Thank you for working to improve the Roku app. Would it be possible to have library navigation automatically set a preference based on the last use? Right now with the Roku v9 preview my most frequent use requires a lot of clicks, and I have to do it every time: I want to go to a library named “TV Shows”, and I want “Browse”, not “Recommended”.
Right now, I think if I click on “Libraries” it just goes to “Recommended” for the first library in the list. Similarly if I click on a particular library (e.g. “TV Shows”) then it goes to “Recommended”.
As an example of automatic library navigation preference setting, let’s say I go into the Roku Plex app and navigate to “Libraries”→”Movies”→”Browse”. Then I go to “Libraries”→”TV Shows”→”Browse”. Then in the future:
- When I click “Ok” on “Libraries” it automatically goes to “Libraries”→”TV Shows”→”Browse” because that was my last navigation under “Libraries”
- When I click “Ok” on “TV Shows” it automatically goes to “Libraries”→”TV Shows”→”Browse” because that was my last navigation under “TV Shows”
- When I click “Ok” on “Movies” it automatically goes to “Libraries”→”Movies”→”Browse” because that was my last navigation under “Movies”
Then, given the above 3 actions executed consecutively, if I then click “Ok” on “Libraries” again it would go to “Libraries”→”Movies”→”Browse” because that is now the most recent “Library” level navigation.
This should be profile specific, and persist across sessions.
Ideally this would apply to any other sub-selections, such as “Live TV” selection of OTA vs Plex Channels, etc.
If you go to “Settings” > “Experience” there is a setting called “Default Library View” that you can change to “Browse”. This will move “Browse” above “Recommended” and navigate to “Browse” by default when clicking “OK” on a library. You can also reorder your most used favorite library to the top so clicking “OK” on “Libraries” navigates to that library’s “Browse” view. That is not quite what you mentioned, but I’m curious how that works for you.
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Ericmatthys provided good detail about the newer default library view setting in v8/v9 vs the previous “remember last” function and once I set that default I got used to it and preferred it really (I almost never use “recommend” screen so my default is “browse” too and now I didn’t have to worry about setting it back to “browse” when I did use “recommend” or “collections”). I think the only difference between V8 and V9 in this area of navigation is that when clicking that top level Libraries, v8 remembered your last accessed library (had a circle indicator) and v9 defaults to the first favorite.
In v8 that was easy to indicate which library would open when you clicked Libraries using an unfilled highlight circle, so maybe that could be replicated in the vertical list? I use TV Shows as my top favorite because I like having recently added episodes at my top row, but I navigate to browse my Movies library (which is 2nd) more often than my TV Show library. So that function of remembering last accessed library helped a lot to reduce number of navigation clicks for me. It might not be quite as effective UX though since the vertical list is a visual hierarchy while the horizontal list was a flat presentation.
Yes there was some debate on that point, whether clicking “OK” on “Libraries” should go to the last navigated library or always go to the first favorite library. In the end, we decided to use the simpler and more consistent option. Like you mentioned with browse, recommended, collections, etc, using the last navigated can mean that you don’t always know where you will end up if you click on “Libraries”, which makes the shortcut less useful in some cases. But I’ll share this feedback with the team.
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I appreciate it. This function would definitely be very personally or situationally preferential so 100% there isn’t going to be a “best for everyone” option. 
I think the default behavior that was chosen for v9 using the vertical list is likely the more broadly intuitive functionality so that makes sense. It might still help to have the defaults get a highlight - little round unfilled oval like v8 does - just to help clarify even if they aren’t really going to change. So the first library will always get a circle and if “browse” is my default then it gets a circle or “collections” will if that’s what I set. This could also help in households where maybe the primary user has set these so remembers them better than the kids or roommates that only use it occasionally. Just a thought. Appreciate the attention. 
@hokierulz - sorry for the slight hijack. I was pretty used to the “remember last” but did find I like the set and forget default option better now so definitely give it a try and it’ll probably reduce some of that frustration. 
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@ericmatthys Thank you for the quick response! Clearly I didn’t look through the settings hard enough. The options you proposed are helpful and do make the preview app experience better.
I do think that my original suggestion is still worth consideration. For admins/those more technically oriented the way the preview app currently navigates does work. However, consider that much of the Plex audience that don’t post here are family members that are not technically oriented and (at least in my experience) won’t explore or use settings. For many in that audience a “remember last” is more intuitive.
If there is a debate on which is better, then could you also provide “remember last” functionality, and then make it a Setting (specific to a profile if possible) to either use “remember last” navigation, or the way the new preview currently navigates? Then the “house admin” can set it and forget it for their audience.
@Insomnic_1 No worries - good discussion!
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