Roku mobile app

[randallroman]

Nope. None of the 3 phones with the app in my house have VPN/adblockers.  App stability is highly variable.  App will work fine on an individual phone for a few weeks, then stop working, another phone will magically start working.  Prior versions of the app before late 2024 never had this problem for me.  

[r0kumonkey]

We’re running some sort of ad, spam, and malware blocker dns service on our home router. Could the roku ios app be working with some sketchy service for pop up ads or something on the app. I don’t get any pop up ads, but should I be? If someone navigates away from the app and navigates back do they get annoying pop ups? Is that the slight “up shift” I see on the app when it locks up?

[Drew67854]

This sounds exactly like what some of these scumbag devs would do. Can’t load our ads? Can use our app. 

I run ad / malware dns filtering at home too. If this is a condition of using the app then screw em. I’ll stick with an alternative and just live without that feature  

[Tom67]

I have tried all of the above and it continues to happen. Getting frustrated and tired about this. I'm beginning to think this thing is garbage -- and have been a customer for a long time.

[fixtheapp]

I ended up downloading a different third party app since the official one seems like it will never be fixed. Awesome job Roku team, your app is god awful. 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rokie-remote-for-roku-player/id1016562846

[genuine]

I'm impacted by the same - thanks for the updates team

[genuine]

Hey @fixtheapp,

Thanks for taking the time to report one possible solution for Roku customers! I like the name of that app.

While we wait for the fix I've been using an app that's quite hard to find given its generic name, but I must've chosen based on my usual criteria: avoid in-app purchases, find least complicated privacy policy.

Another thanks for your suggestion as I it catalyzed me to pop over to the app store to quickly compare the little privacy nutrition facts from each of three apps: the official that's mostly broken for us right now, cute lil Rokie, and the lowkey/utilitarian UI generic-sounding remote. Here's the latest as of 2025-03-27, USA app store:

The Roku App (Official):

Roku TV Remote Control : Smart - iOS App Privacy Facts

Rokie - Remote for Roku Player:

Rokie - Remote for Roku Player - iOS App Privacy Facts

Roku TV Remote Control : Smart:

Roku TV Remote Control : Smart - iOS App Privacy Facts

I'm sure further discussion's better fit for another thread, but just want fellow customers to know while Roku is troubleshooting to be mindful of the privacy policies of alternatives.

Thank you!