Roku’s new Labs hub brings experimental apps to the big screen
Roku’s new Labs hub brings experimental apps to the big screen. 25% off tickets now Back by popular demand: Save up to $300 on Disrupt Close In Brief Posted: 8:50 AM PDT · September 17, 2026 Image Credits:Roku Sarah Perez Roku’s new Labs hub brings experimental apps to the big screen Roku is turning your TV into its own testing grounds.
What happened
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Roku’s latest OS update introduces Roku Labs, a new hub for experimental apps, alongside personalized home screens in more markets, streaming subscription bundles, and more. Image Credits:Roku These still-in-development apps will be accessible through a new tile on Roku’s Home Screen. On Thursday, the connected TV device maker unveiled the latest update to Roku OS, which introduces a new experience called Roku Labs that allows U. S. customers to access experimental apps made by the company.
Initially, users will see apps for tracking the weather, stocks, and a new game called Roku Dash. The latter involves customers flying a UFO across “Roku City,” the company’s default screensaver of a neon purple and pink city skyline, interspersed with references to pop culture and ads.
The wider picture
Image Credits:Roku The additions suggest Roku is increasing its investment in what could turn out to be monetizable first-party apps that put the company at the center of connected households. Alongside this update, Roku is making its newer, personalized Home Screen available in new markets, including Mexico and Brazil, where it will offer region-specific features like localized content and tailored suggestions. 25% off tickets now Back by popular demand: Save up to $300 on Disrupt Close Image Credits:TechCrunch Apps Apple will let EU apps use less-alarming tracking-consent screens Sarah Perez 9:09 AM PDT · September 17, 2026 As a result of a multi-year antitrust probe by Germany’s federal competition regulator and others, Apple has agreed to modify the requirements for apps on its platforms that ask for consent to track the user across other apps or websites.
Regulators said this system, known as App Tracking Transparency, or ATT, had favored Apple over third-party apps, since Apple allows its own apps to use consumers’ data from its ecosystem without requiring a consent screen. Users typically respond to consent screens by asking apps not to track them, which hurts ad-supported businesses, like Meta, while boosting Apple’s own. Apple, however, argued that these consent screens help protect consumer privacy, even though it permits its own apps to display personalized ads based on the data they collect from its ecosystem.
In addition, Roku’s Voice assistant will now be able to answer weather-related questions. On the streaming side, Roku will begin offering bundled subscriptions in the U.
What has been reported
Roku also said it is open-sourcing the software that powers its Roku remote, Roku LT OS, which could invite outside developers and makers to build their own applications and devices. Topics Media & Entertainment, roku, streaming October 13 – 15 San Francisco Last day to book an exhibit table is September 18. Instead, they allow app developers whose software is distributed in the EU to display an alternative consent screen that includes modified formatting, language, and the option to link out to “additional information” about why the app is requesting this permission, among other things.
Apple’s compliance involves over half-a-dozen changes that attempt to make these ATT consent screens less scary to end users. This includes showing them as full-page screens, not pop-ups; removing the word “track”; changing the choice buttons to “Allow” and “Reject” instead of “Allow” and “Ask App Not to Track”; changing the colors and formatting; and more. The iPhone maker says that, due to legal requirements, only the alternative version of the system prompt will be available to apps distributed in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and Romania.
In short, the apps asking for such permissions do so because it lets them show personalized advertising, which generates more revenue, helping the app developer to make money. The company said it will now allow app developers distributing to the EU to re-prompt their EU users one year after the user’s previous choice in their ATT consent screen.
What happens next
Topics app tracking transparency, Apple, Apps, Europe, european union, Government & Policy When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. BOOK NOW Most Popular OpenAI caught its models leaving notes to successors to hide bad behavior Rebecca Bellan Clean tech startup Fluxnium found a way to tap 50,000 years’ worth of nuclear fuel Tim De Chant Salesforce and Nvidia’s new reasoning model is everything the AI labs should fear Julie Bort Jensen Huang took a call from Trump, and showed off something else, too Connie Loizos The 9 buzziest startups from Y Combinator’s latest Demo Day, according to VCs Marina Temkin Dominic-Madori Davis Tesla says it will finally unveil the second-generation Roadster on October 1 Anthony Ha Revolut confirms customer data breach through fake government requests Jagmeet Singh Loading the next article Error loading the next article
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The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across techcrunch.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.