Ever thought of customizing or modifying your Roku device? The term for that is called jailbreaking. Once you jailbreak a Roku device, you get additional access to the device that lets you install third-party apps and be able to make more use of the Roku OS other than how you are expected to use it. So, can you Jailbreak a Roku TV, and is jailbreaking a Roku device similar to jailbreaking an iPhone or rooting an Android device? Well, you’ll have to read on to know more.
How to Jailbreak a Roku TV
Jailbreaking a device comes with advantages as well as disadvantages. But as you don’t know if you can Jailbreak Roku or not, advantages and disadvantages don’t matter. So let’s first find out that.
Can you Jailbreak a Roku TV
So, the big question out there is can you jailbreak a Roku device? Well, the answer is no. You cannot jailbreak a Roku device. But then you will ask why so many people talk about jailbreaking Roku devices when you actually cannot jailbreak them. You see, with regards to Roku devices, the term jailbreaking is being used very loosely. Since jailbreaking would normally result in using the device in ways other than it is intended to be used. It is for all the Roku TVs including TCL Roku TV, Hisense Roku TV, and more.
So here are the advantages of Jailbreak that you can enjoy on your Roku TV. Most users want to Jailbreak their Roku TV for installing third-party apps on Roku TV. And so here are the methods you can follow to get apps that are not present in the Roku store.
Also Check: How to Jailbreak PS4 Console (with Pros and Cons)
Stream Apps via Screen Mirroring
Now, one of the simpler ways to get third-party apps on your Roku device is by making use of the screen mirroring feature. With screen mirroring, you can mirror the screen of your mobile or PC to your Roku device. This feature works perfectly when both devices are connected to the same WiFi. Here are the steps you can follow to enable screen mirroring on your Roku device.
- Power up the Roku device and connect it to your WiFi network.
- Now, press the Home button on your Roku remote.
- Navigate over to Settings and scroll a bit till you find the Screen Mirroring option.
- Select Screen Mirroring mode and chose between Prompt or Always Allow.
- Finally, you have to enable screen mirroring on your mobile device. You can follow this guide.
With the power of screen mirroring, you can simply cast anything to your Roku device to watch it on the big screen.
Enable Developer Mode on Roku
Enabling developer mode is a great way to install and stream third-party content on your Roku device. Enabling developer mode on the Roku device is legal and you will have no problems with the feature being enabled. Here is how you can enable developer mode on your Roku device.
Prerequisites
Before you go ahead to enable developer mode on your Roku device, you need to first sign in or create your developer account which can then be used to sign in to your Roku device. You need to head over here to sign in to the developer program for your Roku TV. Once you have signed into the account you can follow these steps to enable the developer mode on your Roku device.
- First, power up the Roku TV.
- Now, you need to press the Home button on your remote three times.
- Press the up button twice.
- And finally, the right, left, right, left, and right buttons.
- The Developer Settings screen should now appear on your screen.
- Notice that you will see a link at the left of the screen. Make a note of this link as it will be used later.
- Now select the option that says enable Application Installer.
- On the next screen, agree to the license agreements and then enter a password.
- After entering the password, your Roku device will now reboot.
Install Third-Party Apps on Roku TV
Now that you have enabled developer mode on your Roku device, the next step is to install third-party apps on Roku TV. For this, you will require a PC and also a WiFi connection on the Roku device and PC. Here are the steps to follow to install third-party applications on your Roku TV.
- On your PC, launch the web browser and enter the URL that was displayed on your Roku device.
- You will be asked to enter a username and a password.
- The username will be rokudev. For the password, you will have to enter the same password that was entered while enabling developer mode on your Roku TV.
- You will now see the application installer screen. On this screen, you will be able to drag and drop channel zip files that can be installed onto your Roku device.
- If you have no idea about these channels, you can download a few sample channels from this GitHub page.
- In this way, you will be able to install private channels or, even create your channel which you can sideload to your Roku device.
Final Words
This concludes the guide on how you can jailbreak a Roku TV. Whether you own a TCL Roku or a Hisense Roku device, you will be able to jailbreak these devices considering the word Jailbreak is using third party apps. The best part about this is you do not need to use a computer or even an Android or iOS device to jailbreak your Roku device. We hope this guide helps understand what Jailbreaking a Roku device is and how you can jailbreak a Roku device. if you have questions or queries, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
Related to Roku:
I used your instructions to jailbreak my Roku and it worked fine, thank you. However, I don’t really know where to find free apps to load.
Do you have any tutorials on things like that?