UI on Roku
Choose the approach that fits your requirements:
- Use Open Video UI when you want a custom experience without building common player components yourself.
- Use the chromeless player when you want to start with no UI and build every control and interaction from scratch.
- Use the basic default UI when its ready-made controls meet your needs and one is available.
| Approach | Starting point | Flexibility | Development effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Video UI | Ready-made, modular components | High | Moderate |
| Chromeless | Player API without a UI | Complete | Highest |
| Default UI | Complete basic player UI | Basic | Lowest |
Building a chromeless UI means using the OptiView Player API and your own application code without a ready-made UI.
You are responsible for adding every control, such as a play button, and connecting it to the player API, such as player.play().
This approach gives you total control over the UI and UX, but requires an understanding of video playback and the OptiView Player API.
Open Video UI
Open Video UI does not currently provide a Roku component library.
Chromeless
Disable the native controls and build a complete interface with BrightScript and SceneGraph when you need full control over the experience.
Default UI
The Roku SDK uses the native controls of the THEOplayer node. You can use these controls as they are or hide individual elements.