Roku Channel Store Categories Updated

March 7, 2015 - 10:16 -- RokuGuide

Roku Channel Store Categories UpdatedIf you like to browse the channel store for interesting channels to add to your Roku, you'll find that some of the categories have changed. For instance, you'll no longer find deer hunting next to yoga and Pilates - the Fitness & Outdoors category is now just Fitness, and channels with hunting, fishing, and other outdoor-related activities are now listed under Sports. Here's a summary of the rest of the changes in the Roku Channel Store.

Four channel store categories have been eliminated or split up, with eight new categories added. In addition to the following changes, Science & Technology is now Sci & Tech, and Religion & Spirituality is now Religious. (At RokuGuide.com we're still in the process of recategorizing many of channels, so please be patient if all of the channels don't yet match Roku's categories.)

As noted above Fitness & Outdoors is now just Fitness, with all those outdoors channels moved to Sports or other more-appropriate categories. Fitness on Roku means exercise, losing weight, and physical conditioning. Other health-related topics, like healthy eating and natural health remedies, are scattered amongst other categories.

Screensavers & Apps has been split into two categories, so you'll find Roku screensavers in their own Screensavers category. The Apps category is something of a catch-all for channels that perform a function other than delivering video or audio content. Here you'll find apps that serve up your Google calendar, let you turn your Roku-connected TV into a digital signboard, and allow you to operate your garage door through your Roku device.

Photos & Video is gone, also split into two new categories: Personal Media and Photo Apps. Personal Media includes apps that let you stream your own videos and music to your Roku. These include Roku Media Player, Plex, and MyMedia.

Although these apps also let you view personal photos through your Roku, the Photo Apps category has been created for apps that are photo-exclusive, such as Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, and Rokagram. Oddly, though, Photo Apps also includes apps - DriveCast and hipMedia, for example - that offer the same video and music streaming capabilities as those in Personal Media. If you're looking for an app to stream any personal media, be sure you check both of these new categories.

Internet TV is out. Web Video is in. Web Video includes channels like YouTube and Vimeo that started out as video sharing sites on the Web but have expanded to Roku and other devices. But this category also includes channels that were originally Web-based media sites with a variety of content that doesn't fit into a single category, like Yahoo Screen and AOL On.

Educational is a new category that includes channels with a focus on learning and instruction, like MIT OpenCourseware Unofficial, ieducation, and Pro Guitar Lessons. All of the language instruction channels, such as Innovative Language - Spanish, have been moved out of travel and into Educational. However, this category also includes channels that are informational, such as SmartSenior and The Autism Channel.

Rounding out the new additions is Lifestyle, where you'll find all those channels about gardening, fashion, beauty, crafting, and so on. This is also the category for channels featuring content from lifestyle magazines like GQ, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. These include AMEX NOW, Portico, and The Scene.

The channel store categories are a great way to browse for Roku channels, but many channels are hard to categorize and many other cross categories. If you're looking for a specific type of content, visit our search feature on RokuGuide, where you can search not just channel titles but channel descriptions, our own exclusive channel reviews, RokuGuide articles, and our features like What's on Roku and Best of Roku.