Those signed up to the Disney Plus Basic With Ads plan can now access the streaming service on a Roku device, after support was added earlier today. Roku users have had to wait almost four months to gain support.
Disney originally launched its Basic plan in December of last year as a way to offer consumers a choice between an ad-free and an ad-supported plan. While there are other differences between the two tiers, the use of ads and the monthly subscription prices are the main ones.
Ever since the With Ads plan launched, Disney Plus Basic subscribers have been unable to access the streaming service on their Roku devices. This was previously confirmed in a help post which made clear that the ad-supported plan was “not currently available on Roku devices.”
However, that same help post has since been updated and not only is the previous unsupported message gone, but it now reads “Once you have updated the Disney+ app to the latest version, you’ll be able to enjoy streaming Disney+ (With Ads) on Roku.”
The important part to note here is that Disney is making clear that those already with the app installed on their device will need to update the app to the latest version to unlock support. This can be done by navigating from the Roku home screen to Settings > System > System Update.
The message also confirms that the support now extends to subscribers to any version of the Disney Plus Basic plan. In other words, not only those signed up to Disney+ Basic, but also those subscribed to Disney Bundle Duo Basic or Disney Bundle Trio Basic.
For reference, a similar issue recently surfaced with Netflix and its newest ‘Basic with ads’ plan on Apple TV devices. Similar to the Disney Plus on Roku situation, however, Apple TV player owners also recently gained support for Netflix’s ‘with ads’ plan.
