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I have a new Kogan TV (KALED39SMTWA) that has Android 4.0.3 installed. I would like to control the Android system on the TV from my Android-based phone. I have tried the following applications.

  • XBMC - Has a great remote and good interface, but I would like to control the whole Android system, not just an application.

  • DroidMote - Has a server application that will only run as root. (Yes, I could root the TV, but that's effort)

  • TeamViewer - Only offers remote control through view and click.

I understand that sending keypresses and controlling the Android system may require root due to the need to interface with the Android system, but I'm sure there would be a way to do this without root and Android to Android should be very compatible.

Suggestions?

Andrew T.
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Christopher Wilson
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    Am surprised that, by lack of detail in your question, the fact that there was no documentation about the TV in itself, which suggests how to use/control it? Care to provide more information? – t0mm13b Dec 26 '12 at 04:35
  • It is just a TV with standard IR input along with WIFI/Ethernet connectivity running a small Android box that is installed inside the TV. The hardware aspect should not matter in regards to this question because I am simply asking for a good method of controling one Android device from another over a network. It is a software based question. Thanks – Christopher Wilson Dec 27 '12 at 22:45
  • You can root your tv device with kingroot and then install air keyboard server on tv and on mobile air keyboard – Richard Expert Jan 21 '17 at 15:20

4 Answers4

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I just briefly read through the manual for your television found at Kogan's website, and as far as I can tell, the only available connection interface other than the typical IR used by remote controls is network-based. That means whatever application you use has to be supported both by the serving device (i.e. your TV) as well as use the local network protocol, much like the Netflix application has recently built in.

From what I read about DroidMote, it's going to be similar to TeamViewer, however you have the added downside of needing root, which I understand you're attempting to avoid.

I'm not necessarily presenting a suggested solution here, but I did want to call out some of the limitations I've spotted while digging. I think you've listed the best out-of-the-box options thus far, so I'm afraid I have no additional suggestions beyond.

Good luck.

Zuul
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jsparks
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  • Thanks for your response. Obviosly the control would need to be performed via a network connection hence looking into applications like droidmote. I find it strange that there is no "easy' way to control another Android device via a network connection from another Android device. Does the android OS have some protection on sending keypresses and other actions that are not from the devices keyboard? (Remote Control Protection). Thanks again – Christopher Wilson Dec 27 '12 at 22:37
  • Does the android OS have some protection on sending keypresses and other actions that are not from the devices keyboard? Not necessarily confined to keyboard of any kind, in fact, the OS does have protection, any app that gets installed, has a unique user id (UID), from which it is difficult to send keystrokes, aka injecting events into another process.. if that makes sense so in a way it does sort of answer that statement. – t0mm13b Dec 27 '12 at 22:51
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    That makes perfect sense. That is most likley why the DroidMote app requires root in order to function correctly. I'm just going to have to root my TV sigh this will be fun...... – Christopher Wilson Dec 27 '12 at 23:05
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If your device supports Google TV, you could try the Google TV Remote app.

Andrew T.
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German
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There are a number of apps, like RemoDroid, DroidMote, Tablet Remote, and even a number of VNC servers, most of them requiring root access, and those that don't require root access have fairly limited features.

Andrew T.
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Trylks
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You can also use ADB? This doesn't require root, though you will need to have DevOps enabled and USB Debugging enabled. You can send keystrokes or even directly call intents/deeplinks/activities through ADB; here is a generic list of commands. Note that this is much easier to use on a PC as you can bind these to shortcuts or hotkeys (e.g., through AHK and/or RainMeter), but it's still possible to invoke through an Android mobile device. I've never looked into it, but it's possible there may be an application or other method to bind these to shortcuts within Android OS as well!

EDIT: Also, note that some devices (e.g., Samsung Note 4) come with an IR blaster on-board, and there are also dongles that cost around $10 on Amazon as well.

Arctiic
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  • Hello. Have you tested your approach on an actual Android TV? AFAIK, TV manufacturers often do not expose Developer options to the end user. Even if we assume USB debugging is enabled in TV, how would ADB command be sent from a phone? I don't see how you addressed that part. – Firelord Apr 27 '23 at 06:12
  • @Firelord Yes, I have done this before. DevOps can typically be enabled through the usual method through the settings, I've done so on multiple brands of televisions such as Samsung, LG, etc; also can be done on the newer Chromecasts (at least I've done it on the Sabrina), even HMU's. ADB can be run from terminal apps, file managers with terminal capabilities (e.g., X-plore), or other 3rd party applications that streamline this (I've recently seen some that target Wear OS devices, with GUI interface). – Arctiic Apr 29 '23 at 05:50