@Joe Fermani posted:If smartphones were that superior to physical remotes, more manufactures would be ditching the remotes. TVs/Play Station/XBox (and many more) all continue to use hardware remotes. How many times do you have to tap a button more than once in order for it to read the tap on a phone? It happens to me all the time. I'll keep my remote.
Video Game Manufacture has more resources to invest in R&D to continue evolving their handheld remotes. Sony probably sold more PlayStations this week than Lionel will sell Base3s for its entire production run. Video game consoles are given that you need that style of remote and look at how many styles and types they make for different experiences (even some that don't have buttons!). But you forgot to include the massive amount of tablet-based games out there that are touch-screen only.
My Roku did come with a remote but the Roku app that I have on my phone has more functionality than the standard remote it came with. Newer TVs are getting the same way, our OLED tv came with a very basic remote and you click through multitudes of icons to search for the thing you want to use. The app for my TV on my phone allows me to create shortcuts and turn it on with user profiles (preset the volume, channel, and brightness) for myself or my wife, again something my remote can't do.
In my day job, we are developing software & connectivity all the time for clients who want apps instead of remotes. It is always the same reason, consumer-driven. Their customers don't want dozens of remotes laying around the house to get lost and an icon-driven interface on their phone is what sells the product. We just completed an app for an electric fireplace that replaces a remote. The app does way more than their previous remote model. You can monitor/set the temp, set sleep timers with ease, change the lighting effects with more customization, set temp based on time, and program in safety timers so it turns themselves off automatically if you are not home.
I'm with MartyE above, the next physical remote you see from either manufacturer is going to be a hybrid model that uses the current app with an add-on gaming-style remote or custom-made piggyback hardware that will need a device with the app installed.
