Roku Developer Program

[EnTerr]

Speaking about https://owner.roku.com/Developer/Apps - i am confused why there are 2 different choices to make, followed by seemingly identical screens.

Let me explain what confuses me: i know the idea that "public" are the ones that have been reviewed by RokuCo and (presumably) promoted on the website/channel store, where "private" are ones that can only be added via "access code" at https://owner.roku.com/add/

1. But why when creating public channel it also asks about vanity code?
2. How is a public channel principally different than a private channel? It seems to me "public" is just a "private" channel that has been "blessed" (in Perl terms; or "promoted" if you will) after review process.

Maybe i am over-thinking it but seems to me if it was as simple as an administrative flag, the UI under "Manage Channels" would not ask first to make irrevocable choice when creating the channel. It bothers me that if i come up with a good "access code" for private channel and then want to make it public, will have to come with a new, different code. But if i create the channel as "public", will it be accessible before review with vanity code?

PS. perhaps i am being Pollyannish here but since there are many things well designed around Roku player, i start from the premise it was done by smart people - or as in my modesty i would put it, "how would i have done this?". So if something seems "well done", i don't pay much attention " 'cause it obviously should be that way". But then if there is something unexpected, i stop and ponder because from the gentleman's assumption it was done by a smart person and therefore there must be something i am not seeing/understanding about it.

[RokuJoel]

Vanity code isn't irrevocable, you can change any time.

Public channels can be made private, so having a similar data set is occasionally useful. The name of the channel used to be irrevocable but I'm not sure that it is anymore.

- Joel

[EnTerr]

But if i create a "public" channel, does that mean it will be unaccessible to others in any shape and form - until reviewed and blessed; or can it be added in private-like manner via access code?

[TheEndless]

"EnTerr" wrote:
But if i create a "public" channel, does that mean it will be unaccessible to others in any shape and form - until reviewed and blessed; or can it be added in private-like manner via access code?

You can add public channels via the auto-generated (non-vanity) code before (and after) they're approved. I'm not 100% sure about the vanity code, but I suspect it can be used as well, after submission. I believe the review and approval process only affects visibility in the channel store.

[TheEndless]

"renae_christine" wrote:
Why would anyone decide to have a private channel if the channel can be public? Unless Roku would dismiss the channel being public for violation issues, I don't understand why anyone would turn down their channel being listed inside the channel store for extra traffic. Am I missing something?

There are a number of reasons I can think of:

• The developer may want to limit their audience (think corporate channels or channels you only want to be made available to your friends and family).


• The developer may not have permission to make the content available publicly (take my Justin.tv and Twitch.tv channels, for example. Justin.tv is aware of them, but doesn't want them published publicly, because they're not officially supported by them.)


• The developer/content owner may not have the ability to support a channel that is available to such a large audience.


• Beta testing.

[EnTerr]

"renae_christine" wrote:
I don't understand why anyone would turn down their channel being listed inside the channel store for extra traffic. Am I missing something?

Yes - it may take unreasonable to indeterminate time for RokuCo to approve a channel and if am guessing right that means in the mean time there is no app (channel) that people can use. The mere risk of indeterminate wait concerns me; i have seen complains here from people that (reportedly) have been waiting for months w/o any response. Imagine it is something that needs timely release - say related to current event or fashion trend, long wait for review kills it. Now if one can start with a private channel, then submit it for review - that would have taken care of that, and "public"ation would just boost visibility - but it seems this is not how it is done.

[RokuJoel]

"TheEndless" wrote:
You can add public channels via the auto-generated (non-vanity) code before (and after) they're approved. I'm not 100% sure about the vanity code, but I suspect it can be used as well, after submission. I believe the review and approval process only affects visibility in the channel store.

Vanity code only becomes available in a channel after it has been published. The Access code, used before the channel was published, will usually change to a new randomly generated code when the channel is published. The Access code is intended for beta testing prior to publication, the Vanity code, which won't change unless you change it, is intended for distribution. If you hand out the access code before publishing, you can be fairly certain that code will stop working when the channel is published, thereby breaking any link you may have used for promotion.

"EnTerr" wrote:
The mere risk of indeterminate wait concerns me; i have seen complains here from people that (reportedly) have been waiting for months w/o any response.

Generally speaking, the length of time before publication is determined by how fast you can resolve technical, grammatical and graphical issues, and we do our best to communicate with and respond to developers in a timely manner. Occasionally, we make mistakes, as the process does have human components, and we had a few times where QA testing has become severely backlogged. We now have dedicated staff for channel QA, and you may have noticed the volume of channel publication has increased significantly.

The most common place for people to find themselves waiting for a response for months on end is people who have international content and are waiting for a response from DISHWorld.

- Joel

[EnTerr]

"RokuJoel" wrote:
Vanity code isn't irrevocable, you can change any time.

So can i move vanity code - and name/title - from private channel A to public channel B?

Or is there a procedure to "bless" a channel A that became popular, from "private" to "public"?

[RokuJoel]

"EnTerr" wrote:
So can i move vanity code - and name/title - from private channel A to public channel B?

Yes, just change the private code, save, then change the public code, contact us to publish the properties update.

"EnTerr" wrote:
Or is there a procedure to "bless" a channel A that became popular, from "private" to "public"?

You might think that...

- Joel

[TheEndless]

"RokuJoel" wrote:

"EnTerr" wrote:
So can i move vanity code - and name/title - from private channel A to public channel B?

Yes, just change the private code, save, then change the public code, contact us to publish the properties update.

Unless I'm totally mistaken, this will just make the vanity code apply to the new channel. Any user who installed the old channel with that vanity code, will not automatically be switched to the new channel.