How to display photos on your Roku TV

You can make your streaming experience much more personal. This doesn’t mean crafting the perfect watch lists on different streaming services or teaching the algorithms on Netflix or Disney+ what kinds of content you want to watch. I’m talking about actually putting a little bit of yourself into your TV.

If you’re a Roku user, you know what happens when you leave your TV unattended for too long — the screensaver kicks on, and you’re likely floating around the fictional Roku City and bombarded by ads for random content. But what if you want to show photos of yourself and your family as your background? It’s easy to do if you have Google Photos.

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Connecting your Google Photos account to Roku is a simple process, but it’s not the only way to display your photos on your screen. No matter which method you choose, you can control everything from your remote. Here’s what you need to know about showing off photos on Roku.

Roku TV

Roku TV is the operating system for Roku devices. This includes Roku TVs and Roku streaming devices.

How can you use your photos on Roku?

There are various things to do with them

Roku

Casting your phone to Roku is one thing. It works, but if you want a more refined way to view and display your photos, Roku offers better options. When you upload your photos to Roku, they can be used across multiple apps within the streaming OS.

One of the best options is Roku Photo Streams, especially if you want to reuse your photos over and over. Photo Streams gives you the chance to upload different photos or entire albums to be used as slideshows, screen savers, backgrounds, and more. You can also use Roku Backdrops, which turns whatever TV you have into something similar to a Samsung The Frame TV. Backdrops can even be used to accentuate a conversation piece in your home.

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How to connect Google Photos to Roku

It’s easier to do this on your computer

If you keep your photos in Google Photos, Roku lets you connect your account to display them on your TV. You can do this on your phone or your computer, but I’ve found it’s simpler to do on your phone.

In order to sync up your Google Photos account, you first need to visit a website that isn’t just Roku.com.

1. Go to photostreams.roku.com.
2. Sign in to your Roku account.
3. Click Create a new Photo Stream.
4. Click Connect to Google Photos.
5. Sign in to your Google account.
6. Share access to Google Photos.
7. Choose the photos that you want to add to Photo Streams, and click Okay.

Once you’ve uploaded your photos, they’ll appear as their own Photo Stream. Just log into Roku, open the Photo Streams app, and you’ll see your uploaded stream ready to go. From there, you can set any photo as a screen saver or play a slideshow of multiple images. You can also sign in directly through the Photo Streams app on your TV and enter your account info using your Roku remote.

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How to upload other photos to Roku Streams

This is specific to the photos on your device

If you don’t have a Google Photos account, that doesn’t prohibit you from uploading photos to your Roku. You can upload your photos from whatever device you are using to connect to the website. Whether you have albums on your computer or you’re logging into the app on your phone, you can upload photos from there.

If you’re logging on via your computer,

1. Go to photostreams.roku.com.
2. Sign in to your Roku account.
3. Click Create a new Photo Stream.
4. Click Upload from device.
5. Choose the photos from wherever you store them on your computer.
6. Click Upload.

This will create a Photo Stream and you can go in and choose the photos that you want to have show up on your screen saver or backgrounds. If you’re using your phone:

1. Open up your Roku app.
2. Tap Account on the bottom right.
3. Tap Photo Streams on the top right.
4. Tap New Stream.
5. Tap Add Photos.
6. Choose the photos that you want.
7. Tap Add.

If you select a photo in the app, you can press the TV button to cast it to your screen, which will immediately display it on the TV.

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How to upload your photos to Roku Backdrops

It’s just a different website

Getting your photos ready for Roku Backdrops follows almost the same process as Photo Streams. You can upload images from your device or connect your Google Photos account to bring in your favorite shots. One perk of Backdrops is the ability to preview photos before setting them, so you can see exactly how they’ll look. But unlike screen savers, which activate after your TV sits idle, Backdrops can be turned on instantly with the press of a button.

To upload things to Backdrops:

1. Go to backdrops.roku.com.
2. Sign in to your Roku account.
3. Click Add new photos.
4. Click Connect to Google Photos.
5. Sign in to your Google account.
6. Share access to Google Photos.
7. Choose the photos you want and add them to Backdrops.

If you’ve logged into your Google Photos account for Photo Streams, it will show up in your Backdrops account already. You can’t log into Backdrops from the Roku app on your phone, but you can go to the Backdrops app on the Roku and log in through that to upload photos. This is where you can change settings for your Backdrops, too.

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