When a developer publishes a channel update through Roku, users do not get to choose whether to install it. Neither the PMS owner nor the people using the server can treat each release as a deployment they review and approve. The application on their TVs changes through Roku's update process.
That makes configuration ownership a requirement inside the application. You need to be able to establish how Reel behaves for your server and trust that a forced update will respect those decisions. Preserving the experience cannot depend on keeping an older version installed.
Reel separates updating the application from changing its configured behavior. You can establish shared settings, leave individual choices to viewers, and decide whether to adopt future configurable features. Delivery of an update does not authorize Reel to replace those decisions with the developer's latest preferences.
Configuration belongs to the installation#
A configured value records a deliberate choice. If you publish a particular Home preset or playback setting, that value takes precedence over Reel's factory default. A viewer's explicit personal choice takes precedence over an editable shared default. Changing the factory default in a later release does not give it priority over either saved value.
This distinction matters when a setting is left unspecified. Following a server default means accepting changes the owner publishes. Using a factory default means accepting the application's fallback where no owner or personal value applies. Selecting an explicit value records the choice you want to retain.
Shared configuration is stored separately from the application package, in a Plex playlist or the optional hosted configuration service. Personal choices are stored on the Roku, scoped to the profile and server. Installing application code and publishing shared configuration are separate operations.
Owner control and viewer control#
For each managed setting, the owner can publish a default and decide whether viewers may change it. These answer different questions: what should someone receive initially, and how much discretion should they have afterward?
With Can change, viewers can follow the server setting or save their own value. With Locked, the owner's published value applies. Locking a setting makes an existing personal override inactive; unlocking it allows that choice to apply again.
The owner's own viewing preferences remain separate from the defaults and permissions published for users. Personal-only settings also remain personal; they have no shared policy for the owner to enforce. This lets you provide a consistent starting point without requiring everyone, including yourself, to use an identical configuration.
Updates and feature adoption#
Reel separates three decisions: whether a configurable feature is available, which value it uses by default, and whether viewers can change that value. Enabling availability does not automatically grant permission to change its settings.
The Reel 1.0 baseline remains available. Future configurable additions arrive unavailable until the PMS owner adopts and publishes them. The updated application can contain the implementation while leaving the feature inactive for that server, including for the owner's own profile.
The updated code can therefore arrive automatically without committing your users to every new configurable feature it contains. You control adoption even though you do not control delivery of the update. You can review an addition when it is relevant to your installation, choose its defaults and permissions, and publish that decision. Leaving it unadopted is a supported configuration.
What this means in practice#
Suppose you publish Compact as the Home preset and allow users to change it. One viewer chooses Expanded; another follows the server setting. Your own Home preset is a separate personal choice.
Roku delivers a Reel update to those TVs. That update does not replace the configured choices. If you later publish Logo as the shared default, the viewer following the server receives Logo after refresh. The viewer who chose Expanded retains it. If you lock the setting, your published value applies to both viewers.
A future configurable feature requires a separate adoption decision. Publishing a new Home preset does not adopt unrelated additions, and installing a release that contains them does not enable them.
Scope and current beta#
The commitment concerns the configured feature experience. Reel continues to receive implementation changes, fixes, and performance improvements. Plex still governs library access and media delivery, and Roku capabilities still constrain playback. Those responsibilities remain with their respective systems.
Reel is currently in beta. Pre-certification configuration formats can still change, and obsolete beta configurations have been reset as the format evolved. The stable-format commitment begins at the certification candidate. See Updates and compatibility for the current boundary.
For the operating details, start with Defaults & permissions, Feature availability, and Storage & publication.