WiFi Universal TV Remote

Turn your phone into a remote for the television you already own.

It works over your Wi-Fi network rather than infrared, so you do not need to point it at anything, and it keeps working from the other side of the room — or the other side of the wall.

WHICH TELEVISIONS

• Android™ TV and Google TV devices — full remote, including most televisions from Sony, Philips, TCL and Hisense, plus NVIDIA SHIELD and Chromecast with Google TV

• Samsung televisions — full remote, after you press Allow on the screen

• LG televisions running webOS — full remote plus a trackpad for the browser, after you accept a prompt

• Roku players and Roku TVs — full remote, and no pairing step at all

• Chromecast — volume, mute and playback only, explained below

WHAT YOU GET

• A full directional pad, with a large centre key that is easy to hit without looking

• Volume, channel, mute, back, home and power

• Play, pause, rewind and fast forward

• One-tap shortcuts to Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and Disney+

• Rename your televisions to whatever you actually call them

ONLY THE BUTTONS THAT WORK

The app asks each television what it can do and draws only that. A Roku streaming stick has no speakers and no tuner, so it gets no volume rocker and no channel keys. A Chromecast has no on-screen menu, so there is nothing for arrow keys to move around in and none are shown.

You will not find a button here that quietly does nothing.

BUILT FOR ACTUAL USE

The pad is sized for one thumb. Haptic feedback confirms each press, so you can change the volume without taking your eyes off what you are watching. The television you are connected to is marked in green, so you always know where your presses are going.

PAIRING, ONCE

Android TV shows a six-character code and you type it in. LG asks on the television screen and you accept. Roku and Chromecast need nothing at all. Whatever the step, it happens once and is remembered.

Commands go straight from your phone to your television over your own network. Nothing is sent to us — we do not run a server for this app to talk to.

BEFORE YOU INSTALL

Your television and your phone have to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

Vizio and Fire TV sets are found and named but cannot yet be controlled; they use systems this app does not speak.

A Chromecast without Google TV has no menus to navigate, so the app offers volume, mute, play and pause, and opening apps — there is no D-pad, home or power, because there is nothing on the device for them to do.

On a small number of televisions the manufacturer ships with the remote service switched off. If yours is not found, that is usually why, and it is not something an app can change.

FREE, WITH ADVERTS

The app is free and paid for by advertising. Adverts never sit next to the controls and never interrupt you mid-press. In Europe and the UK you are asked before any advert is requested, and you can change your answer at any time in Settings.

Android is a trademark of Google LLC. Google TV and Chromecast are trademarks of Google LLC. Roku is a trademark of Roku, Inc. LG and webOS are trademarks of LG Electronics Inc. Samsung is a trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. This app is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them. Netflix, YouTube and other services are named only to identify the applications this remote can open.