Here’s how you’ll use your phone like a Wiimote to control Samsung TVs in 2
 

• Samsung SmartThings is giving users new ways to use the app to control Samsung TVs.
• Starting next year, you’ll be able to use the app as a touchpad to navigate the TV’s screen.
• Additionally, a motion control mode will let you point your phone at the screen to move the cursor.

What do you do when you want to use your TV but can’t find the remote? We’ve all been there, whether it fell between the cushions, has been kicked under a couch, or the dog just hid it somewhere. If you’re very lucky, you might have a Google TV Streamer and can just use its Find My Remote button. But in a pinch, you can always use your phone to control Android TV devices. Samsung supports the same sort of arrangement with its own TVs and the SmartThings app, and at SDC 2024 today, we learned about a cool new tweak that’s on its way.

It’s interesting that we still use TVs largely without a proper pointing interface. We navigate around menus by hitting up, down, left, and right, but we don’t just point right at the interface element we’re trying to interact with in the same way we’d tap a button our phone’s touchscreen, or click a window on our computer. But there’s also no good reason we can’t, and Samsung’s upgrading SmartThings to give users a couple ways to get that kind of control.




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