The in-app remote was discovered in the latest version of the Google TV app
It seems like Google is on to something good here; people who watch Google TV on an actual TV, not a mobile device, might like a remote to control the platform. A proprietary remote within the software could be tuned to do more than flip the channels. This remote feature was in development at least for the past couple of months, according to 9to5Google. The site’s APK Insight Team spotted the code for the remote in the latest version of the Google TV app (version 4.28.46). They got the remote running and looking for devices to pair with.
How does the remote look and function?
Looking at the remote as is, we see big, round, bubbly, Android 12-inspired buttons. The remote itself takes up about the bottom quarter of the screen. Even though it takes up a fair bit of the screen, there aren’t many buttons on it. There are the typical volume up and down buttons, a mute button, a back button, a home button, and a Google Assistant button. In order to summon the remote, there’s a small circular button on the bottom right of the home screen that you would press. Since the in-app remote has to pair with the device to control Google TV, it should be quite responsive. There are some services that control your TV through the WiFi connection, which seems hit or miss.
The remote is great… but it doesn’t work
Though 9To5Google managed to get the remote up and running, it didn’t actually function. As reported, the app would search for devices to pair with, but never actually find any. This could mean that Google hasn’t made the remote active yet, even though the code lives in the software. This isn’t really anything new; companies typically put code for future features in current software. From that point, the company can flip the switch and activate the feature with a simple software update. Google is most likely still developing the in-app remote, and the fact that the code is already in the Google TV app means one of two things. Either Google is extremely close to launching the feature, or Google will potentially pull it from the software; only time will tell.
