Google's remote application for controlling Android TV with your smartphone is... OK. It's adequate. It beats inputting passwords letter-by-letter with a physical remote, and that's about all you can say in praise of the app. While it lets you perform a voice search, it won't launch TV apps without going back to the home screen, and its trackpad isn't a cursor (as some apps might benefit from), it's just a gesture pad. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, specifically on Android tablets. Here's what version 1.0 looked like on a tablet:
Ugh. Version 1.1, just released on the Play Store, fixes this rather embarrassing formatting and adds a little polish as well. In addition to a properly sized and centered interface, it adds a slide-out menu for quickly switching between the directional pad and touchpad. The full-screen immersive mode is disabled for version 1.1, presumably because someone realized you don't need to max out your screen space for a few buttons and a keyboard. The 1.1 tablet interface is below, and it's basically the same on phones.
Unlike most Google apps, the updated remote seems to be available to everyone right now via the Play Store. If you can't get it or you want the APK on something without Play Store access, it's also available on APK Mirror below.
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The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way.
File name: com.google.android.tv.remote-1.1.0.1943337-1943337-minAPI14.apk
Version: 1.1.0.1943337 (1943337)
MD5: 3fc2f744e827cd1d9aa2420bd10406be