Case in point: I recently heard from a reader who’d successfully cut cable in favor of DirecTV Now, only to become frustrated with how the service handles ad skipping. While DirecTV Now puts no restrictions on recording shows or jumping past commercials, it offers no visual preview of what you’re skipping when you hit fast forward. Without this visual preview, skipping past commercial breaks requires a lot of trial and error.

I decided to dig into the matter, and I discovered that visual preview is a nuanced and occasionally vexing issue in the world of live TV streaming services. The ability to skip past commercials with ease can depend not only on which service you choose, but on the device you’re using and even the button you press to fast forward on your remote. For a breakdown of how each service fares, read the full column on TechHive.

Linking Google Assistant to Roku is a bit of a doozy due to Google’s labyrinthine settings menu, but here’s how to do it: Open the Google Home app on your phone, hit the bottom-right button for Account settings, select “Settings,” choose the “Assistant” tab, then select ” Home Control.” Hit the “+” or “Add Device” button, then find Roku on the list. Sign into your Roku account, then select the player you want to connect. (You can only connect one Roku to Google Assistant, alas.)

The big limitation here is that you can’t use Google Assistant to launch videos directly. Searching or opening an app is as far as you’ll get, at which point you’ll have to grab the remote to make a selection. Roku is working on its own voice assistant, which will presumably have better integration, but it’s been delayed until next year. In the meantime, Google Home offers deeper control over Chromecast devices, while Amazon lets you control Fire TV devices with Alexa.

More Roku niceties: Roku has also started rolling out OS 9, which isn’t a huge update but adds some pleasant features such as automatic volume leveling (goodbye, obnoxiously loud commercial breaks), which you can access by hitting the * button during video playback and visiting the Volume Mode menu. The update also includes the ability to search free content by genre and use the voice remote to directly launch music in Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. Spotify is returning to Roku as well in OS 9, albeit without those voice controls.

Roku says the update will hit all streaming players dating back to the 2011 Roku LE, though it may take until year-end to reach them all. Roku TVs will start getting the update early next year, though some features (such as Spotify and music control are already available.

Apple’s streaming plans: Details on Apple’s streaming TV plans continue to drip out with a new report from The Information. Apple will reportedly launch the service in the United States within the first half of 2019, followed by a global rollout, and will include original programming for free if you own an Apple device. Apple may also want to sell add-on subscriptions to other video services, like Amazon is doing with Amazon Channels. (That service allows Amazon Prime subscribers to add HBO and other premium channels, all through a single app and billing system.)

The report also says Apple will only offer the services on its own devices, such as the iPhone and Apple TV. That’s not surprising, but it is disappointing. Most people don’t own Apple TVs, but you’ll probably need one if you want to see what stars like Jennifer Aniston, Charlie Day, and Oprah Winfrey have been working on and don’t care to watch on an iPhone. I remain skeptical that hardware exclusivity is a winning strategy for Apple’s original programming, but I guess we’ll see.

Today’s also the last day to get three free months of Pandora Premium streaming music with a subscription to Philo, a $16 per month non-sports streaming TV service. Pandora Premium is similar to Spotify and Apple Music, providing a huge catalog of ad-free music.