Sign in Go live free
Menu

Publishing guide • Roku

Publish your app on Roku

Your control panel builds your Roku channel. Roku asks one thing no other store does: the final package has to be made on a Roku. So you'll install the channel on your own Roku, try it on your TV, let the Roku package it, and upload that package to Roku. It takes about half an hour the first time.

  • Free developer account
  • Your Roku does the packaging
  • Try it on your TV first

Roku changes its website from time to time. If a button below has a slightly different name on your screen, pick the one that means the same thing.

1. Become a Roku developer

  1. Go to developer.roku.com and sign in with your Roku account.
  2. Finish the short sign-up and agree to Roku's terms. It costs nothing to publish a free channel. The name you give here is the one viewers see as the publisher.

2. Turn on developer mode

  1. On your Roku remote, press Home 3 times, Up 2 times, then Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.
  2. A developer screen appears. Write down the address it shows (it looks like 192.168.1.20), choose a password, and let the Roku restart.

3. Install your channel and try it

  1. In your control panel, under Build your apps, build Roku and download the Roku channel (.zip). Keep it zipped.
  2. On your computer, type the Roku's address into your browser. Sign in with the user name rokudev and the password you just chose.
  3. Choose the zip file and click Install. Your channel starts on the TV.
  4. Have a look around: watch your live stream and a few videos, or listen to your radio station. Screenshots for your store page can be taken from the same browser page, under Utilities.

4. Create your signing key, one time only

  1. Open a terminal on your computer (Command Prompt on Windows, Terminal on a Mac) and connect to the Roku with telnet, using its address and port 8080.
  2. Type genkey and press Enter. Roku shows a password and an ID. Save both somewhere safe: you'll need them for every update of your channel.

Changed your Roku, or reset it? The Roku's browser page has a Rekey option that brings your key back from a package you made before, with that password.

5. Let your Roku make the package

  1. Back in the Roku's browser page, open Packager.
  2. Type your app's name, its version (the one shown on your build in the control panel) and the password from step 4, then click Package.
  3. Download the package file it gives you. That's the file Roku wants.

6. Send it to Roku

  1. In your Roku developer dashboard, add a new public channel and give it your app's name.
  2. Fill in the store page: your description and category, poster-540x405.png from the roku folder of your Store images, your screenshots and your privacy policy address.
  3. Upload the package. Roku checks it straight away and lists anything it wants changed.
  4. Submit it for Roku's review. When Roku approves it, publish it, and viewers can add your channel from the Roku Channel Store.

Updating later: build Roku again in your control panel, install the new zip on your Roku, package it with the same key and upload it as a new version. New videos and stream changes show up in the app by themselves, without an update.