Many people have been turning to the £10 NowTV boxes. They are a dumb'd down version of the Roku which also has limits on it, such as the inability to install other streaming apps such as netflix. However the NowTV has a secret, a few presses of the keys on the remote revels a developer mode. The developer mode allows you to side load applications, the only restriction is you can only side load one application at a time.
This is perfect to side load a streaming app such as Emby or Plex. My flavour is Emby and for the purposes of this post will demonstrate how to side load Emby onto the NowTV.
Pre-Reqs
Download the Emby for Roku source files from github.
Extract the zip file and the file you are looking for is called Emby.Roku.Zip
Developer Mode
On the NowTV box you now need to enable developer mode. On the remote press
Home x3, Up x2, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right
Click on Enable Installer
And Agree to the terms. Make a note of the IP Address provided as you will need this for the next step.
Installation
Head over to your PC or Laptop and open up a web browser. In the address bar enter the IP address from the previous step. If done correctly you will be presented with Development Application Installer.
Click on Choose File and look for the Emby.Roku.Zip that you extracted from the github repo. Then click on install and wait a few seconds.
Once the installer has finished you will see a message that says Install Success in red text.
And that's it. you have now successfully side loaded Emby onto the NowTV box. One draw back of side loaded apps is that they aren't updated automatically, so if a newer version is released then you will have to side load the app again.
A very cheap and easy way to add an Emby client to another room in the house. I current run 3 of these boxes in various rooms and all perform extremely well.
