There may be a different and/or better way to do it, but I was thinking in terms of two separate channels: one Public, one Private. They would have the exact same code-base (perhaps with a different version number and/or title so you'd know which was which. The Public version has already been submitted for review; you'd submit updates as you normally would. You'd make an additional submission for your Private Channel, except that you'd click on the "Add Private Channel" button, and give it a vanity code, e.g. HEARTLANDPRIVATE that you'd give to your users. You'd update the private channel independently of the Public channel, if you wanted to keep the Private Channel around after the Public one was published. The Private updates would be available immediately to all your users who are running that version of the channel, whereas the Public updates would not be available until Roku approves them. If you really wanted them to be "in sync" you'd just wait till the updated Public channel was approved then submit the Private channel updates. However, you may only want the Private channel as a stop-gap until the Public channel became available. At that time you'd issue an update to the Private channel containing something like a splash screen, for example, which would instruct your users to go to the Roku Channel Store to get the Public version. They can then add the Public channel from the Channel Store and delete the Private version. After a suitable time, you could delete, or render inactive, your Private channel.
The nice thing about Private Channels is that they do not go though any Roku approval process. A channel published as Private is available immediately, as are any updates. The downside is that you don't get the visibility that you would from a channel in the Roku Channel Store. There may also be other issues, however, such as billing, that would affect a developer's decision about whether to publish a private channel.
