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Turn your iPhone(Android, Mac, PC, Player, etc) into a Universal Remote for $2

video Turn your iPhone(Android, Mac, PC, Player, etc) into a Universal Remote for $2

Don't you want to use your iPhone (or any other smartphone) as a universal remote? Here is a quick instructable that explains how to do it with just $2 worth of parts.

21 comments

Sep 24, 2011. 7:59 AMstrcrusher says:

Do you by any chance know how to convert Pronto codes to WAV files?

Jan 31, 2012. 9:41 PM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

Sure, I have the converter published on my website http://rtfms.com, it's a python script.

Oct 3, 2011. 4:23 PMjbouffard says:

i searched for many months to know how to do that TANKS!!!

Oct 5, 2011. 4:42 AMjbouffard says:

by the way, if i plug microphone jack to the transmitter on my remote, can i record my own signals?

Jan 31, 2012. 9:40 PM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

jbouffard,

Sorry about late response.

My answer to this (very interesting) question is Yes and No. Yes because technically it is possible. No, because if you playback the recorded signal it won't work. Some math is required to reconstruct the original signal. That's just personal experience.

Andrey

Dec 27, 2011. 1:52 PMTHEORANGESNOWFROG says:

You could download the sound files and then make an app. Great instructable

Jan 31, 2012. 9:38 PM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

Well, I figured the app won't be too popular because it requires the hardware part. Even though that piece of hardware is trivial most people don't like assembling their own remotes :)

Jan 11, 2012. 11:10 AMelektrikpco says:

@0A02G8:!

Mar 6, 2011. 6:27 AMblaze1085 says:

just curious... is there any chances that this device could be used to capture the IR codes from other devices? (like old TV remote or something)

cheers :)

Oct 5, 2011. 4:54 PMjbouffard says:

probably

Oct 5, 2011. 4:53 PMjbouffard says:

seriously i need an answer if i do the same thing in reverse can i record rtfms ?

Mar 3, 2011. 4:13 AMshootanyangle says:

Check out this iphone IR device that lets you control all your IR remote controlled media devices. only $10! I got one and love it. http://ryzmedia.com/

Mar 3, 2011. 9:24 AM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

Shootanyangle,

Thank you for the link. To sum up Ryz vs this hack:

Pros:
No need to get parts and assemble them
Much better codes database
Much better user interface (BTW, did you check this hack's new interface yet?)

Cons:
It works only on iPhone vs this hack working on much wider range of devices)
It costs $10 (this hack you can DIY for free if you have broken headphones and useless remote)
If you read the reviews in Appstore it crashes, stops working and the codes database is still incomplete

I'm working on the things this hack doesn't implement well (UI, codes db), so let's rematch in a few, ok?

Again, thank you for the link, it's useful to have a good competition :)

Andrey

Feb 28, 2011. 2:25 PMPS118 says:

That's cool! I can't see to well what's hooked to what tho. Could you please provide a quick schematic?

Mar 1, 2011. 9:31 AM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

PS118,

Thank you for your feedback! It looks like I failed to explain it with the picture in the video :)

There are at least 3 different ways to wire the LEDs, all work fine. I'll try to describe them all along with their pros and cons later today.

Andrey

Mar 2, 2011. 12:38 AM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

Sorry, I didn't finish the wiring diagrams today, was busy with the new user interface. It looks much nicer now.

Feb 28, 2011. 8:43 PMjcl236 says:

I was just trying to make one of these the other day. I like this and it seems very cheep and simple but there are a number of feature that the commercially available ones offer that this one does not. Many of the commercially available remotes offer their app for free. I was looking at this model
http://ryzmedia.com/
and it looks like it might have a very similar construction to the one made in this instructable. Has anyone tried this or knows if it would work with the Ryz App?

Mar 1, 2011. 9:33 AM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

jcl236,

You're right, the current user interface is miserable. I wanted to put out this hack and see if there will be people interested in it before investing more time into perfecting the UI. It looks like there is interest, so I'll improve the interface later. It will take some time, but the result could be looking as good as commercial product. Maybe even better :)

Andrey

Mar 1, 2011. 10:39 AMjcl236 says:

It looks really good so far, i look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Feb 28, 2011. 4:24 PMironsmiter says:

well done.
Can't wait for you to release the software.
seriously... I have the mod done already, and await the ability to create my own wave files.

In the meantime, I'll be trying to CAPTURE my old remote codes, by using sound recording software, a IR detecting diode, and my microphone jack.
may work, or not. Don't know yet.
IN the mean time, happy hacking.

From the OP's site faq.

Q: I got the theory, but how did you cook those files that make the LEDs blink right way?
I wrote a program that takes codes I found in the internet forums and generates the .wav files from them.

Q: Can I see that program?
Yes. No. Not yet. My overall goal for this project was actually learning Python, not hacking remotes. So I wrote this program in python that generates the files. This is my first program in python and I’m ashamed with its source code quality. So let me polish it then I’ll publish the sources.

Mar 1, 2011. 9:37 AM

mikhalchuk (author) says:

ironsmiter,

I'm working on polishing the code, hope to release it soon. It's a really not that large script, so shouldn't take to long to polish.

I've heard some people succeeded recording the IR codes with Griffin Total Remote (uses similar approach, discontinued), so you may have luck recording the code this way.

Andrey