Our platform is built upon a collection of technologies that form the foundation of how customers can interact with your app. When joining the platform, you’ll need to consider:
Which platform stack your app will operate on.
How your app will be built to interact with our devices and APIs.
What tools are available to help you ensure your app functions properly.
Platform tech stack options
When developing for the platform, you have options of developing for our Entertainment OS and/or Scaled stacks. Your partner manager can provide specific details on which stack is the best path for your app.
Developing for both tech stacks
If you plan for your app to be available on devices across both tech stacks, developing for Entertainment OS first and then porting to scaled is recommended.
Entertainment OS is the platform's next-generation tech stack for modern streaming devices. It offers extensive capabilities and is the recommended path for new app development.
Devices supported by Entertainment OS include:
XiOne Streambox (Xumo Streambox & Sky Stream)
Scaled is the legacy tech stack that supports our long-running offerings such as X1 and Sky Q.
Devices supported by Scaled include:
Xfinity X1
Xfinity Flex
Xumo TV variants
Sky Q (Satellite or IP)
App authoring environment
Device stack & APIs
Your web app must built with HTML5, Javascript, and/or a modern web framework such as Lightning™. It will also interface with the following technologies to manage what is displayed on-screen in the UI:
RDK: The device operating system and middleware. RDK comes bundled with WPE, the WebKit-based browser on which your app will run.
Firebolt®: The APIs that your app will use to coordinate interactions between your app, the device, and our platform services.
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Playback & DRM
Your app may use any media player that works best for its specific implementation. The choice of media player can also depend upon desired support for specific stream types (e.g., UHD and HDR) and ad-insertion types (i.e., pre-, mid-, and post-rolls).
The supported DRM for the platform is Widevine 16 Service level 1. The platform does not support any other DRM solution.
For more information on how media playback works on the platform, refer to the Video Playback guide.
Platform tools
Access to platform tools
Platform tools and associated documentation is only accessible after you have registered your organization and app in the portal.
Our platform includes various tools to help you build your app. The primary platform tools to support app development are:
Remote Web Inspector: The primary web debugging tool for WebKit based browsers. It allows you to inspect, tweak, debug and analyze elements of your web app from your browser.
Appserviced Gateway: A development tool that provides a web UI to manage and debug your app once it has been loaded onto devices. Through this tool, you can add your development devices, inspect their properties, view their operational status, and execute tests.
Ibis: A development tool and set of APIs that assist with building apps for the scaled X1 ecosystem.