Roku is one of the media platforms in the US and across the world! It is soon going to become the leading streaming device on earth. Building your channel or app is the best way to tap into the market benefits. Businesses looking to explore their market reach need to have a Roku app to promote their ideas. You can take the help of a Roku developer to develop your channel to gather a larger audience.
Roku is making up 30% of the global streaming time on TVs and has a huge potential to grab onto a large audience. You can let your video business accessible by letting viewers explore the content on reliable channels. Roku SDK (Software Development Kit) is ensuring the easy creation of Roku apps for the streaming platform. In comparison, the new Roku IDK (Independent Development Kit) is a new launch to promote non-commercial development. Either way, Roku offers you the opportunity to reach out to the mass audience with suitable apps.
Table of Contents
3 Different Methods to Create a Roku App
Roku is an open platform that is allowing easy creation of channels. There are three prime ways to develop an app and we will discuss them below. Your decision on the method of app development will determine the overall cost of the project. Each of them needs a different level of effort and cost to do things the right way. Let us discuss all of them in brief.
Direct Publisher
Building a Roku channel with Direct Publisher is cheaper than hiring a developer. It is also less labor-intensive and thus Roku does all the work for you in the publisher. There is no requirement for coding skills and the people selecting Direct Publisher can develop apps quickly. The first thing to do is to set up Roku customer, developer, and billing accounts. Now you need to login into the dashboard to create a new channel under the Manage My Channel tab. It is simple and convenient to start your channel on Roku.
If you’re looking for steps to create your own Roku channel then here they’re –
Setting up of a Content Hosting Solution
First, locate an OVP (Online Video Platform) or CDN (Content Delivery Network) for hosting the content. It needs to be safely delivered to get a functional Roku app.
Creation of a Content Feed
It is the piece of code containing all kinds of metadata needed for safe play on the Roku device. Prepare it in the form of JSON file, MRSS, or XML.
Use of Direct Publisher
Once all is complete, it is time to get accustomed to the Direct Publisher. It is the tool guiding you with the process of app creation and content publishing. But, before it, one needs to sign-up to their Roku account and create a developer account. Then get connected to the Roku device or use a TV with Roku built-in.
Hire a Roku SDK Developer
You need the help of a Roku SDK developer to launch a Roku app. This is the way to build a suitable app for the platform from the start with no specific coding knowledge. The cost estimate of the Roku app development is the charge needed to support app development. Roku is having all the required APIs, developer tools, and libraries to ensure the easy building of channels. It is the approach needed in the development of tools and also features easy customization options.
Roku SDK is ensuring providers so to create channels with custom requirements. It refers to the prioritization of long-term profitability over-development speed. Use Roku’s developer APIs to develop a cross-platform strategy. It also assists to monetize the content with a subscription.
Here are the top benefits of using Roku SDK development –
Cross-Platform UI: Build your channel from the start with help of Roku SDK. It provides complete control to mirror the UI and ensure a consistent experience for end-users.
DRM Support: It helps to secure the content with help of DRM encryption.
Billing: It is the process of monetizing the users with billing models, in-app transactions, or a one-time installation fee.
Third-Party Analytics: Roku channels receive audience engagement reports. The custom-built apps can integrate third-party apps.
Businesses can create Roku apps with help of Roku SDK and it also has the features of Roku payments. Take the help of Roku developers to get suitable apps for promoting the service and products.
Develop with New Roku IDK
It is the development platform for con-commercial needs to create personal apps. You can sideload the apps on the Roku stream devices that support IDK. It has a lot of features like the low-level hooks with Roku OS and real-time 3D graphics with OpenGL. Also, use the IDK to initiate interactive sessions that work with Roku remote control.
Here are the things required to run the Roku IDK apps –
- Linus Operating system – Fedora Workstation or Ubuntu Desktop.
- Roku streaming player – It supports the IDK and runs on Roku OS 10.5 or higher.
- Roku Customer Account and Roku Developer Account.
The build-up of an IDK app is mainly the organization of the application code to generate a binary file. Each of the IDK applications needs to have its files and directories organized effectively. You can today get your functional Roku app with help of Roku IDK.
Roku channels or apps are assisting businesses to promote their content to a large audience. We have mentioned-above three prime ways to create a Roku app and one can select either of the methods. Reaching out to a Roku app developer is also a suitable idea for companies not having personal developers. Talk with the professionals and describe your vision to them to ensure smoother delivery of the channel.
