Do you use your phone or tablet as a remote?

[clemson77on]

I'm just curious. How many of you use your phone or tablet as a remote control on your TV? Both of mine have the feature, but I just can't get accustomed to using it. It just seems a lot easier too grab the... remote control. Maybe I'm not seeing the benefits of it.

 

[SpookDroid]

I, too, use it just because I can use it, not because it makes my life easier. I did, however, find the appeal in a room where the TV Set Top Box remote did not control the TV, so using the phone allowed me to control both. I also use it with 3rd party apps to control other stuff like the AV Receiver, stereo on the living room, etc.

BUT, if you have a Smart TV, for instance, it may give you greater control. For example, with a Samsung phone and a 2013-and-on Samsung SmartTV, you can use the remote AND mirror the TV in your phone/Tablet, so you can go to the bathroom and not miss what's on the screen

 

[garublador]

It's nice to have if you lose a remote temporarily or run out of batteries. The tiny Roku remote at our house is notorious for disappearing so it's nice to have a back up.

 

[Paisley]

I wish i could, cuz then i could use my moto x touchless controls to change the channel. ! But no ir blaster on the X.

 

[clemson77on]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to keep messing with this and see if I can find any advantages over using the regular remote.

SpookDroid - that's pretty cool that you can do that. That would definitely be useful.

 

[effreyj]

I had a GS4 (switched to a Moto X) and never used it to control the TV. It seemed like more effort to me (and a waste of battery life) to have to turn on the screen and open the app each time I wanted to change the volume or channel. Also, it didn't have enough features to totally replace the need to use my Comcast Xfinity remote...

 

[someguy01234]

I would, but it doesn't have IR support, so I'll use Chromecast instead

sent via tapatalk

 

[hallux]

I do, but only if I'm using my provider's app to browse the channel listings and decide on a show to watch, I then tap "watch on TV" and it changes the channel for me. I'll also sometimes do it if I'm in another room with the TV as background noise and want to change the channel without changing rooms.

 

[cherrywithns]

I do. Its fun when the kids have the remote and I still am able to control the television.

Sent from my EVO using AC Forums mobile app

 

[JRDroid]

When I had the HTC One, I would do it sometimes. Mostly I'd do it if I already had my phone in my hand. However, the HTC remote software isn't very good in my opinion, and it was no where near a replacement for my Harmony 650 (which is a great universal remote fairly regularly available at $40 on sale). I have a Moto X and a Nexus 7 now, so no IR blasters for me. I do, however, use my Chromecast every single day, so I use my phone for that. To me, the phone/tablet is better for browsing and selecting content from large libraries such as Netflix, Hulu, or HBO, but a traditional remote is still superior for granular control like selecting an input, changing channels, etc. One place my phone really shines is as a controller for my Xbox 360 (via SmartGlass). Navigating an Xbox with a regular remote is clunky, and I don't like controlling video with a game controller, so the combo of Kinect voice commands and SmartGlass work excellently in that situation.

 

[Phalgun Gujjar]

I found it a very useful feature but never got around to programming my phone for it

Sent from my HTC One

 

[Anon8154066]

I use it for xbmc on my G-Box (yatse) works well and is efficient.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[cgardnervt]

Not really. The app seems pretty limited. Stock anyways. Anyone have any app options that are better?