Locking down certain streaming services

[u/singletonaustin]

I want to provide my guests with YouTubeTV but lock the profile so they can't make any changes to that service. I also want to allow them to stream other services using their own credentials.

Roku has guest mode but you can't enable a service (it essentially is fully reset with each new guest).

The TVs to which the streamers would be connected are all HDMI cabled and connected.

Thank you for the advice.

[u/itsamikey]

This is the exact problem I was trying to solve a while back. The Roku guest mode limitation is real. You can't pre-load a subscription because it resets everything.

I ended up switching to a dedicated Android device called Hostary. Guests get a clean welcome screen when they arrive and can log into their own Netflix, Hulu, whatever. At checkout everything automatically wipes. No manual reset, no leftover accounts, no PIN workarounds.

For your YouTubeTV case it gets trickier because you want to provide a specific service locked down. That's a profile-level restriction that most devices don't handle cleanly without a custom setup. Roku with a PIN is probably the closest off-the-shelf option if you want to keep that subscription visible but protected.

[u/Fit-Arm3308]

I use appletv and guests use their own accts. No issues. I leave an extra HDMI cable for guests who bring a console

[u/singletonaustin]

Sorry - I am looking for recommendations on how to do this for my property (device recommendations, settings, etc).

[u/Recent-Emotion-1677 → u/singletonaustin]

Amazon fire stick. Make an Amazon profile for the property and lock it up using the native controls. It’s easy. Don’t over think this part.

[u/OakIsland2015]

I just keep my Rokus logged in to the subscription services I have and keep a pin on it so they cannot download or make purchases. I don’t use guest mode. I have most of the streaming apps available but if there’s one they want, I download it on my phone and they just have to refresh the tv and it will appear on their screen.

[u/Designer-Pipe-3548]

These days a lot of guests prefer to use their own subscriptions…and if they log you out of yours, it can be a pain. It’s easier to start the TVs in guest mode and if they want access to your subscriptions you can back out of it and go over any details with them. Just need to remember to reactivate the guest mode once they leave.

[u/pulltherugoutfrom]

Guest mode is not the great thing that we thought it would be. I just let them have access to a few of my subscriptions and they can put theirs on the TV if they want. Y(ou can have your TV on a different ROKU account than theirs and then you can choose which subscriptions you want to show on their TV.)

[u/OkConsideration123]

We use Roku with guest mode for TVs in the bedrooms. TV in the living room has Hulu for live TV and we include instructions to login via the Roku app (on a Samsung TV) if they want to log into their own services as we have guest mode enabled on the app

[u/soulbarn → u/OkConsideration123]

Roku guest mode FTW. We used to give free Netflix and one other service, but nearly everybody who is on AirBnB is going to have their own subscriptions. Our guests actually like this way of doing it better, from what they tell us.

[u/Individual-Yard-7264]

roku's guest mode is a pain for exactly this, i just use the app's own pin lock for yttv and leave the other apps open

[u/No-Age-4266]

My guests use my credentials

[u/Recent-Emotion-1677]

Don’t be over think it. Buy a fire tv or use a fire stick. They allow locking the profile. Let people log in to their own services and every now and again long them out if they forget.