Every host has had the message. "Hi, we can't find the TV remote." Or the one that arrives ten minutes later: "Found it, but the volume doesn't work." Remotes fall down the side of the couch, go home in a guest's bag, run out of batteries on a Saturday night. When the TV is the thing guests use most in the house, the remote is the most fragile part of the whole setup.
So we made the phone the remote. From today, every BetterSTR TV can show a small QR code on its home screen. A guest points their camera at it and the remote opens in their browser. No app to download, no Bluetooth pairing, no account. It works on iPhones and Android phones alike, and it costs nothing extra.
What guests get
- The basics. A big d-pad with OK in the middle, Back and Home, and a power button that turns the TV on or puts it into standby.
- Volume and playback. Volume up, down and mute with a level bar, plus rewind, play/pause and fast-forward that work inside Netflix and the other apps.
- Shortcuts. Netflix, Live TV, your guidebook, and each HDMI input you've allowed, as one-tap tiles.
- A real keyboard. When a sign-in box or a search field is selected on the TV, a keyboard bar appears on the phone. Guests type with their own keyboard instead of hunting letters with arrow keys. Passwords stay hidden on the phone too.
- Portrait or landscape. The layout follows the phone. Turn it sideways and the d-pad sits on the left with everything else beside it.
The remote knows where the guest is. If they're inside Netflix, the tiles and hints adjust. If they lose the Wi-Fi, the page tells them so and shows the network details to get back on.
It never leaves the house
This one matters to us. The phone talks to the TV directly over the property Wi-Fi. Nothing is routed through BetterSTR's servers or anyone else's, so there is no lag and nothing to go down. It also means the remote only works for someone standing in the property, on your Wi-Fi, who has scanned the code on the screen. Each stay gets its own link, so last week's guest can't reach this week's TV.
If a guest scans the code while still on mobile data, the page shows them the Wi-Fi details first and opens the remote once they're connected. If you use our captive Wi-Fi QR code, the password stays hidden and they're sent through your form instead.
Turning it on
Open the TV in your BetterSTR dashboard, switch on Phone remote in the Display card, and choose where the QR code sits. It's per TV, so you can try it on one before rolling it out.
The TV picks the change up on its next check-in, usually within a few minutes. The step-by-step is in the help article.
A note on Netflix and other touch-first apps
Some streaming apps built for phones and tablets ignore arrow keys entirely. On a box that needs the mobile version of Netflix, the phone remote switches itself into a selection mode: a red frame on the TV jumps between the things you can press, and OK selects the framed one. Guests don't have to think about it, it just happens when the TV opens one of those apps. Full arrow-key control inside third-party apps needs Android 13 or newer on the TV. On older TVs the arrows work inside the BetterSTR screens and Home always brings guests back.
See who's using it
With guest activity switched on, each time someone opens the phone remote it shows up in the TV's activity feed and in your Stats as its own category, alongside app opens and Live TV. Handy for knowing whether the physical remote has gone walkabout again.