Your Roku can do more than streaming, here are the hidden features most people miss

Credit: Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek Published Jul 30, 2026, 2:25 PM EDT Rich Hein is a veteran technology journalist with more than two decades covering developer, consumer and enterprise topics. Rich's career has been dedicated to service journalism, connecting readers to content that informs and delights. Previously, Rich was vice president and editor-in-chief for Simpler Media Group, director of audience development for IDG and editor/writer for sites like CIO.com, ComputerWorld, CodeGuru and other tech-centric publications. He's received numerous accolades, including the IDG Summit and Azbee awards and has been covered by Medium for his work in audience development. When not at his desk, Rich lives in Daytona Beach with his wife and three dogs. He enjoys playing guitar, surfing and staying abreast of the latest in tech. Sign in to your How-To Geek account I've had Roku devices in my house for years, going all the way back to when it was just a little box sitting next to the TV. At this point, I've got several Roku TVs and a few sticks spread across different rooms, and for the most part, I've always used them the same way. Open an app, pick something to watch, and move on. It works, so I never really thought much about what else was there. That changed recently when I replaced my living room TV with a $400 75-inch 4K Roku TV that I got on sale at my local wholesale club. While setting everything up, I spent more time digging through the menus and features I'd mostly ignored before. There are quite a few built-in tools that actually make Roku easier to use, more flexible, and in some cases, a lot more useful than just a streaming box. These are the ones I think most people overlook. Use private listening so you can watch without disturbing anyone It's one of Roku's most useful features, but it's easy to overlook I'd heard of private listening on Roku before, but I never really gave it a shot until recently. It's surprisingly simple. You open the Roku mobile app, make sure you're connected to the right TV if you have more than one in the house, tap the headphones icon, and your TV audio gets routed straight to your phone. From there, you can use wired or Bluetooth headphones, and your TV speakers go silent. It feels like a small thing, but it completely changes how and when you can watch. This is especially useful at night. If your partner is asleep next to you, you don't have to ride the volume button or rely on subtitles. You can watch at a normal volume through headphones while the room stays quiet. It's also great in smaller spaces where sound carries more than you'd like. In my experience, the audio has been perfectly in sync, but some people do report a slight delay depending on their Wi-Fi. It's also worth mentioning that while it works great with installed apps, it doesn't always work with content coming from HDMI devices like a media PC or game console. Still, for something built in and free, it's one of the most practical features Roku offers. It's also worth noting that some older, higher-end Roku models came with a remote that has a built-in 3.5mm headphone jack. If you have one of those, you can just plug in a pair of wired headphones and private listening kicks in automatically, no app required. Sadly, Roku no longer includes headphone jacks on newer remotes with a few exceptions, so for most people, the mobile app is now the way to go. Quiz 8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeFAST streaming platforms and free TVTrivia challengeFrom Roku to Fire TV — find out how much you really know about free ad-supported streaming.StreamingPlatformsDevicesChannelsHistoryBegin What does the acronym FAST stand for in the streaming industry?AFree Access Streaming TechnologyBFree Ad-Supported Streaming TelevisionCFast Adaptive Signal TransmissionDFully Automated Smart TelevisionCorrect! FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. It describes services that let viewers watch content at no cost in exchange for sitting through advertisements, similar to traditional broadcast TV but delivered over the internet.Not quite. FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. The model mirrors old-school broadcast TV — you get free content in exchange for watching ads, all streamed over your internet connection.Continue Which company launched the Roku streaming player, making it one of the first dedicated streaming devices on the market?AAmazonBGoogleCRoku Inc.DNetflixCorrect! Roku was actually spun out of Netflix in 2008. Netflix founder Reed Hastings helped fund the project but ultimately decided to keep the device independent rather than release it as an official Netflix product, which allowed Roku to become a platform for many services.Surprisingly, Roku was originally incubated inside Netflix before being spun off as an independent company in 2008. Netflix founder Reed Hastings chose not to brand it as a Netflix device, which freed Roku to become a multi-platform streaming hub.Continue Amazon's Fire TV Stick competes directly with Roku, but which operating system does Fire TV run on?AAndroid TVBA custom fork of Android called Fire OSCAmazon LinuxDTizen OSCorrect! Fire TV runs Fire OS, which is Amazon's heavily customized fork of Android. While it shares roots with Android, Fire OS is tightly integrated with Amazon's ecosystem and does not include the Google Play Store.The correct answer is Fire OS, Amazon's own fork of Android. Unlike standard Android TV devices, Fire OS replaces Google's ecosystem with Amazon's own apps and services, which is why you won't find the Google Play Store on a Fire TV device.Continue Which of the following is a FAST channel service owned and operated by Roku itself?ATubiBPluto TVCThe Roku ChannelDPeacockCorrect! The Roku Channel is Roku's own free, ad-supported streaming service. It offers a mix of movies, TV shows, and live linear channels, and it's available not just on Roku devices but also on the web and some smart TVs.The answer is The Roku Channel, which is Roku's in-house FAST service. Tubi is owned by Fox, Pluto TV is owned by Paramount, and Peacock is NBCUniversal's service. Roku built its own channel to capture ad revenue directly rather than just acting as a platform for others.Continue Pluto TV, one of the most popular FAST services, was acquired by which major media company in 2019?ADisneyBWarner Bros. DiscoveryCParamount GlobalDComcastCorrect! Paramount Global (then called Viacom) acquired Pluto TV in January 2019 for approximately $340 million. The acquisition gave Viacom a major foothold in the FAST market and allowed it to stream content from its vast library of shows and movies for free.Pluto TV was acquired by Paramount Global (formerly Viacom) in 2019 for around $340 million. The deal gave Paramount a strong presence in the free streaming space and allowed it to monetize its huge content library through ads rather than subscriptions alone.Continue Which FAST streaming service is owned by Fox Corporation and is known for its large library of free movies and TV shows?APeacockBTubiCIMDb TVDXumoCorrect! Tubi is owned by Fox Corporation, which acquired it in 2020 for approximately $440 million. Tubi is one of the largest FAST platforms by content volume, boasting tens of thousands of titles available completely free with ads.The answer is Tubi, which Fox Corporation bought in 2020 for about $440 million. Peacock belongs to NBCUniversal, IMDb TV (now Amazon Freevee) is Amazon's service, and Xumo is owned by Comcast. Tubi remains one of the biggest free streaming libraries available.Continue Google's FAST and streaming platform, built into many smart TVs and available as a dongle, is called what?AAndroid TVBGoogle TVCChromecast UltraDYouTube TVCorrect! Google TV is the current name for Google's smart TV platform, which replaced Android TV branding on newer devices. It features a personalized content aggregation layer on top of Android TV's underlying operating system and comes built into the Chromecast with Google TV dongle.The answer is Google TV, which replaced the Android TV branding as Google's primary smart TV platform. While Android TV still powers the backend, Google TV adds a content discovery layer on top. The Chromecast with Google TV device is one of the most popular ways to access it.Continue Samsung's built-in FAST service, pre-installed on its smart TVs, is known by what name?ASamsung TV PlusBSamsung FreeCastCTizen TV FreeDOne UI StreamCorrect! Samsung TV Plus is Samsung's free, ad-supported streaming service that comes pre-installed on its smart TVs and is also available on mobile devices. It offers hundreds of live linear channels and on-demand content without requiring a subscription or even an account.The correct answer is Samsung TV Plus, Samsung's own FAST platform built into its smart TVs. It offers hundreds of live channels and on-demand titles at no cost, supported by ads. Samsung's smart TVs run the Tizen operating system, but the streaming service itself carries the Samsung TV Plus branding.See My Score Challenge CompleteYour Score/ 8Thanks for playing!Try Again Use your phone as a Roku remote when the real one disappears It's not just a backup. In some ways it's better Lost your Roku remote? No problem. Open the Roku mobile app, connect to your TV, and you're back up and running in seconds. As long as your phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Roku TV, it works just like a regular remote with navigation controls, playback buttons, and quick access to your apps. You should probably still find your remote at some point, but this is an easy fallback that keeps everything usable. Roku Ultra $79 $99 Save $20 Operating System RkuOS Connectivity luetooth, Ethernet, HDMI, USB, Wi-Fi The impressive Roku Ultra has everything you'd want from a streaming device, with Dolby Vision and Atmos providing quality 4K picture and sound. Coincidentally, losing my remote was the thing that pushed me to actually start exploring the app. If you’ve ever lost your Roku remote in the couch cushions, this is a lifesaver. You can trigger a sound from the app and your remote will start chiming until you find it. It only works on compatible remotes, but if yours supports it, it's one of those features you'll end up using more than you expect. The app also adds voice search, even if your TV or remote doesn't have a microphone built in. You can tap the voice button and search for shows, launch apps, or control playback just by speaking. Not all of our Roku devices have voice-enabled remotes, so this has been an easy way to give every TV in the house voice search, which my wife uses all the time. It makes finding things a lot faster than typing everything out. In some ways, the app is actually better. Typing with an on-screen keyboard is much faster than pecking through letters with a directional pad, and you don't have to deal with line-of-sight issues or dead batteries. It also ties directly into features like private listening, so everything is in one place. It's one of those things that starts as a backup and ends up being something you use all the time. Turn your Roku into a free live TV hub It's more like cable than most people realize Credit: Roku Most people turn on their Roku TV, jump straight into their favorite app, and that's the end of it. It's easy to miss that there are built-in live TV options that make Roku feel a lot more like traditional cable. Instead of picking something every time, you can flip through channels, see what's on, and just land on something. It's a different way to use your TV, and it's all right there. I find myself going back to The Roku Channel pretty regularly. It offers a mix of free live channels and on-demand content, and it's surprisingly easy to just leave something on in the background. I also use Pluto TV, which leans even harder into that channel-surfing experience. On top of that, I've got local channels integrated through a digital antenna, which is especially useful for sporting events and when the internet goes down. Between all of that, Roku ends up feeling less like a simple streaming box and more like a full TV setup without the monthly bill. If you're not tied to specific shows or live sports, there's enough free content here that you could realistically cut back or even drop some of your streaming subscriptions. It's worth taking a closer look at what your Roku can do Most of this stuff has been sitting there the whole time. It's just easy to overlook if you're used to jumping straight into your apps and calling it a day. Once you spend a few minutes poking around, you start to find small things that make a real difference in how you use your TV. None of it is complicated, and you don't need to buy anything extra to take advantage of it. And if you end up going down that rabbit hole, there are a few deeper features I didn't cover here that are worth exploring next.