The best streaming services?

There was an article recently about what it called the "best streaming services."

I'm not really going to take exception to it, apart from saying that "best" is subjective. What one thinks is best might not be what another thinks is best.

Having said that, I'll tell you what I think about the choices of Tom's Guide.

Best overall: Max

This is a good choice. But so is just about anything else, if the service has what you want. It's something I'll subscribe to one month out of the year. Maybe.

Best for TV: Hulu

Okay, I actually agree with this. For years, Hulu has been my "cable" service. It gets me current TV shows from NBC, ABC, and Fox on a delayed basis. Kinda like a DVR. And it's still pretty cheap.

Tom's Guide says a drawback is "frequent commercials." That's not really true, since Hulu uses the existing ad breaks that you'd get if you watched the shows on cable. And fewer commercials during the ad break.

Best variety: Netflix

Again, sure if it has what you want. It has nothing I want. I subscribe less often than one month out of a year. Heck, I've gone multiple years without watching it.

Best family: Disney Plus

I can't argue this. It's not the stuff I watch, but I'm not Disney's target audience anyway. There is plenty of kid-oriented content on Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Tubi, and other free services.

Best live TV: Sling TV

First, I don't have any use for an expensive live TV package. Philo is just over half the cost of Sling TV, and Frndly TV is a third the cost of Philo. There are cheaper options. Again, it depends on what you want. I use Frndly TV. If I wanted more than that, I'd use Philo.

Best cheap: Peacock

Cheap is correct. However, as it's only $1/month cheaper than Frndly TV, I'd pick Frndly TV as my best cheap service.

Again, this is all subjective. What's best for one may not be -- probably won't be -- best for everyone.

My Streaming Life does include Peacock, but only because it's included with something else. I subscribe to Frndly TV and Hulu (though I pause Hulu a lot). And that's it. Other services are free or cheaper, and that's how I stream.

Removing Google from an Android Phone

If you are interested in privacy, and want to stop Google from spying on you via your phone, can you just remove Google from your Android phone?

No. Not and keep the same operating system.

Rob Braxman tells why.

[YouTube]

I have used Apple phones, standard Android phones, and other Android OS phones. That last group are the most private, then Apple (surprise!), then standard Android (the least private).

My Streaming Life doesn't normally involve using a mobile device. But I am interested in privacy, and so should you.

Disney to crack down on password sharing?

A report out of India indicates that Disney may be beginning the process of cracking down on password sharing.

Okay, that's India. That's not the US. Why is this a concern here?

Think back for a minute. Netflix cracked down on password sharing. They started small, in other countries. Then expanded, finally cracking down on the US.

Disney's plan comes just as streaming rival Netflix in May started telling subscribers in more than 100 countries they will need to pay more to share the service with people outside their household.

In India, a premium account of Disney+ Hotstar streaming service still allows logins on as many as 10 devices, even though its website currently says "number of devices that can be logged in" is four.

Disney+ Hotstar has internally tested enforcement of the policy and has plans to start implementing it later this year to limit logins at four for such accounts, said the first person.

"Some people will be incentivised to buy" their own subscriptions with new restrictions in place, said the person.

Disney declined to comment.

Now, I don't have a problem with what Disney is doing. If that's how they want to do it, fine. I won't impact me one way or the other.

My Streaming Life does not include Disney+. For those that do, this may be bad news coming down the pike for some Disney+ customers.

How long does a Roku last?

Luke Bouma at Cord Cutters News tried to answer a difficult question recently. The question was along the line of "how long does a Roku or Roku TV last?"

That's not easy to answer. One reason is that the quality of the devices vary. On overage, the cheapest Roku devices won't last as long as the most expensive ones. However, there are exceptions.

Luke said, in general, that he's not had a problem using one over five years, except for one he thinks he damaged.

In our experience, Roku Players and Roku TVs have good lifespans. Of the over 30 streaming players I have had, only one stopped working, and that was the Roku Stick I used to travel with. As best I can tell, I damaged the power cord one day when I took it out of a TV. That power cord had the WiFi antenna attached to it, and one day the WiFi stopped working. All my other Roku devices have continued to work as the should without issues.

For Roku TVs, we have had 6 of them without issues. Our main TV in the living room that has worked now for over five years without issues.

I agree with his overall assessment. My Roku devices have lasted a good long time.

I do disagree with one area, however. I have found that cheaper Roku TVs, built by third parties, don't last as long. By that I mean that the interface becomes sluggish. Generally, that's because they're underpowered devices that are fine for the current software, but as time passes and the software is updated and requires more horsepower, the older devices perform worse.

The good news is that there is an easy fix to the Roku TV devices that perform poorly: Add a Roku device.

What? Yep, add a Roku to your Roku. The Roku TVs have HDMI ports, and you can plug in a Roku (or Fire TV Stick, Chromecase, or other streaming device) to a port. You would then use it like any other TV. You would use the Roku interface of the new device (Roku Stick, or whatever) and use the beter streaming device.

This is one of the things I don't like about smart TVs. The "smarts" may eventually require more power than the hardware can do. Adding a Roku to a Roku TV is sometimes how you deal with it.

My Streaming Life has included older Roku TVs, and I've run into this very thing. That's how I deal with it.

More price increases: Shudder

The Shudder streaming service is raising its prices.

In the past two plus years, a lot of streaming services have increased prices, some more than once. Shudder was $5/month ($4/month if paid annually) when it launched, and went up a couple of years ago to $6/month. The new price is $7/month, starting August 28.

Shudder isn't my cup of tea (or hemlock), so I've not used the service. However, it is a popular service, for its content. I haven't seen a lot of blow back to the upcoming price increase, so fans may tolerate it. People have fussed about other increases, and then went along with it. Shudder, being more of a niche streaming service, may have an even more loyal following.

My Streaming Life won't be impacted, as I subscribe to very few services, and nothing in the horror genre. However, I do feel for those being impacted. I'm glad they are able to find the content they want, just not glad about them having to pay more.

Cable companies losing subscribers

A new report shows how a couple of cable companies are losing subscribers. Cord Cutters News reports that Comcast and Spectrum have lost nearly three-quarter of a million TV subscribers in the second quarter.

According to Comcast, it lost 543,000 video customers during the second quarter of 2023. That works out to almost 6,000 Subscribers Every Day. The company lost 19,000 broadband customers for the quarter. Comcast now has 32 million total broadband customers. Revenue from domestic broadband was up 4.4% in the 2nd quarter.

That's on the heels of a an announcement by Spectrum of cable subscriber losses:

Last week we learned that Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, has once again lost 200,000 TV customers in the 2nd quarter of 2023. Spectrum also reported that they lost over 221,000 voice customers as many Americans turned away from traditional phone lines and TV services. Spectrum did add 77,000 internet customers during that time for both residential and business customers.

More and more people are finding out they don't need cable. You and I have known this for some time. My Streaming Life replaced cable TV watching over a dozen years ago. I haven't looked back since. And more and more people are doing the same.

Looking for more

I wonder sometimes if I'm the type of person that will never be satisfied. I have two ex-wives that would probably agree with that assessment.

About streaming, though. I've been a fan of Roku for years. I bought a Roku device in 2010, and have been streaming ever since.

Roku wasn't my first streaming device though. I had actually purchased an Apple TV device the same month as the Roku, but the Apple TV was for my wife (see first paragraph). It was for her to play her music she purchased from iTunes. The TV had a really good sound system, and the Apple TV was the best way to play through the system.

When Fire TV devices were released a few years later, I bought one and didn't really like it. However, I wanted to get something that was a little more than what I had. It wasn't, and Roku remained the streamer of choice.

I bought new Apple TV devices when the redesign gave it access to the App Store. I used the new Apple TV for a bit, but went back to Roku.

When Google TV devices came out (the interface for Android TV) I tried those. But Roku remained my go to device.

Why am I trying out these other devices if I'm happy with Roku? I'm not sure. I want the best, and maybe I'm missing out on something.

If I was like that in my relationships, I'd be running around with other women but going home at night to a wife. That's not what happened, and my multiple divorces were not due to infidelity; I'm simply a jerk and hard to get along with.

With a streaming device, there is no life-long commitment such as in a marriage (ideally). I want better. I like what I have, but want more.

My Streaming Life is mainly with Roku, but I will try out the other devices from time to time. Maybe I need to be more faithful to Roku. Or maybe Roku needs to do better. I have to say that overall, it does fine. Maybe it's me. I know a couple of women who would agree with that.