Updating and Testing your Roku App

After an update is applied to an app, it's a good idea to test the updated app by viewing it on a TV screen before replacing the old app.

Updates are periodically released when new app features are added to Instant TV Channel. Updates usually consist of new Brightscript and SceneGraph code that is automatically built into your app's Pkg file which you upload to your Roku Developer Account.

When a new update is available for an app, an Update button is present near the top of the Apps page. The following is a screenshot from the top section of the Apps page showing a selected app with an update available. The app is currently at update version 510 and the most recent update available is version 513. Clicking the Update button will update the app to version 513.

If no update is available for an app, the Update button is not present on the Apps page. The following is a screenshot from the top section of the Apps page showing a selected app with no update available. The app is at update version 510.

If you have several apps, they do not have to all be at the same update version. If an app does not require the new capabilities provided by an update, it is not necessary to update the app to the newer version. Details about updates including descriptions of the new app capabilities provided by each update are available on the Instant TV Channel News page.

Applying an update to an app is very easy:

1. Log into your Instant TV Channel account and click on the Apps link on the left side of the page.
2. Click on the row containing the app that you wish to update.
3. Clone the app by clicking the button in the app's row, then click the Confirm button at the top of the page. This creates a backup copy of the app prior to doing the update.
4. After the clone is complete, the row containing the clone will be highlighted. Do not make any changes to the clone, it will be retained only as a backup.
5. Again, click on the original row containing the app that you wish to update.
6. Click on the Update button near the top of the Apps page.
7. A warning dialog appears and reminds you to clone the app first. Since you have already done this, click Ok to proceed with the update.
8. After the app has been updated the Update button will disappear.

9. Follow the directions here except on the Roku Developer Account "My Apps" / "Manage Apps" page, select your existing app instead of clicking the Add App button.

   Roku uses the major and minor build numbers contained in the manifest within the uploaded Pkg file to determine the version of your app. These numbers are specified in Instant TV Channel using the Theme page major_version and minor_version parameters. When publishing a new Pkg file, you must increase the major_version and/or minor_version values for the update to be correctly pushed to Roku devices that already have your app installed.

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Please see this Quick 5-Minute Guide for information about how to get started with Instant TV Channel.

Suggestions, comments, or questions about this Roku tutorial can be sent to .