The powerful Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is packed with impressive features and sensors. From a fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor, UV sensor and stylus to even an Infrared blaster that acts as a remote control. Like last year’s Galaxy S5 and several phones from LG, the Galaxy Note 4 can act as a remote control for any room in the house.
Rocking a new metal design with a large 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 Quad-HD display and packing a fingerprint scanner and stylus is not all the Note 4 can do, it can also control your entire living room with the Remote app, powered by Peel .
Like most traditional TV remotes, there’s an IR blaster on top of the Galaxy Note 4 to send all the right signals. This allows you to easily control your HDTV or Samsung Smart TV, cable box and other home theater equipment such as a receiver. The pre-installed app works great, but the Peel Remote app, which is mainly available in the Google Play Store, has been packaged and tweaked by Samsung. Read on to learn how to use it and how to set up and use the Note 4 as a remote.
Some older tablets from Samsung offer this feature alongside the all new Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy S6 and more. Not to mention a few manufacturers like LG and HTC. However, the Samsung Peel app has many nice little features or additional options, customizations, and can even be placed in the notification pop-up bar or conveniently on the lock screen for easy access. In our opinion, Samsung’s integrated remote is the best stock option available for smartphones and tablets.
Whether you’re saying goodbye to the couch or wanting to get out of bed to find a lost remote, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is always with you. Here’s how to get started.
Go to the app tray and find and select the Smart Remote app, which is probably a blue and black cartoon looking icon on your last app page. Before you begin, you’ll enter your location, zip code, and then the cable provider you choose to pay a lot of each month. This actually gets information from your provider so your Note 4 can give you exactly what is being broadcast on your TV, when and much more.
To get started, follow the listed setup steps to customize your channels and favorite shows and connect your HDTV and other home theater components. Samsung’s Peel Remote app supports almost all TV brands and most cable boxes as well. I set it up with my Vizio in the living room and also my Black Friday special 50-inch Emerson in my bedroom, along with my entire home theater system that lets me control the cable box and Denon receiver.
The app will instruct you to turn off each device, then walk you through trying to press the power button, volume down or other stuff until you get the correct code. If you’ve configured a remote before you know what to expect, only the Note 4 app will do everything for you. If a code doesn’t work, hit the next key and try another one. No typing these, it does all the work. Once done you can control channels, volume, input and more. Meaning, I can switch input to my Chromecast or Fire TV stick and do everything from my Galaxy Note 4.
We also really like that the Smart Remote app recommends shows you might like. It has a “All For You” customization tab where you can uncheck the things you don’t like, then get large tiles showing shows based on your interests. You can even enter whether you are male or female and your age range. Highly customizable, setting notifications and showing reminders is a nice touch they added last year.
As we mentioned above, the remote can be added to the notification pop-up bar as well as your lock screen. In the Remote app, go to settings and scroll down to check the box for “Show remote control in notification panel” and “Auto show remote control on lock screen” and you are ready for any situation. It even has Netflix integration.
We like that the remotes work directly from the lock screen, and the remote notification pop-up bar can be minimized so it doesn’t take up your entire notification tray of other useful information. Simply hit the hide button to shrink it, then expand as needed for ultimate control. It’s all that easy. It’s always on my lock screen and I love it.
Our only complaint is that there is no option to add a quickswitch for the remote in the notification bar shortcuts at the top of your dropdown shade. This feature is provided by LG, but Samsung chose not to put it on top for easy on/off. Which is good, because we can make it smaller in the drop-down bar and the lock screen is not so important anyway and notifications will take priority over the remote app.
That is all. Install and enjoy!
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