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Where the code appears, by device
Two kinds of code can appear on one television: the platform’s own link code, which ties the box to one account, and each app’s code, which ties that app to its service. Which one is on the screen depends on who is asking.
A viewer setting up a new streaming player on a Saturday can meet three or four codes in an hour, printed by different companies for different accounts. They look alike. They are not interchangeable, and each belongs at exactly one address. Sorting them by who is asking makes the evening predictable.
The platform’s own code
Two of the common platforms print a code of their own before any app runs. A Roku prints a link code for roku.com/link, so that the Roku account’s channels and settings arrive on the box; Roku also offers a square code and an e-mailed link that do the same job. A Fire TV prints a code for amazon.com/code — Amazon calls the shortcut code-based linking — tying the device to an Amazon account, which is why the Prime Video app on a Fire TV never asks for a code of its own.
The other platforms take their account on the device. An Apple TV box signs in with an Apple Account on its own screen; a games console has the console maker’s account already; a cable box belongs to the provider. Google’s boxes and sets are the interesting case: a Google TV is set up by scanning a square on its screen with the Google Home app, and an Android TV can be set up with a code generated on the phone and typed on the TV — the mirror image of every other plate in this guide. A smart TV from Samsung, LG or Vizio may invite the viewer to create the maker’s account, but it prints no code for a streaming service; the services do that themselves.
Then each app’s code
Once the platform knows its account, every streaming app opened for the first time asks for its own. This is the code most people mean when they talk about activating a TV, and it is the one the ten plates in this guide describe. It is always the service’s, never the platform’s: a Netflix code on a Roku is entered at netflix.com/tv2, not anywhere on roku.com, and a Paramount+ code on a Fire TV is entered at paramountplus.com/firetv, not at amazon.com.
Paramount+ makes the point visible by printing a different address for each platform — eleven paths on paramountplus.com, from /appletv to /vidaa — and Netflix by printing netflix.com/atv for Apple’s box and netflix.com/tv2 for everything else. The platform’s name inside the address is the app telling its service which kind of device is waiting. The owner is still the service.
| Device family | The platform’s own code | Then, inside each app |
|---|---|---|
| Roku players and Roku TVs | A Roku link code for roku.com/link (or a square code, or an e-mailed link) tying the device to a Roku account | Each channel’s own code at its own address: netflix.com/tv2, DisneyPlus.com/begin, paramountplus.com/roku and so on |
| Fire TV sticks, cubes and Fire TV sets | An Amazon code for amazon.com/code (or a square code) tying the device to an Amazon account | Each app’s own code; Prime Video is already signed in because the device is |
| Apple TV box | None printed; the Apple Account is entered on the box during setup | Each app’s own code, e.g. netflix.com/atv, paramountplus.com/appletv |
| Google TV and Android TV boxes and sets | A square code scanned with the Google Home app, or a code generated on the phone and typed on the TV | Each app’s own code; YouTube’s at yt.be/activate, Paramount+’s at paramountplus.com/androidtv |
| Samsung, LG, Vizio, Hisense and other smart TVs | A maker’s account is optional on most; the TV itself prints no service code | Each app’s own code: link.apple.com for the Apple TV app, hulu.com/activate, HBOMax.com/signin, paramountplus.com/samsungtv, /lg, /vizio, /vidaa |
| PlayStation and Xbox | The console’s own account sign-in, on the console | Each app’s own code, e.g. paramountplus.com/playstation, /xbox |
| Cable and provider boxes (Xfinity, Cox Contour, Sky) | None; the box is already the provider’s | Each app’s own code, e.g. paramountplus.com/cox; provider apps elsewhere use xfinity.com/authorize or nbc.com/activate to link the subscription |
One app, two situations: the Apple TV app
The Apple TV app is the clearest illustration that the code depends on who is asking. On Apple’s own box, iPhone, iPad or Mac, the app inherits the Apple Account the hardware already holds and prints no code. On a Samsung, LG, Roku or Fire TV set, with no Apple Account on the hardware, the same app shows link.apple.com beside a square code. Same app, same account, different device — and only the second situation involves a code page.
Provider codes: a third kind
Broadcaster and cable apps add a variation. An app such as NBC’s asks not for a subscription of its own but for the viewer’s television provider, and prints a code for nbc.com/activate; a provider’s own app on a Roku, such as Xfinity Stream, prints a six-digit code for xfinity.com/authorize. The page then asks which provider the viewer subscribes through and hands over to that provider’s sign-in, which returns the viewer once satisfied. Peacock, which belongs to the same company as NBC, is a separate account with a separate code page at peacocktv.com/tv; the two are easily confused and never interchangeable.
Reading the screen
A short rule sorts every case. The company named in the printed address is the company whose account is being linked. If the address is roku.com or amazon.com, the hardware is being registered. If it is netflix.com, disneyplus.com or link.apple.com, an app is signing in to its service. If it is a broadcaster’s or a cable company’s, a subscription is being linked. The address never belongs to a third party, and it is never one the viewer must search for — it is on the screen.