Why “Roon Core” in the first place?
This terminology was originally created to help communicate that the Roon app had two different “modes” – it could run exclusively as a remote controlling a “Core” on your network, or the Roon app could run as both a remote and Core. Clarifying this distinction was key to helping new users understand how Roon works.
Many people initially use Roon on Windows or Mac, and on those platforms, it’s always been possible to run Roon as either a Remote or as a Remote + Core.
For most new users, getting started means configuring Roon to run a Core, but we’ve found that as people expand their setup (by adding a Nucleus or moving their Core to a dedicated device) the word “Core” was actually creating more confusion.
What’s Changing?
In short: We’re simplifying how you install Roon on Windows and macOS, to offer more flexibility and better performance regardless of your configuration.
As part of our recent overhaul of Roon on Windows and Mac, we’ve moved the “Core” into its own application. New users will still download a single installer, but the “Core” application will run separately based on how they configure Roon.
On Windows and Mac, the Roon Core will now run as a separate background process – Roon Server – accessible via the System Tray on Windows or via the Menu Bar on Mac OS.
Going forward, the Roon desktop application will always run as a “Remote”, separate from the “Core” application whose sole function is to manage your music library and audio devices.
These changes simplify how you install Roon on Windows and macOS and offer more flexibility and performance regardless of your configuration. But they also offered an opportunity for us to clarify language around our platform.
(Re)Introducing Roon Server
As part of this change, we’ve decided to retire the term “Roon Core”.
In short, to use Roon you need a Roon Server, and that Roon Server can run on Windows, Mac, Linux, or Roon OS.
Wherever you run Roon Server, you can configure and control your setup by installing Roon on Windows or Mac, or by installing Roon Remote on iOS and Android.
And of course, you can access your Roon Server remotely using the Roon ARC application on iOS and Android.
We’re working on breaking the habit of saying “Core” and we hope you will too. As the Roon Community continues to grow, we feel “Roon Server” is a much clearer way to talk about what’s needed to get started with Roon.