updates.

2018–2021: New features, vulnerabilities

In June 2018,

WIRED Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

wrote that Roku devices running Roku OS 8.0 or lower were found to be vulnerable to a type of web attack known as DNS rebinding. The WIRED article also cited Roku as saying that it had created a software patch in response, and was rolling out the patch to its customers. April 2019 saw the release of Roku OS 9.1 adding "automatic account linking" (sparing users from re-entering login credentials previously entered on a Roku streaming device or TV), genre search, smarter voice control and other features. In April 2021, Roku announced the release of Roku OS 10, which featured "instant resume" for streaming channels, automatic configuration for gaming consoles, AirPlay 2 and

HomeKit Apple Home is a smart home platform developed by Apple Inc. that lets users configure, communicate with and control smart appliances using Apple devices. Apple Home communicates with devices using HomeKit, the software framework and communicati ...

support to Roku HD streaming boxes and TVs etc. In May 2021,

Engadget Engadget ( ) is a technology news, reviews and analysis website offering daily coverage of gadgets, consumer electronics, video games, gaming hardware, apps, social media, streaming, AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles and other potentially ...

reported on an "exploit" which took advantage of two vulnerabilities, in Roku OS versions lower than 10, to enable a "persistent root jailbreak" on Roku devices. The exploit gave users control over what channels they installed. Roku stated in response that it had mitigated the vulnerabilities by updating Roku OS 9.4.

2022–present: Usage growth

In March 2022, Roku announced Roku OS 11, adding new audio options, custom photo screensavers and more. In March 2023, the Roku OS was reported to have 70 million active accounts and to have led the US smart TV and streaming device sector in 2022. In October 2023, Roku announced Roku OS 12.5, which focused on sports,

live TV Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching video o ...

, and easier content discovery. In April 2024, the Roku OS was reported to be the TV operating system with the largest share of TVs sold in the U.S. and Mexico during January-March 2024, accounting for approximately 40% of sales in each country. In the same month, Roku OS 13 was released. The OS update was announced for all Roku TV models and many Roku streaming players. The update was said to offer enhancements to content discovery, browsing and other features including auto-adjusted picture modes and personalized "backdrops". In September 2024, Roku announced the release of Roku OS 14. This update featured a new "Kid & Family zone" added to the home screen, an ability to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to content and an option to use voice commands to update smart TV settings, among other changes. Starting on 29-Sep-2024 when OS 14 was deployed, many

Tablo Daniel Armand Lee (; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (), is a South Korean-Canadian rapper, songwriter and record producer based in South Korea. Tablo is best known as the leader and producer of South Korean hip-hop gr ...

4th Generation DVRs either could no longer play at all, or after settings adjustments, would play but without any audio. As of 1-Nov-2024, this issue remains unresolved. In January 2025, Roku said that the Roku OS was the leading TV OS in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, reaching over 90 million streaming households. That some month, a new update to the operating system was rolled out, bringing Roku OS to version 14.1. This update included bug fixes and performance enhancements, but was described as potentially "underwhelming" for users expecting new features or a visual overhaul.

Features

The Roku OS is a Linux-based streaming platform which runs "free channels" and "subscription channels". The operating system powers Roku TVs, streaming devices and smart speakers. According to Roku, the operating system is able to run on "low power chips" using small memory footprints. The operating system has been reported to be simple and easy to set up and use, yet powerful.

Roku Channel Store

The Roku OS includes the Roku Channel Store, featuring a collection of apps Roku calls "channels". The operating system allows users to browse streaming channels available, displayed in a grid format. According to mobile app analytics company 42matters, there were over 26,000 apps available in the Roku Channel Store in 2023. Examples of "free channels" available in the store are

The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...

Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee (stylized as freevee and fv, also shortened as Freevee, formerly known as IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV, and sometimes spelled FV) is an American Free ad-supported streaming television, ad-supported video on demand, video-on-demand ( ...

Xumo Xumo, LLC ( ) is an American internet television and consumer electronics company. It is a joint venture of Charter Communications and Comcast that operates the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and advertising video on demand (AVOD ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...

and Kiddoodle.tv, whereas the "subscription channels" include

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Hayu The Hayus () are a member of the Kirat tribe speaking their own language, Wayu or Hayu. Little is known about them. They are Hindus by religion. According to the 2001 Nepal census, there are 1821 Hayu in the country, of which 70.29% were Hind ...

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

BET+ BET+ is a Video on demand#Subscription models, streaming service operated by Tyler Perry Studios and the BET Networks, BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. The service was first announced on June 24, 2019, ...

Curiosity Stream Curiosity Stream Inc. (simply referred to as Curiosity Stream), formerly branded as CuriosityStream, is an American media company and over-the-top subscription video streaming service that offers documentary programming including films, series ...

Eros Now Eros Now is an Indian subscription-based over-the-top, video on-demand entertainment and media platform, launched in 2012. It is owned and controlled by Eros Digital, the Indian digital media management arm of the Indian-American multinationa ...

AMC+ AMC+ is an American subscription video on demand streaming service owned by AMC Networks that was launched on June 11, 2020. The service is a premium bundle that includes the live feeds and program libraries of the company's television networks ...

Acorn TV Acorn TV is a British-American over-the-top VOD streaming service offering television programming from Australia, Canada, other Commonwealth countries, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In other countries, it is available on a variety ...

, Shudder,

DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

Mubi Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discov ...

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

SonyLIV Sony LIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. Sony LIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, origina ...

ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, Hallmark+, Kidoodle.TV and

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Roku Media Player

Roku Media Player, which is part of Roku OS, is built to play local media content

streamed Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downloadin ...

from a DLNA server, such as Twonky or

Windows Media Player Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to retronym, distinguish it from Windows Media Player (2022), the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11) is the first media player (application soft ...

, or (for compatible models) content from an inserted

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

device, such as a pen drive.

User features

The Roku OS offers content search, voice control, parental controls, and custom photo screensavers. It also features a "guest mode", "private listening" (using

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

headphones), "continue watching", and "screen mirroring" which allows to mirror a smartphone or computer screen to the Roku device, supporting both

Miracast Miracast is a Wireless, wireless communications standard created by the Wi-Fi Alliance which is designed to transmit video and sound from devices (such as laptops or smartphones) to display receivers (such as TVs, monitors, or projectors). It uses ...

and

AirPlay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

protocols. The operating system also includes "

Roku City Roku City is the name given to a screensaver present on Roku streaming devices. The looping background depicts a virtual metropolis at night, colored by hues of magenta and blue. Overview The screensaver depicts a slowly looping city street in t ...

", a screensaver Roku utilizes for advertising.

Developer tools

According to Roku, the Roku OS integrates tools which allow the company's channel publishers and advertisers to measure the effectiveness of online video advertisements delivered by the company. Roku OS 10.5 or higher supports an "independent developer kit" (IDK), built for Roku devices, which Roku says allows developers to create not only streaming channels but also other applications.

Compatibility

Consumer products running the Roku OS include: * Roku's streaming devices such as the Roku Express * Roku-branded TVs from

Aiwa Aiwa (, stylised aiwa) is a Japanese consumer electronics brand of Aiwa Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Towada Audio holdings. The current company was established in 2017 and creates mainly audio products; the brand is also licensed to or owned by othe ...

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "''dae''" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and aut ...

Element Electronics Element Electronics is a privately held American consumer electronics company in South Carolina. History Element Electronics is a private company specializing in the sale of affordable televisions, monitors, soundbars, and a diverse range of ...

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and se ...

Hisense Hisense Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province. Television sets are its main product, and it has been the largest TV manufacturer in China by market ...

InFocus InFocus Corporation is a privately owned American company based in the state of Oregon. Founded in 1986, the company develops, manufactures, and distributes Digital Light Processing, DLP and LCD Video projector, projectors and accessories as well ...

Insignia An insignia () is a sign or mark distinguishing a group, grade, rank, or function. It can be a symbol of personal power or that of an official group or governing body. An insignia, which is typically made of metal or fabric, is a standalone sy ...

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company was best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for developin ...

, LG,

Magnavox Magnavox (Latin for "great voice", often stylized as MAGNAVOX) is an American electronics brand. It was purchased by North American Philips in 1974, which was absorbed into Dutch electronics company Philips in 1987. The predecessor to Magnavox w ...

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, Polaroid,

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, Roku, Sansui,

Sanyo is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bu ...

Sharp Sharp or SHARP may refer to: Acronyms * SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme * Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 199 ...

TCL TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company ** TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

, Walmart's Atvio and Onn, Westinghouse,

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

, HKPRO,

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, and

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

* Roku-branded home entertainment devices, including smart speakers

References

{{Television and Home theater operating systems Operating systems based on the Linux kernel Television operating systems Roku, Inc.