My Roku is found but it does not respond
There is a setting on every Roku that decides whether apps on your network may control it. Set to Disabled or Limited, the Roku answers the app's hello and then ignores every key you press. It is the single most common cause of a remote that connects but does nothing.
Switch network control back on
- On the Roku, press Home on the physical remote.
- Go to Settings › System › Advanced system settings › Control by mobile apps.
- Open Network access.
- Choose Default. (Permissive also works; Disabled and Limited are what block the app.)
- Go back to Roku Remote and press a key. The TV should answer at once.
If it is already set to Default
- Restart the Roku: Settings › System › Power › System restart, or unplug it for ten seconds. This clears a device that has stopped answering.
- Check that you are controlling the Roku you think you are. Tap the name at the top of the remote screen — with two TVs in the house it is an easy mistake.
- Try the power or mute key specifically. If those work and playback keys do not, nothing is broken: the channel on screen decides what playback keys mean.
- Update the Roku: Settings › System › System update.
Some keys work and others do not
That is normal, and it is the channel's doing rather than the app's. A channel showing live television cannot rewind; a menu cannot pause; an advert cannot be skipped. The Roku received the key and the channel on screen declined it.
FAQ
- Why is Network access not set to Default already?
- Default is the factory setting. It usually gets changed by somebody tightening settings, or by a television whose manufacturer shipped it differently.
- Does Limited not mean limited rather than blocked?
- Limited lets a device on the network see the Roku but not control it, which is exactly the behaviour you are seeing. Default is the setting that allows remote apps.
- The app says it cannot reach the TV.
- That is a different message: the Roku is not answering at all. Check that it is switched on and on the same Wi-Fi, and see the guide on finding a Roku.
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.
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