Search all of your streaming channels at once (even with your voice)

There's no one streaming service that'll get you every movie and show on earth. But you don't have to search each individual service to find the one you're looking for. You've probably noticed the Search option in the Roku's main menu (or the magnifying glass button on the remote), and it does exactly what you hope: If you search for a movie or show, your Roku will list all the streaming services where it's available, including ones you don't have installed. It'll even tell you how much it costs to watch. You can also search for actors or genres if you aren't sure which movie you want.

Pecking out letters using the on-screen keyboard is terrible though. For easier searching, you have a few options: You can grab Roku Remote app for iOS and Android, which will let you search using the keyboard on your phone, or -- even easier -- you can search with your voice. Just press the microphone button on your remote or (since some cheaper Roku models don't have a microphone on the remote) press the microphone button in the mobile app. Say what you want in natural language (e.g., "show me action movies with Bruce Willis" or "show documentaries on Netflix") and it'll bring up a list of movies to suit your mood.

Hear that line again with Instant Replay

Ever miss a crucial line of dialogue in a movie and have to ask your neighbor, "Wait, what did he say?" Roku has a feature called Instant Replay that can solve this old-as-time woe. Head to Settings > Accessibility > Captions Mode and select On Replay. Now when watching a movie or show, you can press the Instant Replay button on the remote: It'll replay the last 10 seconds along with subtitles for that portion so you can translate the actor's mumbling. Unfortunately, the temporary subtitles don't work on a few channels, including Netflix (at least on newer Roku models). But it will still replay the last 10 seconds for you.

Get notified about new episodes with Your Feed

You probably watch a number of shows on different streaming services, and it's annoying to check each specific app for new episodes. The My Feed section of Roku's main menu doesn't look like much, but it's actually one of Roku's cooler features: You can customize this feed to follow all of your favorite shows and see whenever a new episode is available (kind of like the streaming equivalent of a DVR). To add a movie or show, find it using Roku's search feature and click Follow on Roku at the bottom of the season list. You can even follow actors, see when the price drops on a movie or follow movies that aren't out yet so you're notified when they become available for streaming.

Add hidden channels

Roku has more channels than you can shake a stick at, including lesser-known ones like Pluto TV (a compilation of web videos formatted like live cable TV), Movies Anywhere (which lets you store most of your purchased digital movies in one place) and The Roku Channel (a surprisingly decent collection of free movies from Roku). What you may not realize, though, is that Roku's channel store doesn't list every single channel available to you.