TV today is home to some of the best content available in the market. While most of TV is now enjoyed on smartphones and tablets via streaming apps, there are still a large bulk of users who rely on their television for daily information and content. Thanks to the advancement in mobile technology, you can now use your smartphone as a remote for your television. This is possible with the help of infrared sensors available in the TV and on smartphones.
So which are some of the best universal TV remote apps for Android? Well, there are plenty of them out there, which makes the choice even more difficult. Keeping this in mind, we’re going to talk about five of the best universal TV remote apps available for Android today.
So let’s have a look.
5 Best Universal TV Remote Apps For Android
SURE Universal Smart TV Remote Control
This one app supports over a million devices, making it one of the most comprehensive TV remote apps out there. It also comes with support for Amazon Alexa built-in, making it a pretty versatile app overall. Thanks to the infrared sensor, the app can control a wide range of home appliances, and not just your television. The app also supports DLNA, allowing you to stream content from a local home network (music, videos, photos etc). For the features of the app to work, it is imperative that you have a phone with a built-in infrared blaster. If your phone doesn’t have support for this, you can get a Wi-Fi-to-IR converter online to enable functionality.
Lastly, the app also lets you control streaming boxes like Roku, Apple TV, as well as the Amazon Fire TV. Sure is a free app on the Google Play Store but comes with ads and in-app purchases for additional features. The app is compatible with devices running Android 4.2 and above.
Smart IR Remote
Much like the app we talked about above, this IR remote can control up to a million devices with more added everyday. If your phone doesn’t have an infrared sensor, it will work over Wi-Fi (applicable to devices like the Sonos). The best part about this app is that all the controls on board can be adjusted and modified as per your liking. The app also comes with support for widgets, allowing you to place easy to use buttons on your homescreen.
There’s a floating remote here as well, which allows you to keep a button floating on your screen even when you’re using another app or game. Group features allow you to turn your television, home theater and console all from the app, which to me is one of the best features of any IR remote. The app has some limitations, however. It won’t work on Huawei, Vizio, and Sony phones. While some LG phones are compatible, they’re mostly in beta. So it’s feasible to stay away from this app if you own phones from either of those brands.
The app will set you back by $6.99 on the Google Play Store. There are no ads or in-app purchases here. Smart IR Remote will work with devices running Android 4.0.3 and up.
Universal TV Remote
The name of the app leaves no ambiguity about its functions. The user interface here is slick, and easy to use. It comes with a bunch of customization options to change the color of the onscreen buttons at will. The fact that all the controls are well laid out means that you can control pretty much every aspect of your television. Given that IR remotes don’t work on all devices, the developer has setup a “Fix Remote” button within the app. This has to be used as a last resort, though, and only when nothing works.
The app lets you save multiple remotes, all easily accessible from a list within the app. This is handy if you have more than one television at your home. An app like this can also come to good use when you’re in a hotel and the TV has no remote. User reviews suggest that this is one of the best TV remote apps available on the Play Store, and we concur. This app is a free download on the Google Play Store, but has ads. There are no in-app purchases, however. The app is compatible with smartphones and tablets running Android 4.4 and higher.
Roku
Now that we’ve spoken about apps that work with any IR compatible TV and smartphone, it’s time for some apps that are designed to be used as remotes for specific hardware. The official Roku app on Android helps you control your Roku TV as well as streaming players. The app comes with voice search, and the ability to open channels directly from your smartphone. It cannot stream content on the phone, mind you, although the UI can have anyone fooled at once. This is just a remote application that is supposed to complement your Roku device at home.
All the controls are well laid out here and doesn’t require a prolonged setup process. One feature that I particularly like is the ability to stream audio from content on Roku with a feature known as “Private Listening”. The app is free to download, and has no ads or in-app purchases.
Google Home
This is yet another hardware dependent application that only works with the Google Home hardware. Given that Google Home is one of the premier smart home assistants for Android, it’s likely that a few of you have this at home.
Using the dedicated app, you can control almost every aspect of the hardware, including sending commands and setting up devices. This app was previously known as Chromecast, so you can get all the streaming and mirroring features here as well. The app works with any device that runs on Google Assistant, so you don’t necessarily need Google hardware for this to function. Google Home is a free download on the Play Store with no ads or in-app purchases.