Forum Discussion

beckfield's avatar
beckfield
Binge Watcher
3 years ago
Solved

What Roku guideline caused Plex to remove screensaver?

The most recent build of the Plex for Roku app removed their built-in screensaver.  Their release notes say it was done due to "new Roku guidelines." I'm wondering what this guideline is.
  • AvsGunnar's avatar
    AvsGunnar
    3 years ago

    beckfield 

    Roku basically now only allows standalone Screensavers.  A channel/app can no longer bundle a screensaver with its channel/app development. (ie. supply and use their own screensaver during channel/app usage).

    Plex and the other channels/apps affected can still develop a standalone screensaver that the user could install on the device.

    However, a Plex screensaver would then display whenever activated across the device, not just while using the Plex channel/app.

    From the documentation, Screensavers cannot include DynamicComponent libraries, ad insertion, In-app purchases, deep links, or any type of user-initiated, interactive functionality.

    Not sure if this policy change was in response to any abuses/concerns, or just a way to further standardize the Roku platform.    

    https://blog.roku.com/developer/channel-certification-criteria-updates-april-2023

    https://developer.roku.com/docs/developer-program/media-playback/screensavers.md

wb6vpm's avatar
wb6vpm
Binge Watcher
2 years ago

This gets stupider. Plex seems to be the only one that can’t figure out how to deal with the screensaver problem, heck - even Discovery has it figured out so that things work properly when the user goes to pull the unit out of screensaver mode. 

For that matter, I’m trying to figure out why the rule only applies to some apps, since Netflix (and probably others) is still allowed to use their own custom screensaver. 

  • Ninja07's avatar
    Ninja07
    Reel Rookie
    2 years ago

    I mostly use Plex and I need another device but have held out from getting another Roku because of this nonsense.