Sky has disabled the ‘developer mode’ on its £10 Now TV boxes to prevent users side-loading apps that could be used to stream illegal content.

In a blog post on the Now TV forums the company explained the quiet update was designed to halt piracy.

“The latest update has been designed to safeguard the device from piracy and illegal streaming of content; therefore it will disable the use of unofficial third party software or apps,”

The Now TV box, of course, is just a re-branded Roku designed to promote Sky’s on demand streaming platforms alongside terrestrial platforms like iPlayer and 4oD.

However, a small community of users had chosen to enact developer mode and install apps like the Plex Media Centre, opening the box up to a much wider range of content.

The revoking of that right has left some users (who, let’s not forget, forked out a whopping ten quid for the box) rather angry.

NOW TV have responded with :

In the coming days, there will be a few changes to the NOW TV Box as part of our regular updates to improve the service.

The latest update has been designed to safeguard the device from piracy and illegal streaming of content; therefore it will disable the use of unofficial third party software or apps.

This will not affect your ability to watch NOW TV or download supported apps through the Channel Store.

NOW TV Team

source : trustedreviews.com/news/sky-halts-plex-side0loading-on-now-tv-boxes-by-nixing-developer-mode