I primarily own Apple devices. As such, I have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and many other Cupertino devices. This list also includes an Apple TV. And yet, I can see the appeal of Roku streamers. In fact, I have a Roku Streaming Stick (primarily for testing) and find it excellent hardware.
Google has spent years getting Google TV onto more televisions, and in August 2026 it gave its free Freeplay service an on-demand library for the first time. Apple still sells the Apple TV 4K as the premium box for people who want the best picture and the tightest iPhone integration. Neither push has moved Roku off the top spot in American living rooms.
Roku passed 100 million streaming households worldwide in April. Parks Associates research released this spring puts Roku OS at 28% of TV operating system usage in US broadband homes, ahead of Samsungโs Tizen at 23%. Appleโs tvOS and Android TV rank lower, with smaller shares. A separate report Android Headlines covered in July put Roku at 37% of the US streaming OS market, with Google TV at 14% and tvOS at 8%.
Those gaps didnโt happen by accident.