Roku users just got a cool feature upgrade

(Image credit: Roku)

published 3 May 2022

Roku is one of America's favourite streaming platforms, and it's pretty popular in the rest of the world, too. And that means its latest free upgrade is going to delight a lot of people, because it brings one of the best music streaming services to one of the best media streaming platforms.

As of today, Roku users can install Apple Music and stream from a selection of over 90 million songs to your Roku streaming stick, Streambar or Roku TV.

If you already have an Apple Music subscription all you need to do is to install the app and enter your sign-in details. If you don't, you can take advantage of a one-month free trial to see if you like it.

I'm an Apple Music subscriber and I really like it: the interface scales nicely on your TV and the sound quality is excellent, so if your Roku kit is part of a home cinema set up or you've got the Roku Streambar Pro I think you'll like it as much as I do.

What Roku devices work with Apple Music?

All of them. According to Roku, Apple Music can stream "on any Roku device including Roku streaming players, Roku TV™ models and Roku premium audio products like the Roku Streambar(R) Pro." On compatible devices that also includes music videos in 4K as well as time-synced lyrics so you can howl, bellow or squeak along to your favourite songs.

Like many streaming services, Apple Music gets better the more you use it: I've found that its recommendation engine works really well, introducing me to music that I actually like rather than just throwing a whole bunch of stuff from the same genre at me, and the curated playlists and radio are very impressive too. And because it's available on phone, tablet, Mac and Android, you can move seamlessly between all kinds of devices when you're not in front of the TV.

The new Roku app should be available from 3 May for all Roku streamers and Roku-powered TVs. You can also watch Apple TV+ on Roku devices; once again that requires a subscription but a free trial is available.

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).