Remote Control for Rоku & TCL

Review by eFreeware

Remote Control for Roku & TCL is a free Android app from SensusTech LLC that replaces the physical remote for a set of smart TVs with your phone. The pitch is straightforward: instead of hunting for the remote or buying batteries, you keep the controls on a device you already carry. It covers Roku televisions and streaming hardware as well as TCL, Hisense and Insignia sets, and it adds screen mirroring and TV cast on top of the usual buttons.

The main reason to consider it is the everyday annoyance it targets. Remotes go missing under cushions, behind sofas and inside toy boxes, and their batteries die at inconvenient moments. Putting the same controls on a phone does not remove the need for a remote so much as move it somewhere you are more likely to keep track of. That is a modest idea, but a sensible one, and it is the core of what this app does.

It also has a second job that a physical remote cannot do at all. The app can mirror a TV screen to your phone and cast videos or photos from your phone to the television. For anyone who has squinted at small on-screen text from across a room, or wanted to show a phone clip to a group, those two functions are the more interesting half of the package.

Everyday control without the battery drawer

The button set is the familiar one: power on and off, volume up and down, directional navigation, and playback controls for play, pause, fast forward and rewind while something is playing. Roku channel control is included as well, so browsing and switching between channels happens from the phone rather than a separate remote. Nothing here is exotic, which is the point. The app is trying to be a direct substitute, not a redesigned control scheme.

The developer's argument for the swap is practical. A phone is harder to lose around the home than a slim remote, and if it does go missing you can call it to find it. That reasoning holds up for most households, and it is the strongest case for keeping the app installed even if you still reach for the physical remote out of habit. The app claims to connect automatically to the television, so once it is set up you are not repeating the pairing process every time you sit down.

What I like about the scope is that it does not demand a particular brand loyalty. Roku televisions, Roku streaming sticks, Express, Player and Box hardware are all listed, along with TCL, Hisense and Insignia sets. If your household has more than one of those, one app on one phone can plausibly cover several screens instead of a drawer full of mismatched remotes. That is a real convenience, and it is where a phone-based remote beats the plastic one.

Mirroring and casting for a bigger or smaller screen

Screen mirroring is the feature that changes how the app gets used. Instead of relying on the television alone, you can view what is on it through your phone. The developer frames this around eyesight: if you normally fetch glasses or walk closer to read something on screen, the phone in your hand becomes the readable copy. That is a narrow but genuinely useful angle, and it is the sort of thing a standard remote cannot offer at any price.

The cast function runs in the other direction. Videos and photos stored on the phone can be sent to the television for viewing on a larger display. This is the part that turns the app from a convenience into something you might open for a specific purpose, such as showing a clip to family in the living room rather than passing a phone around. The developer lists it alongside mirroring as part of the same package, so the two features are meant to be used together rather than as separate tools.

Between the two, the app covers both directions of the phone-and-TV relationship. You can pull the TV picture toward you or push your own media toward the TV. Neither is unusual on its own, but having them in the same app as the remote buttons means one install handles the whole set of interactions.

What setup asks of you

Getting started depends on your Wi-Fi network. The app connects to the television over Wi-Fi, and the developer describes the connection as automatic once it is in place. In practice that means the phone and the TV need to be on the same network, which is the normal arrangement in a home where both are already connected to the same router.

The app is easy to pick up, with a display meant to be understood without instruction, and you can start controlling the TV shortly after installing. I would treat that as the intended experience rather than a guarantee, since how quickly any given television responds depends on the network and the set itself. The reasonable expectation is a short setup followed by a control panel that mirrors what a physical remote offers.

One practical note about the app itself: it is free to download, it carries ads, and it offers in-app purchases. I would go in expecting the free version to be the version you evaluate. The app was released in July 2021 and received an update in late June 2026 focused on bug fixes and performance improvements, which suggests it is still being tended to.

Where a phone remote makes the most sense

This app fits households that already own one of the supported televisions and are tired of the remote disappearing. It suits people who keep a phone within reach on the sofa, and it suits anyone who has ever bought a pack of batteries mainly for a remote that gets used a few times a day. The automatic connection is the detail that makes it viable as a daily habit rather than a novelty you try once.

It also suits viewers who want the mirroring or cast functions more than the buttons. If reading small text on a television from across the room is a recurring problem, or if you regularly want to show phone photos and videos on the big screen, those features justify the install on their own. The remote controls then come along as a bonus rather than the main event.

The narrower fit is anyone who wants a single-purpose remote replacement and nothing else. The app bundles mirroring and casting into the same package. That is not a flaw so much as the shape of the product: it is a control center with extras, not a stripped-down button pad.

How it has held up

The install base is substantial, at over a million downloads, and the average rating sits at 4.1 from more than 58,000 ratings. That is a healthy figure for a utility app of this type, and it suggests a large number of people have found the basic promise workable. A rating is not a review of your television, your router or your phone, but as a signal of general satisfaction it is a reasonable one.

The update history is short but current. The most recent change listed is a round of bug fixes and performance improvements, which is the kind of maintenance you want to see in an app that depends on network connections and television firmware.

The combination of a long-standing install base and recent maintenance is reassuring for a free utility. It means the app is not a one-off project abandoned after launch, and it means the core function has been exercised by enough people to shake out obvious problems. What it does not tell you is how well it will behave with your specific television model, which is something only your own setup can answer.

A phone remote worth keeping for supported TVs

The button set covers what a physical remote does, the Wi-Fi connection is meant to be automatic after setup, and the app adds mirroring and casting that a plastic remote cannot match. For a free download, that is a fair amount of utility in one place.

I would recommend it most to two groups: households that misplace remotes constantly, and viewers who want to read the television screen through their phone or send phone media to the TV. If you fall into either, the app earns its space. If you simply want a no-frills remote replacement, the bundle of extra features is what you are getting whether or not you use them.

The practical advice is to check that your television is one of the supported models before you commit to it as your main remote. Given the install numbers and the recent maintenance update, this is a low-risk thing to try. It will not suit every setup, but for the televisions it names, it is a reasonable replacement for the remote that keeps going missing.

What's new in version 1.8.5

- Bugfixes and performance improvements