Roku Developer Program

[MSGreg]

I have an existing free private channel with a vanity code and I want to convert to a paid upgrade with dual channels paid/demo.

I want the new paid version to acquire the vanity code that is now associated with the free private channel, and the new demo version to have a vanity code with a "demo" suffix. All without upsetting or confusing existing users.

I know that the paid version will be a public channel. Should the demo version be a public channel too? I have been getting a good number of users/testers by being listed on the "private channel" lists. Going forward, the demo version is really intended for users to verify basic functionality on their Roku device(s) before purchase.

The new demo version has screens for upgrading, so I'll need to first get the paid version's access code so I can include that in the demo version for the upgrade process. Does that paid access code become available to me when I click "submit" or do I have to wait until the paid version is accepted?

From the same code base, I have two different packages, one with the "Demo" enabled, and one with "Demo" disabled (i.e. the latter is the paid version).

Can anyone walk me through the process of doing this conversion, especially with regard to migrating the vanity code?

I think I might end up with three channels: paid, demo, legacy private channel. This would be fine but at some point, I would like to remove the legacy channel.

[TheEndless]

You can't migrate a private channel over to public, so the only way to free up that vanity code for use in a public channel is to change it on the private channel, then publish a new public channel. Anyone with the private channel already installed, will keep it, but they won't automatically switch over to the new public channel. I think your last statement is correct. Ultimately you'll end up with 3 channels. What you could do is update the legacy private channel so it puts up a message then redirects the user to the channel store to install the public version. That way, anyone running the legacy channel will know they need to upgrade/update.

As for the new channel IDs, as soon as you create the new channel, the ID is reserved for it, whether it gets published or not. Depending on where you look the unpublished code might have a unique hex identifier tacked on the end to prevent it from conflicting with the published version, just ignore that for your upgrade code (ex. 12345_abcd vs. 12345).

[MSGreg]

Thanks!

Another question: can I submit a public channel, then change/add the vanity code once published without re-publishing i.e. without triggering another review?

If I can't, there will be a period where the vanity code doesn't work (because it takes time between "Submit" and "Published" for a public channel). Is there any way to avoid this?

If I can, then I can see a path forward: I control the overlap and transition. That would be preferred!

[TheEndless]

"MSGreg" wrote:
Thanks!

Another question: can I submit a public channel, then change/add the vanity code once published without re-publishing i.e. without triggering another review?

If I can't, there will be a period where the vanity code doesn't work (because it takes time between "Submit" and "Published" for a public channel). Is there any way to avoid this?

If I can, then I can see a path forward: I control the overlap and transition. That would be preferred!

You can't change the vanity code without re-publishing, but once the initial review and approval has taken place, getting updates published is much faster (usually within a day or two, in my experience). Otherwise, you might be able to convince Roku to change the code for you.