Universal TV Remote Control

Review by eFreeware

If you have ever turned a living room upside down looking for a remote while a match or a season premiere was starting, this app is built for you. Universal TV Remote Control, from CodeMatics Media Solutions, puts the buttons on the phone you are already holding. It covers smart TVs over WiFi and older, non-smart sets through a phone's IR blaster, so one download can serve more than one television in a home.

The pitch is straightforward: the developer says you can skip setup, choose your TV brand and start pressing buttons. The app has been around since September 2015 and carries a 3.9 average from more than 466,000 ratings, with over 100 million installs. That is a lot of people who have tried to make a phone stand in for a lost remote, and the rating suggests the experience is decent rather than flawless.

It is free to download, supported by ads, and offers in-app purchases. I would treat it as a convenience tool rather than a full replacement for every remote in the house, and the rest of this review explains where it fits best.

Two remotes in one download

The app splits its work into two modes, and which one you use depends on the television. For smart TVs, it connects over WiFi and offers voice search, app control, power, mute and volume, channel up and down with channel lists, a trackpad for navigating menus, an on-screen keyboard, and casting of photos, videos and music to the TV. That is a fuller set of controls than a basic physical remote usually provides.

For traditional televisions without smart features, the app switches to infrared and works through a built-in IR blaster in your phone or tablet. In that mode you get power on and off, volume and channel control, a numeric keypad, menu keys and the AV/TV and color buttons. It is the familiar layout of a standard remote, which is what you want when you are tapping through a set that has no network connection of its own.

The brand coverage is broad. The developer lists Sony, Samsung, LG, Philips, TCL, Hisense, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Skyworth and Vizio, along with smart platforms such as Android TV, Google TV, Roku TV, WebOS and Tizen OS. The app is described as unofficial for these brands, which is worth remembering if you expect manufacturer branding or support.

The everyday buttons you actually reach for

Most of the time a remote is used for a handful of things: turning the set on, changing the volume, flipping channels and getting back to the menu. The app covers all of those in both modes. The extras, like the trackpad and keyboard on smart TVs, matter more when you are typing a search term or moving through an app interface than when you are simply watching broadcast television.

Casting photos, videos and music from the phone to the TV is the feature that stands out to me as genuinely useful beyond remote duties. If you already use your phone as the source of your media, having that option in the same app as the volume buttons saves a step. The developer also points to voice search on smart TVs, which is a faster way to find something than typing a title letter by letter.

The app has been updated recently, with the developer noting a refreshed design, improvements based on user feedback, and faster discovery of smart TVs. A remote app lives or dies on how quickly it finds your television and how reliably the buttons respond, so those are sensible areas to keep working on.

What the app asks from you

There are two requirements to check before you download. For smart TVs, the television and the phone must be on the same network. That is standard for WiFi control.

For traditional, non-smart televisions, your phone or tablet needs a built-in IR blaster. Many phones do not have one, and without it the infrared mode has nothing to send a signal through. If you are unsure whether your device has that hardware, it is worth confirming before you count on this app for an older set.

The app is free, with ads and in-app purchases present. The app is free of hidden charges. Beyond that, the practical cost is the network requirement for smart TVs and the IR hardware requirement for older ones.

Getting the most out of it

The developer's advice is to select your TV brand and start using the app, so the first step is simply finding your manufacturer in the list. If your brand is not there, or the app does not work with your particular model, the developer invites you to email the TV brand and remote model so the team can work on compatibility. That is a reasonable route if you are attached to the app and your set is not cooperating.

Because the smart TV mode relies on your home network, keeping the phone and television on the same connection is the thing to check first if buttons stop responding. The app works with the brands and models currently included, so coverage is a moving target rather than a guarantee for every set ever made.

For households with more than one television, the appeal is having a single app that handles both a modern smart set and an older one, provided the phone has an IR blaster for the latter. That is a tidier arrangement than hunting for two different physical remotes.

A crowded field and a solid rating

Remote control apps are not scarce, and the ones built into phone makers' software or bundled with smart TV platforms are often the first thing people try. What this app offers is breadth: a long list of brands, two connection methods, and a set of smart TV features that go past the basic buttons. The 3.9 average across a very large number of ratings suggests it does the job for many users without being perfect for everyone.

The developer's own figures, including more than 130 million users and trust across 100 or more countries, are marketing claims rather than something I can verify. The install count and rating volume indicate the app has been widely tried, which is usually a sign that it works well enough for a lot of televisions.

The unofficial status is the main thing to keep in mind. This is not a manufacturer's app, and support for a given model depends on what the developer has included. If your television is listed and your phone meets the requirements, the app should do what it promises.

A practical pick for misplaced remotes

I would recommend Universal TV Remote Control to anyone who regularly misplaces a remote, or who wants one app to cover several televisions. It is free, it covers a wide range of brands, and it offers both WiFi control for smart TVs and infrared control for older sets. The voice search, trackpad and casting features on smart TVs add real value over a basic button layout.

The caveats are worth weighing. Smart TV control needs both devices on the same network, and infrared control needs a phone with a built-in IR blaster. Ads and in-app purchases are part of the package. If your television is not among the supported brands, the developer's email route is the way to ask about adding it.

For most people with a supported TV and the right hardware, this is a sensible install. It will not make a physical remote obsolete for everyone, but it is a capable stand-in when the real one is lost, out of batteries or across the room.

What's new in version 3.3.8

Improved Design and User Experience according to user's feedback. Faster and Efficient Discovery of Smart TVs. Thanks to all the lovely people for providing feedbacks. Requirements: For Smart TVs and Smart Devices, make sure to connect your smart TV / Device and phone to the same WiFi network. Traditional non-Smart TVs requires the built-in IR feature in users's mobile for the app to function as a remote control. Stay Happy :)