Roku on Wednesday announced a revamp of its home screen for the first time in over a decade. The new user interface (UI) is designed to streamline discoverability and personalisation, according to the company, using AI to surface recommendations for individual users.
Initially launched on Roku TVs and streaming devices in the US, the new UI will roll out to additional markets in the coming months, according to the smart TV and streaming company, ultimately reaching “over 100 million streaming households” – a global milestone the business surpassed last month.
“Guided by deep behavioral insights and viewer input, this update ensures every change is grounded in what users actually do, need, and value,” Roku said in the announcement. “The new personalized Home Screen tackles the biggest challenges in streaming, while offering a tailored, content-forward way to start watching.”
Home is where the heart is
The redesign signals the growing role the home screen plays in the CTV ecosystem, serving as the consumer’s gateway to video content, prime placement for streaming services and apps, and valuable advertising real estate for brands – both media and entertainment (M&E) companies plugging their TV shows and films, and increasingly non-endemic brands looking to reach consumers outside of linear TV environments.
The announcement cites a Roku/Harris Poll survey that found 82 percent of streaming users want to find the show they want to watch on the home screen as soon as they turn on their TV. Roku’s response is to put “entertainment at the centre” of the home screen, according to the company, in order to help viewers start watching content faster.
“When we set out to rethink the Home Screen, we knew we should listen to the people who use it every day,” said Anthony Wood, Founder and CEO at Roku. “So we talked to the viewers, we tested extensively, and we pushed until the design and the data lined up for a meaningful update. Now, our new Home Screen puts entertainment at the center of everything, while staying true to Roku’s simple, intuitive roots. More than 100 million households will feel the difference the moment they turn on their TV—and it opens up a better, more powerful experience for our partners as well.”
Out with scrolling, in with AI
The revamped UI includes a ‘Quick Access’ feature that places the user’s most-used apps in a prominent position on the home screen, eliminating the need to scroll through tiles. The feature uses AI to continually adapt the shortcuts based on viewing habits, while also allowing users to manually add or remove apps themselves.
Similarly the update inlcudes a ‘Top Picks for You’ section at the top of the home screen, with recommendations based on personal viewing patterns, the content trending on Roku, and major streaming releases. There is also a ‘Destinations’ feature that curates content into different genres, alongside a ‘Subscriptions’ hub that recommends films and shows from the user’s subscribed streaming services.
Other new features include a ‘Search’ function that adapts to whichever destination the user is browsing; ‘Your Daily Scoop’ which uses AI to provide a daily update around streaming content, cultural trends and viral moments; and ‘Shortcuts’ for functions such as Continue Watching, Sleep Timer and Save List, with the most frequently used shortcuts also showing up in the Quick Access section.
Quicker access, higher engagement?
And while the update is designed to speed up the discovery experience, Roku will also be hoping the update encourages users to spend more time with the home screen itself – or to maximise the business impact of the time they do spend – enabling further monetisation opportunities with both the streaming publishers and advertisers that make use of the Roku home screen.
Subscriptions and advertising (which Roku calls its Platform business) are growth areas for the company, offsetting squeezed profit margins on its Devices business from the sale of TVs and streaming sticks. In last month’s earnings call for Q1 2026, Platform revenue was up 28 percent year-on-year, while Devices revenue fell by 16 percent. And the company forecast further falls in the Devices business for the current quarter, noting the impact of higher memory costs.
But the new home screen was a major discussion point, with the addition of video units reportedly driving monetisation for the business. The company noted that non-M&E brands represented almost 30 percent of Roku’s ad revenues during Q1, while tests of the new UI were also driving engagement on the home screen.
“One of the things, for example, about the new home screen is that the marquee ad is visible when you first launch the home screen, whereas with the current home screen, you have to scroll to the right to see the marquee ad,” Anthony Wood said on the earnings call. “That change alone is driving more click-throughs, increased click-through rates. So that’s making the ad unit more visible and more valuable. And then making content more prominent is something that consumers want and also drives engagement, allows us to promote subscriptions, allows us to promote ad content.”
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