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How to Jailbreak a Roku Box or Roku Streaming Stick?

Television is one of the primary sources of entertainment in daily life. Especially because you can view live TV channels, movies, and sports in the comfort of your own home. Similarly, Smart TVs were later introduced to stream online media content. 

Thus, it allowed people to play audio, video, and pictures through the use of the internet. However, not all people have Smart TVs. In this case, users use set-top boxes or streaming sticks like those of Roku Box and Roku Streaming Sticks. 

What is Roku Box or Roku Streaming Stick?

Roku Box and Roku Streaming Sticks are the products of Roku Inc. They can easily turn any ordinary TV into a Smart TV. Therefore, it is connected to the TV and the Internet as well. 

Generally, Roku is the most known streaming device in the market that continues to dominate the market due to its wide range of features functionality. 

Accordingly, it can play high-quality media content across various platforms. You can use it to stream content on your TV as well as your smartphone. The Roku app is available for free on both Android and iOS. 

You can easily have access to more than 4000 TV channels. Thus, you can watch TV channels from any country, region or genre. To summarize, you will have a wide range of options as compared to traditional TV. 

In addition, you can stream YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, and even Google Play Music. Furthermore, you can add your own software to stream content as well. 

What is Jailbreaking? 

Jailbreaking is the process of overwriting and altering permissions of a device. This allows a user to modify the software or hardware to his own needs. Incidentally, it may sound illegal but it was actually legalized in 2012. 

Similarly, it can be termed as hacking as well. However, jailbreaking a device will automatically revoke its warranty. Additionally, it may also break a device if not done properly. 

Usually, device and hardware manufacturers restrict certain changes from being made to a device. Jailbreaking can easily help to bypass these restrictions. It is often done by replacing the driver’s firmware with a modified version to alter the device permissions.   

Ordinarily, jailbreaking a TV is a bit harder than a smartphone. This is due to the difference in the operating system of Smart TVs and streaming sticks. 

Why would you Consider Jailbreaking?

Generally, Roku does not stream copyrighted content. This is due to various legal reasons. However, jailbreaking Roku can easily allow users to stream copyrighted content as well. 

In addition, jailbreaking may be done to increase performance and stability. There are some software repositories that are not supported in Roku or other Smart TVs. Therefore, these can be easily fixed by jailbreaking the device. 

As a result, jailbreaking allows users to install third-party software without any restrictions. Thus, they will be able to stream music, podcasts, videos, movies and a lot more. One such example of this software is Kodi. 

What are the Alternatives to Jailbreaking? 

Since you cannot directly jailbreak a Roku device, there are several alternatives to enjoy additional content. All these solutions are pretty straightforward and easy to follow. You can try one or more than one of the following solutions. 

Solution 1 – Screen-Mirroring with your Smartphone

Nowadays, most of the recent smartphones come with a screen-mirroring feature. It allows the device to wirelessly display on other devices. Thus, you can use this feature to enjoy Kodi and other applications on Roku. 

Before, you need to install and setup Kodi on your smartphone. Follow the given instructions to screen-mirror your smartphone to your Roku. 

  1. Go to your TV’s home screen. Here, navigate to Settings. 
  2. Next, go to Screen-Mirroring and select ‘Enable Screen-Mirroring’. It will turn on the wireless connectivity and broadcast its SSID. 
  3. Subsequently, unlock your smartphone and go to Settings. Usually, the Screen-Mirroring option is present under Display or Wireless Settings. You may have to download a third-party app if there is no such setting. 
  4. Next, connect to Roku’s SSID and you will be able to stream content on your TV through your smartphone. 

Solution 2 – Screen-Mirroring with your PC

Similarly, you can screen-mirror your desktop or laptop to your Roku device. Windows operating system comes with a built-in function to do this. However, it cannot be done by a number of the hardware. 

Therefore, your hardware cannot screen-mirror if you don’t follow these settings. 

  1. Open a browser and visit the official site of Kodi. Download and install the latest program of Kodi in your system. 
  2. Next, click on the Start button. Afterward, navigate and go to the Control Panel. Here, head over to display and select ‘Connect to a Projector’. 
  3. Subsequently, you can also reach these settings by pressing the Windows logo button and the letter ‘P’. 
  4. Here, you will see an option for ‘Add a wireless display/PC Screen only’. Click on it. 
  5. Select the Roku’s SSID from the list. Next, click on ‘Start Mirroring your screen’. Now you will be able to stream unlimited online content through Kodi. 

Solution 3 – Play Content from PC using HDMI Cable 

In addition, you can also use an HDMI cable to stream your computer system on Roku. you need an HDMI compatible laptop or PC and an HDMI output-input cable. 

Connect the output HDMI cable to your PC and then connect the next end to your Roku device. Now, you will be able to play and stream online media to your Roku device. This works similarly to screen-mirroring without the need for wireless functionality. 

Solution 4 – Screencast-Mirroring from Smartphone 

Screen-mirroring and Screencast-mirroring are very different from each other. In screen-mirroring, the Roku device will show exactly what is being displayed on your smartphone’s screen. 

However, in screencasting, you can use your phone normally while the media is being streamed on Roku devices. This is done the same way as screen-mirroring. 

The only downside to this is that not all apps are compatible with screen-cast. Furthermore, you can only screencast apps which have the cast logo on it. As a result, the Roku device will only stream those apps and won’t display anything else. 

Solution 5- Play on Roku with Roku App

In addition to screen-mirroring and screencasting, you can also stream media on Roku through the Roku app. Here, you will be able to play mp4, mpv, m4v, mp3 and m4a content from your smartphone. 

You can do this by simply following the given instructions. 

  1. Firstly, you need to download the Roku app from the Google Play Store or the App Store. It is available for both smartphone platforms. 
  2. Open the Roku app after it has been installed on your smartphone. 
  3. Next, tap on Photos+ at the bottom of the application. Here, you will be able to launch ‘Play on Roku’. You will be able to stream pictures, videos, and audio. However, you cannot stream Netflix, YouTube or other streaming applications. As a result, you can only play local files from your smartphone. 

Solution 6 – Play Content from PC on the Same Network

Roku devices have an option to directly play content from your PC if it is connected on the same network. For this, you need to install the Roku Media Player on your Roku device. 

Follow these instructions to install and play content from your PC. 

  1. Go to your Homescreen and navigate to the Roku Channel Store. Here, search for Roku Media Player and install it. 
  2. Next, open the Roku Media Player from the home screen. Here, you will be prompted to select a media type to be played. Generally, you can play music, movies and even display pictures from your devices. 
  3. Afterward, select the device from the list. Make sure that the device is connected to the same wireless network as the Roku device. 
  4. You will be presented with all the folders in the device. It is important to note that it will automatically ignore unsupported file types. Simply select the media you want to play. 
  5. In addition, you can also play media directly from a USB drive. You have to connect it to the USB port on the Roku Box. Usually, you can access your USB from the Settings menu. There, you need to navigate to the system and then click on your USB device. 

Subsequently, you will be able to play media from Windows Media Player, Twonky, PlayOn, Tversity, and Serviio. You can also visit the official website of Roku to see the full list of supported media players. 

Conclusion 

In summary, it is not possible to jailbreak a Roku Box or Roku Streaming Stick to download third-party apps. However, there are several workarounds that can offer you the same level of freedom as a jailbreak. 

Therefore, you will be able to enjoy unlimited online content through a simple screen-mirroring or screencasting. In some cases, Kodi may not be installed in Roku as discussed above. This usually depends on the hardware. 

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