I am used to watching football, paddle tennis, series and films daily on my smart TV with Android TV (in fact, with Chromecast with Google TV since our TV started to be slow) and at the both on the different platforms that we have installed and via our IPTV lists. In fact, sometimes I don’t know where they put what specific content, which makes Stremio essential for me. So I solved the problem of slowness and the problem of content clumping on one platform, but there was another one first world problem which tarnished the experience of using my TV: typing with the remote control. Solving it was easy, quick and free.
As you’ve probably experienced, when it’s time to type (whether to use a platform’s search engine or a browser), a keyboard appears that needs to be navigated. move with the arrows, enter key by key in an unintuitive and slow way.
Well, we have a compact Bluetooth keyboard at home that I used for work but replaced it with an ergonomic one a few months ago. Anyway, this keyboard was gathering dust, so we paired it with the smart TV and put it back in the TV cabinet drawer to have it within reach. Then life happens: you sit on the sofa, you want to put something on and in order not to get up, you take it out of the drawer and turn it on, you start typing and you despair with the remote control.
For those who are as lazy as me or simply don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard, the solution that literally everyone has at their fingertips: turning their cell phone into a remote control. Yes, this is useful in cases where the controller is lost or runs out of batteries, but also Dramatically improves the slow and disastrous way of typing on a smart TV by using the classic virtual keyboard that we use, for example, to write on WhatsApp.
While there are options to be able to control almost any TV from almost any smartphone, If, like me, you have Android TV or Google TV, you don’t have to bother many are looking for compatible applications to install because there is the official one, Google TV (free on the Google Play Store). However, it is also possible to use Google Home, which includes remote control function.
This is how I quickly and easily turned my cell phone into a keyboard for my smart TV.
Opting for Google TV seemed to be the most practical solution: it is the native application, it does not cost money, you guarantee full compatibility and it does not require infrared to work, using the Wi-Fi network. Domestic Fi. You just have to download it and configure it very quickly in just a few steps: once in the application and in your Google account (the same one I have on the TV), the application will search for available devices and Basically you will have to select it from the list and write the code that appears on your mobile’s TV.
If you look at the bottom right corner of the last screenshot you see above these lines, you’ll see a controller icon, which is exactly what we’re interested in. Once inside, the interface will become a virtual remote control with which you can control the TV. But there’s more: imagine that, for example, you enter the application store and enter the search box, or any other place where it is necessary to enter a keyboard. Then the magic happens:
At that time an icon with a keyboard will appear in the upper area which, when touched, will display this keyboard which will allow us to simultaneously appear on the screen of our smart TV what we quickly write on the phone mobile. So even though I don’t normally use this virtual auxiliary command except on rare occasions, Yes, I use it to write on Android TV when I need it.
Google TV
The official Google app for viewing content, remote control and more
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