Roku review

Roku for iOS is a new official remote app which can be used on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. What makes this application great, however, are the features in addition to the remote, such as the ability to access and edit and delete your channels, as well as browsing and adding channels in the store.

Once downloaded, you need to connect the app to the same network that your Roku box is connected to. My goal was to connect my iPad to my new XS, and after some bumps, I was able to. It’s possible that my wireless Internet connection was a little wonky, but for my first several tries, the application was not picking up my box on my wireless network. I deleted tand re-downloaded it, and that seemed to solve the problem. My only issue here is that this is designed for as an iPhone app, so i either have to view it as iPhone sized on my iPad, or magnify the screen, which of course diminishes the resolution.

The interface is arguably better than the interface on the box itself. As mentioned above, the ability to access and edit your channels is excellent, and it’s much faster to navigate through your channels and the channel store than it is with the traditional remote. While viewing selections, you are given the option to view “paid” and “free” channels, which is fantastic for someone like me who is, lets just say, frugal. The one drawback here seems to be that the image load time seems to be a bit longer than it is on the actual box box.

Another excellent feature of the Roku app is its superior menu navigation. The remote is designed to be simple and easy. Simply swipe left, right, up or down to navigate, and tap to select. There are also four buttons that allow you to do various things such as go back or go home. And of course, who can forget the play/pause, fast forward and rewind buttons. However, what makes this better than the original remote is the keyboard. Want to search for a movie? Press the keyboard button. it’s as simple as that. No more searching letter by letter.

If you have a box, this is clearly is something you shouldn’t miss. The bottom line is that it is better than the remote and interface that come with the device itself. The best part? It’s free.