Suggest a Feature

[Duck546]

Hi developers,

I love the Roku app, especially the Apple Watch one. However, I have noticed that if the app has not been opened for a while on your phone, your Apple Watch app will not work until you re-open the main phone app.

Also, it is worth noting that the voice control does not work when the app isn’t open on the phone and that the response time of the Apple Watch to perform any sort of action is way slower than doing it from the main app directly. I guess that this is because the Apple Watch is not communicating directly with the Roku device, but instead, it’s communicating with the phone first and the phone sends the signal to act.

My suggestion is that the Roku Apple Watch app should work as a standalone app. There are many apps out there that have become independent from the main phone app (Spotify, CardPointers & Renpho), and I think the Roku app could benefit from it by reducing the time it takes to communicate between the watch and the device, as well as allowing for the use of the virtual remote even if the main device’s battery is dead, or you simply can’t find either your remote or phone.

Thank you for your consideration.

[PeteD2]

Totally agree.  The AW Roku remote application is a good one, but not allowing the application to permanently run standalone is a major setback.  Forces Apple users to seriously consider Apple TV which has had that standalone feature for years.  Roku you are the best in this business (at the moment).  The IOS remote application is best in class.  Get this done please so we can say the same for the Apple Watch application.

I also can't get the voice command to work (which is a killer).  Works great on the IOS application, but I keep getting an error message "Error Sorry I didn't get that.  Please try again".  Siri works so I do not think it is my mic.  Full disclosure -  I have an old watch Apple Watch 1 (WatchOS 6.3).  Does the voice command work on later WatchOS versions/watches?

[Duck546]

@PeteD2, voice control works for me on my Apple Watch Series 6. I mentioned on my post that the feature does not usually work, though. This is because, apparently, you need to keep the iOS Roku app open while using this functionality. Not running on the background, but fully open. If that does not make it work, try closing the Roku app on both devices from the App Switcher, and then open the iOS app, then the WatchOS one, and hopefully that will allow both devices to communicate with each other.

Please let me know if that made voice control work for you, or not.

[PeteD2]

Thank you @Duck546.  I was able to get Roku remote voice control working on my daughters AW7 using your suggestions.  I could not get voice control to work on the AW1 but the watch is no longer supported so not surprising.

Let's hope Roku developers can make the watch application work independently of the IOS Roku remote application in the near future.

[ronaldcrawford]

It’s July 2023 and the issue still has not been resolved. My Apple Watch has cellular and wifi so there’s absolutely no reason why I should have to connect to the Roku via my iPhone. If I need to do that then what use is the Apple Watch version of Roku when I can just use my iPhone since it’s connected and nearby at this point? Fix this Roku.