A look inside
A full remote for Roku, Fire TV and Android TV over your own Wi-Fi. No batteries, no pairing dongle, and nothing to find down the back of the sofa.
The remote itself is free, for good. No key is behind a paywall.
D-pad, OK, back, home, power and full playback controls — with press-and-hold, so scrolling a long list works like it does on the real thing. Volume too, on the devices that can change it.
Search with your phone keyboard and the words appear on the TV as you type, instead of pecking one letter at a time with the arrow keys.
Roku players and Roku TVs work the moment they are found. Fire TV, Google TV, Nvidia Shield and Android TV boxes connect after a one-time setup on the TV.
Open Netflix, YouTube or anything else installed on the TV in one tap, without walking the home screen with the D-pad.
Scans your Wi-Fi automatically. If your router blocks device discovery — plenty do — you can type the TV's address instead.
A deep, low-glare interface and a short tick of haptic feedback on every key, so you can use it without looking away from the screen.
The phone and the TV need to be on the same network. That is the only requirement.
The app scans and lists what it finds. Roku connects immediately; Fire TV and Android TV ask you to allow the phone once, on the TV itself.
It reconnects on its own every time you open it, so the remote is just there.
What you get without paying, stated exactly.
The whole remote, forever: D-pad, volume, playback, power and one saved TV. Connecting to a different TV is always allowed — it replaces the saved one.
Premium remembers as many TVs as you like and switches between them in a tap, adds typing with your phone keyboard and one-tap app shortcuts, and removes the ads.
Billed through Google Play. Cancel any time in your Play account settings.
Wi-Fi. Most phones no longer have an infrared blaster, so the app talks to the TV over your local network instead. The phone and the TV must be on the same one.
Fire TV and Android TV publish no remote-control interface, so the app connects the way developers do — which the TV asks you to approve once. You turn on ADB debugging in the TV's developer options, then choose Always allow when the TV asks. Roku needs none of this.
Usually the phone is on a different Wi-Fi band or network than the TV, or the router blocks device discovery between clients — guest networks almost always do. Check both are on the same network, then use Enter IP address and type the address shown in your TV's network settings.
A Roku streaming stick cannot change the television's volume — only a Roku TV can. The app hides those keys when it detects a player rather than a TV, so you should not see them at all.
Yes. Everything happens on your local network between the phone and the TV. An internet connection is only used to show ads in the free version.
No. The app sends button presses to your TV and reads the list of installed apps so it can show you shortcuts. It does not read what is playing, and nothing about your TV leaves your network.
Everything about how TV Remote for Roku & Fire TV handles your data, in plain language.
What the app collects, what it does not, and who it is shared with.
The terms you agree to by using the app, including subscriptions.
Common problems, and how to reach a human.