I use mine everyday to control all of my tvs and stereo equipment. I never have to worry about losing the remote since i always have my phone on me. Plus i don't have to worry about buying replacement AA batteries either! It would be a bummer to lose this functionality.
I have a hodge podge of electronic crap throughout my house. I immediately missed it when I failed to research my move to the Note 5 fully. Overriding rogue kids using our remotes was also very handy! Just give it to us! IR is still viable!