Forum Discussion

RescueMom59's avatar
RescueMom59
Newbie
4 years ago
Solved

Limited Remote for Seniors?

My father has dementia and can't work a remote control any longer.  Does anyone know of a remote control that works with Roku where I can set the tv to turn on just to Fox News?  I have Hulu Live TV....
remotes
  • atc98092's avatar
    atc98092
    4 years ago

    The regular Roku remote is as simple as they come. There's no way to have a Roku turn on and open a specific channel without requiring any user input. 

    All Roku players, other than the Roku Stick, can be used with a universal IR (infrared) remote, and there are programmable remotes that can have macros to auto-run things. However, the most common were the Logitech Harmony line, and Logitech has discontinued them. 

atc98092's avatar
atc98092
Community Streaming Expert
4 years ago

The regular Roku remote is as simple as they come. There's no way to have a Roku turn on and open a specific channel without requiring any user input. 

All Roku players, other than the Roku Stick, can be used with a universal IR (infrared) remote, and there are programmable remotes that can have macros to auto-run things. However, the most common were the Logitech Harmony line, and Logitech has discontinued them. 

  • MilesT's avatar
    MilesT
    Roku Guru
    4 years ago

    Some of the more advanced Oneforall remotes support Roku and can learn keypress sequences. 7935 for example. But these may not be simple enough.

    NB IR replacement remotes won't work with Streaming stick models.

    Maybe just record a few hours of Fox News onto a USB stick once a week and put that into TV instead on autorun mode? They probably won't know the difference :-).

    (Seriously, I know from personal experience dementia is a crushing illness, but sometimes dark humour is needed.  Sad that their go-to comfort space is Fox News.  Maybe find some favourite music on video instead to ring the changes?)

    Worth reading anti-monopolist blogger Matt Stoller post on Logitech Harmony.

    • MemoryLaneTV's avatar
      MemoryLaneTV
      Channel Surfer
      2 years ago

      A real problem indeed for people living with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. 

      We have set up Memory Lane TV (a streaming platform for people living with dementia with plot free programing) on our Roku and tried to replace the netflix shortcut button but that does not work 😞  When you have dementia, you need a simpler solution. How do we program a simple button that turns on an app on the roku? 

      Most importantly, is there a way to control the roku away from home via a phone? IR system does not work but it seems that we should be able to control the roku even when NOT on the same wifi if we are log in. it would be a functionality that almost 6 million Americans who have dementia. need!!! 

      Any other idea on how to remotely access and navigate an app on the Roku from a different location? 

      Thank you all 

       

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert
        2 years ago
        MemoryLaneTV wrote:

        We have set up Memory Lane TV (a streaming platform for people living with dementia with plot free programing) on our Roku and tried to replace the netflix shortcut button but that does not work 😞  When you have dementia, you need a simpler solution. How do we program a simple button that turns on an app on the roku? 

        Most importantly, is there a way to control the roku away from home via a phone? IR system does not work but it seems that we should be able to control the roku even when NOT on the same wifi if we are log in. it would be a functionality that almost 6 million Americans who have dementia. need!!! 

        No, you cannot control a Roku with the app if you are not connected to the same home network. And you cannot reprogram the buttons on most Roku remotes. There are user programmable buttons on the Voice Remote Pro, but those buttons aren't any more prominent than the other preprogrammed buttons. But they might work for you.

        Another option that would work for most Roku players (not a Roku Stick) is a universal IR remote that has large, programmable buttons. Roku Stick players don't support IR, but all other Roku players do.