How to connect Roly to your Roku TV

Roly controls your Roku over your home Wi-Fi. According to its App Store listing, it detects Roku devices on your Wi-Fi automatically, and you pick yours from the list. There's nothing to plug in.

Most connection problems come down to a few network settings. Roku documents the same checks for its own remote app, and they're listed below with the menu names Roku uses today.

Before you start

• Your iPhone (or iPad) and your Roku are on the same Wi-Fi network. Roku's own guide says the phone and the Roku “need to be on the same Wi-Fi network to connect.”
• Your Roku is switched on and connected to that network.
• Your iPhone runs iOS 18 or later, which Roly needs according to its App Store listing.
• You have the Roku's physical remote nearby, in case you need to change a setting on the Roku.

Connect Roly to your Roku

1. On your iPhone, open Settings › Wi-Fi and note the network name. On the Roku, go to Settings › Network › About and check that it shows the same network.
2. Open Roly. It looks for Roku devices on your Wi-Fi automatically.
3. If iOS asks whether Roly can find and connect to devices on your local network, tap Allow. Without this permission, Roly may not be able to find your Roku.
4. Pick your Roku from the Devices list, which shows each Roku's name and IP address. If yours isn't there, tap Refresh devices.
5. Try a few buttons to check that the Roku responds.

Set Control by mobile apps to Enabled

Roku lets you choose how much a phone app can do. If the setting is too strict, the buttons in Roly may not work. To check it, use the Roku's own remote:

1. Press Home on the Roku remote and go to Settings › System › Advanced system settings.
2. Select Control by mobile apps.
3. Choose Enabled.

Roku describes the three choices like this. Limited restricts apps to “text input, app launches and accessing your activity within the app itself.” Enabled means the Roku “can always be controlled by mobile apps, but it will only respond to commands from devices that are connected to the same local network.” Permissive means “any device within and outside your network could potentially send all commands to your Roku device.”

Choose Enabled, so the Roku accepts commands from phone apps on your own network. There's no reason to choose Permissive.

If your Roku doesn't show up in Roly

• Same band: many routers broadcast two names, such as MyNetwork_2.4GHz and MyNetwork_5GHz. Roku asks that the phone and the Roku use “the same band and network name.”
• Local Network permission: open Settings on your iPhone, scroll down to Roly and turn on Local Network. You can also find it in Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network.
• VPN: turn off any VPN on your iPhone while you use Roly. Roku notes that some VPNs route all traffic through the virtual network, which hides the Roku.
• Devices blocked from each other: some networks stop devices from talking to each other (often called client or AP isolation). Roku suggests checking your router's documentation to find and turn off that setting.
• Wired Roku: if your Roku uses an Ethernet cable, Roku says it must get an IP address in the same range as your wireless devices. If you're not sure, try connecting the Roku over Wi-Fi instead.
• Restart: restart the Roku from Settings › System › Power › System restart (on some models it's Settings › System › System restart), or unplug it for at least 10 seconds. Then close Roly in the App Switcher and open it again.

After you're connected

According to its App Store listing, Roly also offers Headphones Mode to stream your Roku's audio to your phone, widgets for one-tap controls, and Siri and Shortcuts support. In its screenshots, the Devices list marks Rokus that support Headphones Mode as Supported, and a setting lets your iPhone's volume buttons control the TV volume. Roly also works on iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro.