Roku's new smart home features will make your TV the star of your smart home

2 weeks ago 6

(Image credit: Roku)

Roku has announced new home security features that are coming to its range of Roku TV and players soon, allowing you to cycle through a carousel of your Roku camera feeds and receive notifications straight to your TV. Additionally, Roku will be adding functionality to other devices like phones or computers via the Web View.

Previously, the best smart home displays were among the only means of monitoring your smart home security cameras without opening up your phone. However, in recent years some of the best TVs have emerged as suitable alternatives, giving you a big-picture view of your whole security setup at once.

If you own a Roku camera or video doorbell, your Roku TV or player will have two new features rolling out this winter, though we don't yet have firm dates.

The first is Camera Carousel, a new view that automatically cycles through each camera feed on your TV, and uses motion detection to display cameras where there's activity you might want to catch. This comes in addition to the existing live stream view and voice control features available within Roku TVs and players.

Secondly, Roku is introducing more notifications on the TV, giving you the option to receive alerts when cameras detect activity.

Matter still missing

Later in the year, Roku will also roll out a Smart Home Web View, allowing users to monitor all camera feeds from one page on any computer or web device. There's no firm date for this yet, either, but Roku aims to also release this feature during the winter (in other words, sometime between December and early February).

All of the listed features will become available as free, automatic software updates to Roku devices, and will be compatible with all Roku Smart Home camera and doorbell products.

Unfortunately, and despite its Connectivity Standards Alliance membership, Roku's home devices aren't Matter-compatible, and it doesn't seem like this rollout will be changing that.

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Josephine Watson (@JosieWatson) is TechRadar's Managing Editor - Lifestyle. Josephine is an award-winning journalist (PPA 30 under 30 2024), having previously written on a variety of topics, from pop culture to gaming and even the energy industry, joining TechRadar to support general site management. She is a smart home nerd, champion of TechRadar's sustainability efforts as well and an advocate for internet safety and education. She has used her position to fight for progressive approaches towards diversity and inclusion, mental health, and neurodiversity in corporate settings. Generally, you'll find her fiddling with her smart home setup, watching Disney movies, playing on her Switch, or rewatching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings... again.

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