Roku is opening its platform to experimental software through a new program called Roku Labs, giving any Roku owner in the United States and elsewhere access to in-development apps for its home entertainment service. The program launches with four apps, and unlike closed beta efforts such as Xbox Insider, it is reachable through a Roku Labs tile placed directly on the Roku home screen. No invitation or enrollment is required.
The first four apps are Backdrops Studio, Roku Immerse, Roku Weather and Roku Stocks. Backdrops Studio lets users customize the background of their Roku with art and images, while Roku Immerse offers a different way to set custom screensavers. Roku Weather is a dedicated weather app, and Roku Stocks is a built-in stock tracker. Roku says users who try the apps can send feedback that will directly shape how the apps develop.
Roku also plans several updates to its broader platform in the coming months. The company says it will extend its updated home screen layout to users in Mexico and Brazil. It also intends to let users request a weather forecast using their voice. In addition, Roku will update the platform's search experience so that it explains why content appears in the order it does.
For users who want to tinker, Roku is open-sourcing Roku LT OS, the operating system that powers its remotes and smart home products. The company says the development kit will be free, and it will offer a video training series to help people learn to use the system for their own projects. That move gives independent developers and hobbyists direct access to software Roku normally keeps to itself.
The Roku Labs launch reflects a broader approach among consumer technology companies to let customers test unfinished products before they are finalized. What sets Roku's effort apart is its open door: the company is not limiting the experimental apps to a select group of testers, but is instead placing them in front of its entire user base through the home screen. The apps remain in development, and Roku has tied their direction to the feedback it collects.
Roku has not said how long the apps will remain in the Labs program or when any of them might graduate to a full release. The company also has not given a precise timeline for the home screen rollout in Mexico and Brazil, or for the voice weather and search explanation features. For now, the four apps and the Roku LT OS development kit stand as the concrete pieces of the announcement.
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