Allow local network access on your iPhone
iOS treats your home network as private, and asks before an app may look around it. Roku Remote needs that permission for everything it does, because it talks to your TV directly rather than through a server. Refuse it and the app finds no Rokus and controls nothing — with no error, because iOS simply discards what it sends.
Switch it on
- Open the iPhone's Settings app.
- Tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Local Network.
- Find Roku Remote in the list and switch it on.
- Go back to Roku Remote and search for your Roku again.
If Roku Remote is not in the list
An app only appears there once it has asked. Open Roku Remote and let it look for a Roku — the prompt appears, and then so does the entry in Settings. Deleting and reinstalling the app also brings the prompt back, at the cost of your saved TVs and settings.
What the permission does and does not allow
- It lets the app send to and receive from devices on the Wi-Fi you are joined to. That is how your Roku is found and controlled.
- It is not internet access, and it is not location. iOS mentions that local network names can hint at where you are; Roku Remote neither reads nor sends anything of the sort.
- Nothing the app learns on your network leaves your iPhone. There is no account and no server to send it to.
FAQ
- Why does a remote need a permission at all?
- Because it is a genuine capability: an app that can see your network can see what is on it. iOS makes you grant it deliberately, which is right.
- I switched it on and still nothing.
- Check the Wi-Fi network next, then the Roku's “Control by mobile apps” setting. Those are the other two usual causes.
- Does the app need notifications too?
- Only for the sleep timer, so it can tell you the time is up if iOS has suspended it. Refusing notifications affects nothing else.
Roku Remote is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Roku, Inc. Roku is a trademark of Roku, Inc.
The remote you never lose
Roku Remote gives your iPhone a touchpad, a keyboard for searching and signing in, your channels, private listening through your headphones and a sleep timer. It finds your Roku on your Wi-Fi — no account, and nothing through our servers.
Coming soon to the App Store for iPhone.