I’ve tried a few different remote apps for my phone to replace my physical remote but everything I’ve tried is either clumsy to use or bombards me with ads/requires a subscription. Has anyone found one that works intuitively as a touch screen remote interface and isn’t absurdly expensive?
The official Roku Remote app is completely free. https://support.roku.com/article/217288467
For Android, I like the open-source free RoMote app. (available in the Play Store). The Github page for this older project is located here. https://github.com/wseemann/RoMote
As @AvsGunnar said, the official Roku app is pretty good. Just remember that if you ever travel with your Roku, you won't be able to use any phone app while connected to a hotel or other public WiFi network. These networks all have a security setting that blocks connected devices from seeing each other, so the app will never see the Roku on one of those networks.