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About Roku App Development

Have you been wondering about developing a Roku app? There are lots of options for developing an app and they range from simple to complex. Here is brief overview of what it takes to develop a Roku app.

First, write down your great idea!

The first step in app development is to write down your app idea. Make sure that you document the name of your app, the purpose of the app and the content you want to be in your app. Now it’s time to figure out the best way to create your app.

What should I look for in an app developer?

There are a growing number of sites and developers who are now creating apps. However, selecting a developer is not a simple process. Here are a few guidelines that we suggest when choosing a developer to create an app:

  • Developers will often create apps for free and force you to play advertising in your app. The developer makes money from the ad and you make nothing. Most free development services have this “catch.” The ads tend to be annoying to your customers and eventually cause many viewers to stop watching.
  • Do not use a developer or company that lures you in with super low-cost app creation or no set-up fee. Read the details. The low cost apps don’t feature your branding and are limiting to only a few videos.
  • Beware of video bandwidth and storage charges. It’s great to get an app for no upfront cost, but again read the offer carefully. Many Roku app developer require you to store the videos on their site, and then they charge you “big bucks” for video streaming bandwidth and video storage.
  • Rather choose a developer who will create an app just for you that is customized with your branding. You want to create an app that is truly yours.

What about storing and hosting my streaming videos?

You can pay companies a lot of money to store and stream your videos. The are full of reasons why their streaming quality is better, but really they are a poor value for most small, personal businesses.Vimeo is a good value and costs a flat rate per year. You can store and stream videos from this great service. We also integrate with Bunny CDN and Amazon S3 storage.

How do I submit my app to Roku?

You will need to take out an account with Roku. Once you have the account request a developer account. If you are working with an independent Roku developer simply pass your account information onto your developer so that he or she can set up your app.

If you are building the app yourself. You will need to save the app to your desktop and then upload it in the developer section of your Roku account.

How do I manage the content in my app?

We offer a reasonably priced channel server management software that allows you to manage the content in your channel easily and effectively.

How to get started developing a Roku app?

We create Roku apps for reasonable prices. Our Channel Server software allows you to manage maintain your app. In addition, our channel server powers our other great device apps like Android and iOS. If you are interested in a fully-branded Roku, iPad / iPhone and Android channel(s) all starting at $3,500, contact us to learn more!