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chillerthriller
Streaming Star

Does ROKU Offer Mobile Apps For Their Developers?

Hello,

I was wondering if ROKU offers their developers mobile apps for their channels?

It would be nice to offer my subscribers a mobile app to watch my channel on their mobile phones.
Hey why not? All other streaming services offers it to their subscribers.

If not, let me know when ROKU implements this for developers.  I'll be the first to sign-up.
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4 REPLIES 4
destruk
Binge Watcher

Re: Does ROKU Offer Mobile Apps For Their Developers?

There is this mobile app -
https://www.roku.com/mobile-app

I am happy I don't have to pay a monthly subscription fee for each of my Roku devices.
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coldrain
Binge Watcher

Re: Does ROKU Offer Mobile Apps For Their Developers?

I think the original question is that if a Roku developer has a Roku channel developed, then he/she also wants to have a mobile app for his/her channel so that the audience can watch the channel in android/iphone or whatever device.
If I understand it correctly, I think whoever can understand the BrightScript language (which is somehow strange) can develop the channel in Android and other popular languages.
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speechles
Roku Guru

Re: Does ROKU Offer Mobile Apps For Their Developers?

"coldrain" wrote:
I think the original question is that if a Roku developer has a Roku channel developed, then he/she also wants to have a mobile app for his/her channel so that the audience can watch the channel in android/iphone or whatever device.
If I understand it correctly, I think whoever can understand the BrightScript language (which is somehow strange) can develop the channel in Android and other popular languages.

That was my thinking too. Why would Roku need to do anything? You want your app on Android or iOS you code it yourself specifically for that platform. Roku code doesn't run on anything but Roku. Roku streams are just that...streams. But the code surrounding that to present those streams to the user and offer the UI/navigation are specific to each platform. Some are touch based. Some are keyboard/mouse based. Some are remote based. Some are.. other stuff. 

If Roku did offer this it would be clunky, cookie cutter, not unique in any way and look like that developer lacks any coding experience and just goes with the simplest solution. It makes your app look like you aren't talented. That is a better way to put it. You cannot showcase your talent when just shoving streams into something. It makes you look pedestrian. It makes it look like Rokus old SDKA. The cookie cutter Roku interfaces of yesterday. Remember those? Before scene graph there were.. cookie cutter Roku templates. The old pre-built screens. Those were fun don't get me wrong. But they were quite dumb and not custom or unique in any way.

To showcase your talent you must write the code yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Roku isn't providing any service to port your scene graph to android/ios with the push of a button. Nope. That would be cool though. Would be next to impossible but would be cool. If the Jetsons were real they would have this. Press a button out pops a magical device you thought of. The thing plucks ideas from your mind and realizes them. We aren't there yet. Might never be there. "Here's to future days!" Did I just make a Thompson Twins reference? Yep! Netflix did it with Bandersnatch so thought it was appropriate to do it again.

Btw the 80s are coming back. Zork I,II,III on Roku? Wishbringer???! HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy??! Why hasn't this been done?
Z-machine interpreter for Roku... cmon fellas.. lol.
That would seriously be the bees knees. The cats meow.
Guaranteed "God-Like" status for the one who can make Infocom on Roku. "They will bow to it!"

Roku gaming is like what if the Phillips CD-i actually was useful and relevant today. Roku has almost the same controller as the CD-i. The silly CD-i got a Zelda game. Albeit a horrible one but it was Nintendo licensed all the same. Nintendo was willing to see where the ball went. Nintendo made the deal for three. Those three Zelda games on CD-i are the worst ever in that series. But it shows ambition. That same ideas that would've worked on CD-i back then does work today on Roku. Those silly dumb games and interfaces for choosing words/phrases rather than having to type them out on a keyboard. This stuff is possible right now. Infocom games are ripe for fun. The ball can go somewhere on Roku.
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necrotek
Roku Guru

Re: Does ROKU Offer Mobile Apps For Their Developers?

Hey speechles


Btw the 80s are coming back. Zork I,II,III on Roku? Wishbringer???! HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy??! Why hasn't this been done?
Z-machine interpreter for Roku... cmon fellas.. lol.
That would seriously be the bees knees. The cats meow.
Guaranteed "God-Like" status for the one who can make Infocom on Roku. "They will bow to it!"

I had thought about recreating Zork on Roku but those games are still under copyright.  I did however recreate the original adventure. Not a z-machine interpreter but converted over to an xml based story file to make it better suited for a menu based interface (no parser). 
https://channelstore.roku.com/details/146872/text-adventures
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