Regarding Certification for a free app which also provides a sign-in (non Roku Pay)

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Hi,

I have been developing an app to provide access to music videos uploaded by our artists on a web-based service/music radio service we run.

The app also provides a means for a user to connect the app to their account on our web-based system, so they can access their favourite videos and ‘like’ new ones, while using the Roku device.

(A QR code is presented to the user, for them to scan with a mobile phone camera, which will send them to a mobile web page to login and confirm a code. When this happens, the device detects this and connects the user’s account details and stores the access token in the registry for the next time the app is launched.)

The content itself is free and is not paid-for.

Given that we do not use Roku Pay for any subscription/payment to view the free content, I want to verify that the account connection method described above is OK or not. ie: Do we HAVE to use Roku subscriptions at all to pass certification?

Thanks.

2

From https://developer.roku.com/docs/developer-program/certification/certification.md

2.2 Channels that include authentication must complete account sign-ups and sign-ins on the device using On-device authentication. Sign-up and sign-in workflows are prohibited from including external webpages, links to off-device promotional or marketing materials, or utilizing off-device sign-up or sign-in mechanisms.

If you have specific requests here, contact partnersuccess@roku.com.

3

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

Are you 100% sure about this? For a free app with no subscription?

Because I see and use many apps which require an external account to sign in which don’t go through Roku Pay at all.

Amazon, Netflix, BBC iPlayer etc. (which signs in using the exact method I mentioned using a QR code)

(edit: I understand this is what Roku calls “Rendezvous linking”?)

Those apps stream well over 1 million hours per month, but still do not appear to be forcing people to sign in or up solely on the device.

Even the version of this app I built for Apple iOS and also AppleTV do not require me to go through Apple’s Pay system.

edit2: From what I gather, since it appears to be what is described as an ‘AVOD’ app, all I need to do is “Automatic Account Linking”.

Currently, I store the user details in the device registry. But I don’t also store the token in Roku Cloud.

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Large app developers often have separate distribution contracts with Roku. If you want to talk about your use case specifically, please directly contact developer support via the email I provided in the last post.

5

Thank you. We will be contacting them.

Roku needs to please provide an up-to-date Sample apps which contain everything required for certification. A “Kitchen Sink” app, to also demonstrate common things.

(Currently, even an example app of a simple button on a screen provides no example code at all to show how to even handle them.)