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Best smart garage door remotes and controls in 2024
These remotes bring smart features to your traditional garage door openers
Whether you've just boarded a flight for a ten-day vacation or simply stepped out to the grocery store, an open garage door can expose your stuff and home to unwanted visitors. Accidentally leaving the garage door open can happen to anyone, and if you're the forgetful (or paranoid) type, living with the worry is the only choice if you have a traditional garage door opener.
All recent Android TVs come with a voice-controlled remote needed to turn it on, navigate the interface, and more. But there might be times when the remote is not nearby, or you’re finding it difficult to type with the D-pad on the remote, or the remote may have stopped working altogether. Thankfully, smart as they are, Android TVs can also be controlled by Android smartphones and even iPhones to an extent.
How to try out Google's new Android TV remote on your phone
It's better than the old app, but is it better than a real remote?
Google just released a new software remote for Android TV and Google TV devices. That's a fancy way of saying that you have a new way to use your phone to control your smart TV's Android-powered guts. Of course, Google's had a dedicated app with that functionality for a while, but it wasn't great. In fact, Google recently de-listed and ended support the old app. So, what's this new method like? In short: Pretty good for most people.
There are now 4 billion smartphones on Earth (only 3.9 billion with cracked screens)
An analytics report claims that half of the planet's population owns a smartphone
The last decade or so of worldwide culture has been defined by one thing: immediate and growing access to data. The biggest change is, of course, the shift from old-fashioned cell phones to smartphones, giving users in every geographical and economic niche access to the width and breadth of the internet everywhere they go. A recent analytical report has put that cultural shift into clear focus: half the people on the planet now own a smartphone.
Google announced a replacement for the Android TV remote app
The new native remote will work with both Android TV and Google TV, and will roll out "later this year"
As part of the I/O festivities, Google has just announced its plans to make Android phones into Android TV compatible remotes. Of course, that's already a thing, but Google wants to build this into Android itself (presumably, via Play Services), and it should make everything from setting up a new service to finding a new show to watch that much easier.
New TeamViewer setting makes those help sessions with your family more secure
The company is introducing two-factor authentication for connection approval
TeamViewer is among the most established remote support services that may have been a boon to your family during the pandemic — it helps remote into their computers to fix all of their tech problems. But remote computer or phone takeovers always come with inherent risks when bad actors are involved. To further secure the process, TeamViewer has introduced a 2-factor authentication option to allow or deny connections.
How long will your Logitech Harmony remote keep working?
Logitech's cancellation of the Harmony line means its customers are in a support limbo
A couple of days ago Logitech announced the end of its long-running Harmony universal remote line in a rather un-ceremonial forum post. The writing has been on the wall for a while; the last major Harmony release was almost two years ago, and that was an expensive dud. But it's still a blow to a community of dedicated hi-fi users who've loved these gadgets for almost 20 years.
Google TV Android app preps remote control interface
Looks set to replace the ageing Android TV Remote Control app
Google has completely revamped the Play Movies & TV app as Google TV, and it looks like the new app is about to get some more functionality. 9to5Google has uncovered some strings that point at the integration of an on-screen remote, seemingly replacing the aging Android TV Remote Control app last updated in 2017.
How to control Chromecast with Google TV volume using your phone
Not as straightforward as it should be
The Chromecast with Google TV isn't like your old Chromecast — it's the first to come with proper Android TV and a remote that even works with your TV or soundbar. However, that's where some problems are introduced. Depending on how you've set up the Chromecast remote, you might notice that it's become impossible to control the volume via Google Assistant or your handset when you cast from your phone. Here's what you need to know if you want to enable that functionality.
You can remap the new Chromecast's Netflix and YouTube remote buttons
But you'll need third-party software to unleash the full potential
The new Chromecast with Google TV is the first Chromecast to have a dedicated remote, and it comes with some useful extra buttons for the Assistant, YouTube, and Netflix. Voice control will probably come in handy for almost everyone, but what if you don't use YouTube and Netflix often enough to justify that extra space on the remote? As it turns out, there's an option and an app for that.
Google's new Cast Connect library might sound a bit snore, but it should make casting to Android TV devices a whole lot better. With it, developers can do a few new things, but by far the most important is that it will allow hardware remotes to control 'casted playback, and apps can open Chromecast streams remotely into the same app on your Android TV.
What's better than a universal remote? How about a universal remote with a touch screen that also controls your smart home stuff? Logitech's super-versatile Harmony Elite remote is now down to $230 at multiple stores, a $40 discount from the usual price.This remote includes Alexa for voice control, a full-color touchscreen with shortcuts for devices and TV channels, and physical buttons for common actions. The included Harmony Hub handles the actual smart home management, and can also function as an IR blaster, in case you want to control media devices out of the remote's line-of-sight.
Nvidia is gearing up to launch two brand new Shield TV products, and in preparation, the company has now revamped its remote control phone app. If you have a Shield TV, you'll find a lot more here than what the standard Android TV Remote Control app provides.
DISH subscribers using the company's Hopper set-top boxes should be excited, as Google has just revealed that its Assistant has come to DISH's voice remotes. This follows the ability to control your DISH Hopper remotely via the Assistant last year. Whether you have a Google Home or not, your remote is now an Assistant-powered smart device ready to control your home, look up pointless facts, and help navigate the increasingly complicated broadcast television experience.
The ultimate and original automation convenience is the universal remote: a simple gadget that replaces all your similar devices, turning elaborate multi-step operations into a one-button convenience. Logitech's Harmony series of remotes and hubs have offered one of the best experiences out there, but at the cost of a complex setup and maintenance process. The new Harmony Express streamlines almost everything about the experience, but I don't think that convenience is worth the sky-high price tag.
It's that time of the year again. Whether you like it or hate it, April Fools day is here, and with it, most of the major companies are rolling out their best gags and jokes — or their best efforts at one, anyway. For your convenience, either to track down jokes or purposely avoid them, we've put together a list of all the ones we've spotted so far.
From tech support for clueless parents to changing settings away from home, remote desktop tools are an invaluable part of the modern software kit. But the mobile market has expanded to the point that many developers consider the target a higher priority than desktops. That's why AirDroid—makers of the popular tool for managing your Android device from your desktop—have just released a new AirMirror app for remotely controlling one mobile device from another.
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- It looks like someone at Amazon jumped the gun a little and released the firmware changelog three weeks earlier before the feature was live. Now it's really official. Amazon says that the feature is rolling today in the US for all generations of Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, whereas smart TVs with Fire TV Edition will have it within the week. There's also a promised support for viewing smart home camera feeds on the Fire TV and 2nd gen Fire TV Stick, but that's said to be "coming soon."
One of the Google Home's best features is the ability to control playback of a Chromecast with voice commands. For example, you can ask "OK Google, play Gravity Falls on the living room TV" to start playing content without having another device nearby. Now the Fire TV can do that, but with Alexa devices.Amazon's Fire TV and Fire TV stick already have an Alexa button on the remote, which you can use to control media playback and open apps. A software update is rolling out to all Fire TV models that allows you to use all the same commands, but from another Alexa device (like an Echo or Echo Dot). You can use phrases like pause, play, resume, fast forward, and next episode.If your Fire TV finds that the update is available, it will install automatically when you reboot it (or after it is idle for 30 minutes). You can find more information at the source link below.
Although not as fast as RDP or Chrome Remote Desktop (at least in my experience), TeamViewer is one of the easiest ways to remotely control a computer. Today TeamViewer launched the TeamViewer 12 beta, finally offering remote-to-remote control on select Android devices.
Chrome Remote Desktop is a rather obscure Google product, but that doesn't mean it's not useful. Once the desktop application is installed, you can control it from any Android device, iOS device, or computer (with Chrome). In my testing, it actually works extremely well, often with a lower latency than popular remote access applications like TeamViewer.