SURE Universal Remote is an Android app that aims to get users controlling most of their devices from their most important device; their Android smartphone. Rather than have multiple remotes littering your Living Room, Home Theater or Bedroom SURE can help users need just their smartphone to control everything. With support for almost a Million different devices SURE Universal Remote can control your TV, Smart TVs from Samsung and LG, your Air Conditioner Units, Cable Boxes, Blu-Ray Players, HiFi Systems and more, all from one app. There’s even support for playing back local files to a Chromecast or Android TV set. SURE distinguishes itself from the rest by being straightforward and easy to use while also offering up a feature than combines functions from different remotes – like a Cable Box and HiFi Receiver – all into one remote. With so much on offer, let’s take a closer look.
Just like other apps, SURE Universal Remote can be downloaded for free from the Play Store. When launched, users will of course need to setup their first device, for the majority of people this will be your TV. Setting one up is as easy as choosing or searching for a brand from the list.
Then, SURE Universal Remote will offer up some sample functions to test our the remote, and if these don’t work, users can cycle to the next remote to keep on trying.
This setup is pretty much the same for all the devices that SURE Universal Remote supports, which is a long list of devices such as TVs, Smart TVs, HiFis, Air Conditioner Units, Cable Boxes, Blu-Ray and DVD players and more. What’s nice is that each device’s remote can be given a specific name and there’s a logo assigned to each one to make it even easier to distinguish from the others.
The remote layout is fairly good-looking, but some of the app’s design is given up to making it nice and easy to change to different devices on the left-hand side of the display. Users can get access to more functions by following the icons on the bottom of the display.
Using this same menu, users can create custom remote panels, with their most-needed and most-used functions on one display.
SURE Universal Remote goes further than this however, and offers users a way of putting together custom systems, which allows users to create combined settings for multiple boxes all in one room or setup.
I think this is a pretty neat feature of SURE Universal Remote, for me it’s great to have the volume up and down buttons mapped to my TV, but the channel and guide buttons mapped to the cable box, and some functions to my Blu-Ray player as well as input selection for the main TV. All of this in one remote on one page is pretty impressive.
There’s a lot on offer here with SURE Universal Remote and even though these apps are easily found in the Play Store, this still manages to offer something fresh and different. Users can use SURE Universal Remote to control more than one device at the same time with one remote panel in the app, which will no doubt help people change inputs and adjust volume across a number of devices all connected together. Interface wise, there’s a lot to like about SURE Universal Remote although the remotes themselves could look a little more remote-like, perhaps a darker theme option would help here? Needless to say, this gets the job done and has little niceties like widgets in your notification tray as well as controlling an air con unit.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Quick and easy to get set up with, SURE Universal Remote is a quick remote app.
- Theme (4/5) – The app itself looks pretty nice, but there’s certainly room for improvement here and a darker theme and more icons would make things easier to see.
- Features (4.5/5) – With so many different devices supported, including Chromecast streaming and air con units, there’s so much on offer here it’s hard to see people not finding value here.
- Overall (4/5) – A quality universal remote app, SURE has all the makings of an excellent all-rounder, and it just needs a little extra polish here and there for it to become an excellent app.
Pros
- Features support for almost a Million different devices, included air conditioners and more.
- Allows users to create multiple functions into one remote, bringing a whole setup together with one simple app.
- Nice and easy to get setup, without the need to trudge through lengthy tutorials or anything like that.
- Makes finding the right remote nice and simple with a handful of test functions.
Cons
- A darker theme would be nice to see as an option, especially for those that enjoy TV and films in a darkened room.
- Doesn’t feature a proper Android TV remote, instead relies on Chromecast features.
While there’s a lot on offer here with SURE Universal Remote, there is room for improvement. Mostly, a fresh dark theme would be a nice option as well as better support for Smart TVs and Android TVs that aren’t from Samsung or LG. However, this supports almost a Million different devices, can control multiple devices at the same time and even controls your air con unit, so there’s definitely a lot of value here.