KlikyThere is no website that controls a Roku over the internet. Every “online” remote sends commands across your own Wi‑Fi, so the computer or phone must be on the same network as the Roku. In a browser this usually needs an extension or the Roku’s IP address. The quicker route is a phone app: Kliky finds the Roku on your Wi‑Fi by itself.
- Install Kliky
- Join the same Wi‑Fi
- Pick your Roku
How an online Roku remote works
Every Roku runs a small control service on the local network. Roku calls it the External Control Protocol. Anything on the same network can send it a key press such as Home, Up or Select. Phone apps, browser extensions and desktop programs all use this same door.
Two consequences follow. The Roku must already be connected to your network, and the device you control it from must be on that network too. A website on the public internet cannot reach into your home and press buttons.
Browser remotes: what to expect
- You will be asked for the Roku’s IP address. A web page cannot scan your network. Find the address on the Roku under Settings › Network › About, which is awkward when the remote is the thing you are missing.
- Most need a browser extension or a download. Secure web pages are not allowed to talk to plain local devices, so pure web-page remotes often fail silently in modern browsers. Extensions get around this.
- They are fine for basics. Arrow keys, OK, Home, Back, play and pause work well. Typing with a real keyboard is a genuine advantage of a computer.
On a Chromebook, Mac or Windows PC, a browser extension is a reasonable choice if you sit at the computer anyway.
The quicker option: a remote app on your phone
A phone app is allowed to search the local network, so it finds the Roku without any IP address.
- Install Kliky from the App Store or Google Play.
- Join the same Wi‑Fi as the Roku.
- Pick your Roku from the list.
It needs no account. It adds a keyboard, voice search and channel shortcuts, and it also controls other TV brands in the house.
If nothing can find your Roku
- Check the Roku is online: a Roku that lost its Wi‑Fi cannot be controlled from a browser or an app. See connect a Roku to Wi‑Fi without a remote.
- On the Roku, set Settings › System › Advanced system settings › Control by mobile apps › Network access to Default.
- Turn off VPNs, and avoid guest Wi‑Fi networks, which keep devices from seeing each other.
