roku-voice-assistant

Roku Voice Assistant

Overview

Roku Voice Assistant lets you control your Roku device(s) using voice commands through multiple interfaces:

Alexa Integration: AWS Lambda function with Alexa Skills Kit
Mobile App: Progressive Web App optimized for iPhone 13 and iOS devices
REST API: Backend server for mobile and web integration

Features

Alexa Integration

Control Roku via voice through Alexa devices
Launch apps, control playback, adjust volume
Search and play content

Mobile App (NEW!)

📱 iPhone 13 Optimized: Responsive design with iOS-specific features
🎤 Voice Control: Native speech recognition for voice commands
📲 PWA Support: Install as a native-like app on iOS/Android
🎮 Touch Controls: Intuitive interface for navigation and control
🚀 Quick App Launch: One-tap access to streaming services
🌐 Cross-Platform: Works on any modern mobile browser

Requirements

Alexa Integration (Lambda)

Python 3.10+
AWS account with Lambda access
Roku device with "Control by mobile apps" enabled

Core Python package dependencies (from requirements.txt):

boto3 (AWS SDK)
requests (HTTP client)

Alexa SDK functionality for the Lambda skill is vendored in this repository under the legacy virtualenv at venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/. That directory is only used when building the Lambda deployment ZIP (it is bundled alongside lambda_function.py) and is not intended to be your local Python 3.10+ virtual environment.

If you want to run lambda_function.py locally with Python 3.10+ (for example, to debug the Alexa skill), you must either:

Install the Alexa SDK packages into your local environment (recommended), e.g.:
- ask_sdk_core
- ask_sdk_model
- ask_sdk_runtime
- ask_sdk_dynamodb
or
Temporarily add the vendored site-packages directory (venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/) to your PYTHONPATH so that ask_sdk_* modules can be imported.

The Alexa SDK is therefore not listed in requirements.txt; that file only covers shared/core dependencies and the mobile app/backend server dependencies for local development.

Mobile App

Python 3.10+
Flask and related dependencies (included in requirements.txt)

All dependencies can be installed with:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Quick Start

Mobile App Setup (iPhone 13 / iOS)

Install dependencies:
```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```
Start the mobile server:
```
cd mobile_app
python app.py
```
The server runs on port 8443. If cert.pem and key.pem are present in mobile_app/, it uses HTTPS (required for voice recognition on iOS). To generate a self-signed certificate for development:
```
cd mobile_app
python generate_ssl_certificates.py
```

Security note: mobile_app/config.json and SSL certificate files (cert.pem, key.pem, localhost.pfx) should not be committed (they are ignored by .gitignore). Never commit files containing your local network IP addresses or private keys.

Access from iPhone:
- Open Safari and go to https://[YOUR_SERVER_IP]:8443
- Tap Share → "Add to Home Screen"
- Open the app and configure your Roku IP address
Enable Roku control:
- On your Roku: Settings → System → Advanced → "Control by mobile apps"
- Find Roku IP: Settings → Network → About

📖 Full mobile documentation: See mobile_app/README.md

Alexa Integration Setup

Clone this repo.
Set up a Python 3.10+ virtual environment.
Install dependencies:
```
pip install -r requirements.txt
```
Configure your Roku device IP address:
- In production, set ROKU_IP_ADDRESS in lambda_function.py (or modify the code to read it from a Lambda environment variable)
- For local testing, replace YOUR_ROKU_IP_ADDRESS in lambda_function.py
- Find your Roku IP: Settings → Network → About
- Never commit a real IP address to version control
Configure your AWS credentials.
Create a deployment package with all dependencies.
Deploy lambda_function.py to AWS Lambda.

Usage

Mobile App

Voice Commands: "Play", "Pause", "Open Netflix", "Volume up", etc.
Touch Controls: D-pad navigation, volume buttons, app shortcuts
Configuration: Set Roku IP in the app settings

Alexa

Use Alexa to invoke your custom skill and control your Roku device:

Supported Commands:

App launching: "Alexa, ask Roku to open Netflix"
Playback control: "Alexa, ask Roku to play", "Alexa, ask Roku to pause"
Volume control: "Alexa, ask Roku to turn up the volume", "Alexa, ask Roku to mute"
Navigation: "Alexa, ask Roku to go home", "Alexa, ask Roku to go back"
Search: "Alexa, ask Roku to search for [content]" (opens home screen for manual search)

Note: Configure your Roku IP in lambda_function.py before deploying to AWS Lambda.

API Endpoints

The mobile API server provides REST endpoints:

POST /api/keypress - Send remote control commands (e.g., {"key": "Home"})
POST /api/launch - Launch streaming apps (e.g., {"app_name": "Netflix"})
POST /api/voice - Process voice commands (e.g., {"command": "play"})
POST /api/config - Configure Roku IP address (e.g., {"roku_ip": "192.168.1.100"})
GET /api/config - Get current Roku IP configuration
GET /api/status - Check API and Roku device status

See mobile_app/README.md for complete API documentation.

Testing & CI

Security: Automated security scanning with CodeQL (via GitHub default setup)
CI Workflows: See .github/workflows/ for automated checks
- voice-ci.yml: Environment setup and dependency installation (Python and ffmpeg)

CodeQL security scanning is configured through GitHub's repository settings (Security > Code security and analysis) and runs automatically on push and pull requests.

Browser Compatibility (Mobile App)

✅ iOS Safari 11.3+ (iPhone 13 fully supported)
✅ Chrome (Android)
✅ Chrome (Desktop)
⚠️ Firefox (limited voice support)
✅ Edge

Roadmap

Mobile-friendly web interface
iOS/iPhone 13 optimization
REST API for mobile communication
Progressive Web App (PWA) support
Streaming app support (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, HBO Max)
Voice command processing
Error handling and timeout improvements
Integrate Google Assistant
Add authentication to mobile API
Support for custom Roku app configurations
Expand voice command vocabulary

README