Pluto TV Tests Roku Tv App Redesign Hiding Live Guide

Pluto TV has started testing a Roku tv app redesign that replaces the default channel grid with a recommendation-led home screen. Roku users in the test now have to press the info button to reach the live guide.

Roku Home Screen Changes

The new layout opens with algorithm-driven recommendations for individual shows, movies, and select channels. That shifts Pluto TV away from a straight cable-style lineup and toward browsing that looks more like a storefront than a guide.

The home screen also adds a scrolling feed of highlighted titles, genre-based carousels, and suggested playlists. Those playlists mix movies, series episodes, and live broadcasts, so the app is pushing viewers toward packaged choices instead of a single channel list.

Pluto TV On Roku

The test is limited to Roku streaming devices for now. That means the change only affects users on that platform, even though Pluto TV built its reputation around linear channels that mimic traditional cable television without subscription fees.

Pluto TV was founded in Los Angeles in 2013 by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin, and Nick Grouf. It entered beta in early 2014 and officially launched later in 2014 as one of the first prominent free ad-supported streaming platforms.

Guide Behind The Info Button

The practical change is simple. The live guide is no longer the first thing viewers see. Roku users who want the familiar grid now need one extra step, and that will decide whether they stay inside the curated home screen or jump straight to live channels.

For now, the unresolved piece is whether Pluto TV keeps the redesign on Roku only or expands it to other devices after the test.