There are a ton of great features you can play around with when you’re using Roku. Roku offers the ability to talk to your remote,turn your phone or watch into the remote, andmirror your screen. But at the end of the day, Roku is all about streaming and helping you find the next big thing to watch.

One of the added features is the use of Roku Zones. Roku Zones help you filter your searches for the content you want to find. One word or two words can open up a world of possibilities. If you want to know more about Roku Zones, read on and see the opportunity you have by using them.

Roku TV OS

Roku TV is the operating system for Roku streaming devices. There are a lot of features users can enjoy while using Roku TV.

What are Roku Zones and why should you use them?

When you’re using Roku and you’re on the home page, you can go to the left side of the screen and click on the Search bar. This is where you can use Roku’s algorithm to type in a keyword, a title, or a streaming service to make the app or piece of content come up. If you type in a title or an actor, you’re able to see offerings with that title or with that actor that are available to stream on Roku. For instance, if you type in Al Pacino, a list of Al Pacino movies that you’re able to stream on Roku will appear.

But if you’re not sure what you want to watch, or you want to look at a broader search, you can try typing in a keyword that will bring up a Roku Zone. A Roku Zone is a name for a genre or topic that you’re searching for. You can bring up a ton of different content on Roku by searching broad terms like sports, news, comedy, drama, and more.

roku zones search

Keep the search words simple. If you get too detailed, you’ll bring up the specific search. That may be what you want, but Zones are meant to be broader.

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What comes up when you search for zones?

Collections and more can appear

If you aren’t sure what exactly you want to watch and you want to see what’s available across all of your streaming platforms (or any streaming platforms that are available on the Roku), typing in Roku Zones will help you find something. You can type in the word Sitcom and be brought to all the different streaming services that have sitcoms for you to watch. Because Sitcom is a subgenre of comedy, you’re brought to the Sitcom zone. But if you type in comedy, there is a lot that comes up.

You can choose from the Legally Blonde Zone, the Despicable Me Zone, a zone just called Comedy Zone, Saturday Night Live Clips, the Tyler Perry Zone, and more. Once you click in one of these zones, Roku lists all the content that falls within those zones that is available to stream. In the Legally Blonde Zone, you can watch all three Legally Blonde movies. But Roku also gives you menus about Movies with Actors from the Franchise, TV Shows with Actors from the Franchise, and Other Free Comedy Movies.

A Roku home screen with the device and remote in front of a TV

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How do you know what search words bring up zones?

You don’t, but you could have a pretty good idea

Some search terms bring up a lot of options to stream. But some don’t offer you as many zones. The term News is a bit too broad, as you’ll see a News Zone but then not many subgenre options that target different kinds of news. That’s okay, but you may find what you are looking for in the News Zone that is listed. Typing in Sports delivers a lot of zones but also a lot of live games that are currently on Roku live.

That being said, when you type in Sports, it will bring up a number of different sports zones you’re able to enjoy, such as Baseball Zone, NBA Zone, MLS Zone, and more. It is better to try different keywords and learn from what actually brings up the kind of content you want. Plus, once you learn about zones that you like, you can keep coming back to them in the future. A great part of the Roku search feature is that is shows you your most recent searches, so you don’t have to type them in again.

Roku zone for sitcoms

A Roku Zone is a name for genre or topic that you’re searching for.

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What’s the best zone to start with?

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Unless you know exactly what you want, you should try and pick something broad. But, if you want to go right to the best zones available on Roku, search Popular zones. This will bring up the more searched for zones at that point in time. You’ll get 11 different options to see what people are watching or searching for most frequently. A lot of them will be movie and TV show collections.

The Harry Potter Zone is arguably the most popular zone you’re going to find. The Star Wars Zone and Jurassic Park Zone prove that big tentpole movies and franchises are the kind of content people want to come back to over and over. Opting for those can bring you the comfort that those are known to bring to millions throughout the year. Give Roku Zones and try and aim to find new and exciting zones as you use them more.

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