yRocku — an app for Roku Remote Control

yRocku is a powerful and customizable Roku remote control app for iPhone that gives you full control of your Roku device or Roku TV directly from your phone. Whether you want a simple remote or a fully personalized shortcut pad, yRocku adapts to the way you watch.

--

Device Discovery & Connection

yRocku automatically scans your local Wi-Fi network for Roku devices using SSDP multicast discovery. When a single device is found it connects instantly; when multiple devices are present you choose from a list. If automatic discovery doesn't find your device, you can enter its IP address manually. yRocku validates the address before connecting and remembers up to five recently used addresses for quick reconnection.

---

Full-Featured Remote

The remote layout places all standard Roku controls in their natural positions within a clean 10-row grid:

- Navigation — Up, Down, Left, Right, OK

- Playback — Rewind, Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Instant Replay

- System — Back, Home, Options (Info), Power

- Volume — Volume Up, Volume Down, Mute

The OK button supports press-and-hold for precise keydown/keyup control.

---

Programmable Shortcut Keys

You have two options when editing a button:

1. Add commands by tapping the command buttons displayed in the edit view.

2. Add commands by voice.  Tap the "Speak a command" button and say the commands you want to add to the button.    e.g "Right Right Up Ok Back"

Fourteen programmable slots are available in the grid alongside the standard keys. Each shortcut key can be given a custom label and assigned any sequence of commands — navigation keys, playback controls, or channel launches — all executed with a single tap.

Shortcuts are channel-aware. When you launch a channel, automatically loads the shortcut keys you saved for that channel. Keys that launch channels or open the channel picker are shared across all channels, while content-navigation shortcuts remain specific to each one.

Example uses:

- CC On — Info → OK → Up → OK → Back (toggles closed captioning in one tap)

- Skip 1 Min — Right × 6 (skips ahead 60 seconds in streams that advance 10 seconds per press)

- Launch Netflix — displays the Netflix icon and launches the app directly

---

Channels View

Tap the Channels button to browse every channel installed on your Roku, displayed as a scrollable icon grid. Tap any icon to launch that channel instantly.

---

Search with Voice Support

The search feature lets you send text directly to your Roku's on-screen keyboard. Type using the iPhone keyboard or tap the microphone key to use iOS voice dictation. When ready, tap Send to Roku — each character is transmitted as an individual ECP keystroke command.

---

Active Channel Tracking

yRocku polls your Roku every fifteen seconds to detect the currently active channel and displays its name in the navigation bar. The correct shortcut key set loads automatically when you switch channels.

---

Command Log

Every key press is recorded in the command log with a timestamp, key label, and the individual ECP commands sent. The log holds up to 1,000 entries and is useful for understanding command sequences when building shortcuts. The log can be cleared at any time from Settings.

---

Settings

- Background Color — Choose any color for the app background

- Standard Key Color — Customize the color of the remote's standard keys

- Command Delay — Adjust the pause between commands on multi-step shortcut keys to ensure reliable execution on your Roku

- Device Info — View technical details about the connected Roku device

- Command Log — Review and clear the history of sent commands

---

Siri Shortcut — Launch Channel

yRocku includes a Siri Shortcut that lets you launch any installed channel by voice. Just say 

"Siri, Launch a channel in roku" and Siri will ask which channel you want — no hands required.

---

Requirements

- iPhone running iOS 17 or later

- Roku device or Roku TV on the same Wi-Fi network

- For volume and power control via the app, enable HDMI-CEC on your TV

When the app is started it searches the local network for devices responding with a Roku response. If only one device is discovered it is selected by default and the navigation view will be displayed.  If multiple devices are discovered then a list of devices will be displayed for selection.

• If multiple devices are displayed then tap the device to be controlled.

• Tap the button labeled 'Search Again'  to refresh the device list.

• Note: If you have a VPN enabled the scan will not find devices.  Use the 'Enter IP address' button to connect to the device to be controlled.

• If selecting a device via the 'Enter IP address' button and the IP address is not assigned to a valid Roku device an error message will be displayed.  Re-enter the IP address for a Roku device.

Customize buttons to create simple shortcuts.  Define your 'favorite channel' buttons or define a 'shortcut' button which will execute a series of commands.  These changes persist in the application's storage.

Favorite Channel buttons will display no matter which channel has been launched.

Shortcut buttons are linked to the currently launched channel (displayed at top of view) and are re-loaded when a channel is launched.

You can now use your voice (in addition to tapping commands) to speak the commands to be added to the button.

• Tap the 'Edit' button at top of view.

• Tap the button to be modified.

• For a favorite channel

  1. Leave button label blank

  2. Scroll view to see a list of installed channels

  3. Tap the icon of the desired channel

  4. Tap the 'Save' button at top of view

  5. Continue editing other buttons.

  6. When finished tap the 'Done' button at top of view.

• For a multiple command shortcut

  1. Enter the label text to be displayed on the modified button

  2. Tap one of the displayed navigation keys to add the command to the button (commands can be deleted or moved to other positions in the list) OR Tap the microphone icon to speak the commands and all commands will be added.

  3. Repeat step 2. When finished tap the 'Save' button at top of view

  4. Edit other buttons

  5. When finished tap the 'Done' button at top of view.

• To delete or clear a button, tap 'Edit'

  1. Tap the button to be reset.

  2. Scroll to very bottom of view 

  3. Tap 'Remove button'

  4. Tap the 'Save' button

  5. Tap the 'Done' button

Example of a shortcut for forwarding the stream by 1 minute might be:

• Enter 'Fwd 1 min'  for the button label

• Tap the Right (>) button 6 times

• Tap the 'Save' button

• Tap the 'Done' button

• (now when you tap the 'Fwd 1 min' button it will function like you tapped the > button 6 times.

Other examples of shortcuts could be turning CC on and off,  navigating to common locations in the channel hierarchy.  Be creative.  I have found many creative ways to build shortcuts for the YouTube TV channel.

For comments, ideas for new functions or issues please contact me at 

(email)  ceb40win@outlook.com

or

on Discord @ ceb400