Before this Mini-PC TV Media Box I had an actual dedicated TV Media Box which lasted for maybe a decade, and at some point its remote broke, so rather than throw the whole thing out I made my own IR-translation box with a WiFi-Enabled micro-controller (so it had an IR emitter pointed at my TV Box and that was controlled by some software running on the microcontroller that exposed a REST interface on the WiFi) and also made my own Android app to remote control the TV Media Box via that translation box.
A dedicate remote and a remote control app on a smartphone or tablet are just not the same thing in practice.
Whilst I don’t tend to have my phone on my living room, I do have a tablet there, but a dedicated remote is much more straightforward to use because it just directly works with zero delay: there is no need wake it up and unlock it like I would my tablet, I will never need to switch apps like I do on a tablet if I was using the tablet for something else, the user interface in a dedicated remote is as standard and familiar as it gets, and that remote can just stay there in my living room all the time for anybody to use just for that purpose alone whilst the tablet will move around to be used for other things and even taken away from home.
The smartphone/tablet remote control app is a more flexible option that can pack-in as many or as few controls as one wants, but that is a tradeoff for it being overall more of a hassle, less practical and slower to use for the most frequently used commands. Ultimately I just want to select a video and start it, possibly stopping it or pausing it, with the least hassle possible and with no unrelated tasks (like getting the tablet from somewhere else, having the unlock it or switch tasks on it) getting in the way.
So in my experience, having tried both ways, the dedicated hardware remote is a superior option which is why I recommended it.
Instead of a wireless remote
Check out Unified Remote app on Play Store or Apple. It’s rock steady . Never have issues. It’s one of the few apps I’ve ever paid for.
Basically control Your desktop from your phone. including text-to-speech for typing. It simply hands down a must have.
Before this Mini-PC TV Media Box I had an actual dedicated TV Media Box which lasted for maybe a decade, and at some point its remote broke, so rather than throw the whole thing out I made my own IR-translation box with a WiFi-Enabled micro-controller (so it had an IR emitter pointed at my TV Box and that was controlled by some software running on the microcontroller that exposed a REST interface on the WiFi) and also made my own Android app to remote control the TV Media Box via that translation box.
A dedicate remote and a remote control app on a smartphone or tablet are just not the same thing in practice.
Whilst I don’t tend to have my phone on my living room, I do have a tablet there, but a dedicated remote is much more straightforward to use because it just directly works with zero delay: there is no need wake it up and unlock it like I would my tablet, I will never need to switch apps like I do on a tablet if I was using the tablet for something else, the user interface in a dedicated remote is as standard and familiar as it gets, and that remote can just stay there in my living room all the time for anybody to use just for that purpose alone whilst the tablet will move around to be used for other things and even taken away from home.
The smartphone/tablet remote control app is a more flexible option that can pack-in as many or as few controls as one wants, but that is a tradeoff for it being overall more of a hassle, less practical and slower to use for the most frequently used commands. Ultimately I just want to select a video and start it, possibly stopping it or pausing it, with the least hassle possible and with no unrelated tasks (like getting the tablet from somewhere else, having the unlock it or switch tasks on it) getting in the way.
So in my experience, having tried both ways, the dedicated hardware remote is a superior option which is why I recommended it.