When it comes to entertainment, there is hardly any difference between the TV and desktop computer. On both of these we can watch movies, TV shows, music videos and more. For the computer, there are hundreds of streaming services available today such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Sony Crackle and more. The computer can easily replace the traditional TV. However, TV has an advantage that it comes with a remote control. A desktop computer or even a laptop does not have any remote control. But with the help of a freeware “Unified Remote” we can turn any iPhone or Android smartphone into a universal remote control for PC or Mac.
There are two things that we need to install for it to work. We have to install a server on the computer that we want to control. And then we have to install an app on the smartphone that is going to be used as remote control. Together with the corresponding smartphone app, the Unified Remote enables you to control your computer remotely with your smartphone.
As far as Windows is concerned, we have to install “Unified Remote Desktop Server” on the PC. Once this is done, we can launch the “Unified Remote Server” dashboard and view the status of the server. It will display whether WiFi and Bluetooth are available. It will also display various networks it has detected.
After you have installed the “Unified Remote Desktop Server” you only need the corresponding app on your Android smartphone or iPhone. Your phone and your PC should both be connected to the same WiFi network. Through a feature called auto-discovery, the server will then automatically detect the remote control and then pairing up is done. Once this process is finished, you can control everything on your PC.
Through the smartphone, we can control the input (keyboard and mouse), access the file manager, play the media files, shutdown the computer and view the PC screen. For the sake of security, you can disable the desktop server when you are not going to use the remote control.
You can download Unified Remote from https://www.unifiedremote.com/.