Just need a phone with an IR port

Or a stand-alone IR blaster on the Wi-Fi network.
https://www.simplecontrol.com/simple-blaster/

That’s the crux of it though – all your devices are expecting IR signals from remotes.

Thinking about it, something that could receive commands over Wi-Fi and inject them as CEC commands directly into a HDMI port would be a killer app, you could do away with IR at a stroke. I wonder if such a thing exists, or if I’m going to be rich? Mental note, don’t tell anyone about it.

Raspberry Pi project, anyone?

http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=13819.0

I wonder if such a thing exists, or if I’m going to be rich? Mental note, don’t tell anyone about it.

You stealing my idea??

That’s the crux of it though – all your devices are expecting IR signals from remotes.

My TV doesn’t. Pretty much all smart TVs when connected to your router have phone apps to control them.

Yeah, fair point, mine does too. I guess as time goes on this will change, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.

Can you tell I don’t have a smart TV? It does plug into the router though 🙂
Can you imagine having to fire up an app on your phone every time you want to change channels on the Sky box. That would actually be crap.

Why has no-one come up with a phone app for this? Phones can do every bloody thing else!

there is

Peel Smart Remote

Can you imagine having to fire up an app on your phone every time you want to change channels on the Sky box. That would actually be crap.

“Having to” does not equate with “being able to.” It’s nice to have a choice. Who wouldn’t want to be able to change channels in the living room whilst sat on the throne upstairs? Almost minutes of fun to be had there.

I have a sony app for my TV. It is still much easier to pick up the remote.

It is handy to be able to turn the TV on as I pull up outside the house though and my phone detects the TV as it logs onto the wifi.

It is handy to be able to turn the TV on as I pull up outside the house

You’re joking?

How is that of any use at all? To anyone ever?

I thought Hive was pointless but that’s even more of a broken pencil.

How is that of any use at all? To anyone ever?

I can think of a a couple of uses.

Listen to sport on 5 live in the car, jump to watching it on the TV when you get home. Handy if your TV is slow to start up, as some smart ones are, and you miss the goal/crash/streaker

When recording sport to watch later its a bit annoying when you turn on the TV and accidentally watch a bit of it and find out who is winning or whatever. Turn on the TV, change channels and start playback and you can watch from the start without accidentally watching the end

Pretty minor, I’ll admit but mildly handy

All in one controls with magic buttons can also be used to reprogram DVD region settings on players, another handy benefit.

I use bunjees. I can then pull one off from the Mrs’ hand from the other side of the room just with a quick yank.

Michael Johnson?

Remote organiser. Yes, this is a thing:

Although if you were a proper man you’d have them in one of these:

My TV doesn’t. Pretty much all smart TVs when connected to your router have phone apps to control them.

Well, whoop-de-doo!
Seems I’ve got to get shot of my perfectly lovely seven-year old Bravia just so’s I can do something with my phone that its remote does perfectly well!
Isn’t technology a wonderful thing…
I have a remote with loads of buttons on for my Yamaha A/V amp, a remote for my Bravia, a remote for my Cambridge Audio DVD99 player, one for my Sony Minidisc recorder, and one for my Sky+ box; nothing there is newer than around five years old, not have any kind of cross-compatibility with any other, so I just use expediency – I keep them all on the couch, which has a throw over it stopping any errant electronics from going the way of individual socks and ball point pens.

Thanks tuskaloosa. I went with the elastic bands. There was a bit of low level grumbling from SWMBO on day one but four months down the line we are never going back! Probably 40 minutes a week of frustration that’s been removed from my life for ever.

I just use my phone.

The problem I found with using a phone to control tv etc is that by the time you unlock the phone then navigate to the app it’s far quicker just using the actual remote. I never found it particularly convenient.

Why has no-one come up with a phone app for this? Phones can do every bloody thing else!

+1

And leave out the ‘why nots’ and give me a solution…. 😈

even if you have only one remote control its never in the place you last left it / think it is. A chain attached to the TV is the only solution.

I have a Sony smart TV and DVD player, the remote control can control both. Everything else can be nore or less controlled through the TV’s interface, however I have a separate remote for the sky recorder box but this is only for watching stuff that isn’t availabel through iPlayer / catchup as I have Freeview on the telly.

I have also got the remote control app – its fairly basic but is useful when the youngun wants an urgent channel change and we can’t find the remote. It uses the Wi-fi and / or bluetooth to connect to the telly.

There are a lot of this Remote apps that our capable of controlling your Televisions but the question is which one is the most responsive? Most of this apps work more than advertising another app and does not perform on what it is expected to do.

Serious first world problem here and also scary the amount of money people have spent on various electronic kit and then try to come up with a solution to make them all work…surely getting up and pushing buttons works just as well?