TV Remote durability

How does the covering help? What if you need any other buttons?

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What if you don’t?

On/off
Channel numbers,
Volume,
Mute
EPG + directional control pad - optional

I still wonder about all the others.
Some of the older Aussies we know well still struggle with more than 5 choices and 2=ABC, 7=7 etc.

It seems failures would be attributed to the same buttons failing from use, not so much the IR or electronics components. Since the same ‘important regularly used’ buttons are still used is there evidence the wrap will improve longevity?

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Covering them up will ensure you don’t wear them out but if you don’t use them why bother? However the commonly used buttons like will still wear out as before so what has been achieved?

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I expect the foam is intended for crash protection. Whether that was in anyway a contributing factor to failure?

I know several whose remotes are maintained in clear plastic wrapping, for preservation.

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By padding it, firstly it’s easier to find, as the teens have a frustrating habit of leaving in all over the house. Its previous dark colour did not help with locating it.

Secondly, I’m pretty sure that being dropped on a regular basis (teens again) didn’t help the longevity of the previous remote, so I’m trying to give it every chance to survive as long as possible.

Because it has a joystick kind of feature, what you see uncovered is all you need to get to where we need to onscreen.

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This relies on the device having an 'IR blaster" to send infra red signal to the television.
Our 2013 Android tablet has this hardware and we are using one app on it to get remote control function for many things, including the television and AV amplifer.

But the tablet, or more specifically its built-in battery, is getting on in years and is not working as well. I’ve basically stripped it of most other apps and turned its WiFi off to try to extend its life.
And I’ve been looking for a new device that has IR blaster - but to no avail.
Any suggestions of suitable device would be most appreciated.

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Some of the universal learning remotes available today are quite simple.

For example
https://shop.visionaustralia.org/shop/product/es7401

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As technology continues to evolve, even this won’t be enough. Many TV remotes are now reliant on Bluetooth. They may still use infrared for some functions, but to enable things like voice control, they use Bluetooth.

Thus far, I’ve only found one project that has developed a programmable remote with BT, and that is the YIO Remote. I’ll be eager to try one out if they ever become available to buy ( online and be shipped to ) here.

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