Controlix

An Android IR remote that gets out of the way — no account, no ads, no location, no network.

Offline-first · Farsi/English with real RTL · Tasker automation · 66 unit tests

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Most remote apps want your account, your location, and your data. Controlix wants your TV to turn on. Point the phone, press the button, the device responds — nothing else happens.

• No account. Ever. Not for setup, not for "pro", not for syncing.
• No ads, no analytics, no location. The manifest asks for TRANSMIT_IR and nothing the app doesn't use.
• Offline after install. Works on a plane. The DB refresh is opt-in and is the only reason the app ever opens a socket.
• No Mi Remote codes. Every code is community-contributed and permissively licensed (see Code database).

Requirements

• Android 8.0 (API 26) or newer
• A phone with an IR blaster. Xiaomi/Redmi/Poco, Huawei/Honor, vivo, older Samsung/HTC and others. Check first: Tools → IR self-test flashes your emitter, viewable through a camera.

No IR blaster? Every screen stays open for browsing, sharing and automation, but nothing transmits.

Install

Grab a per-ABI APK from Releases (arm64-v8a for virtually every modern phone), or build it yourself:

git clone https://github.com/ErfanBagheri404/Controlix
cd Controlix
./gradlew assembleDebug        # debug APK
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest    # 66 unit tests

Needs JDK 17+ and an Android SDK with platform 35. local.properties must point at your SDK:

sdk.dir=/path/to/Android/Sdk

Features

Remote

• Category → brand → remote picker across TVs, ACs, set-top boxes, projectors, soundbars, receivers, streaming boxes, fans, consoles, air purifiers and more.
• Exact-model search. Type UN55D6000; get the remote whose header lists that model.
• Layouts that fit the device. AC remotes get temperature/mode/fan pickers; D-pad, transport, numeric keypad and volume/channel rails per device class.
• Free layout. Reorder, re-grid, or blank out any pad key.
• Hardware volume keys work. VOL± on the phone drives the on-screen remote, with the same hold-to-repeat cadence as the rocker.
• Missing codes are found, not forgotten. If a key has no code, Controlix says which one, on which remote, and queues a prefilled report.

Automation

• Quick-settings tile — your most-used remote, one swipe from anywhere.
• Tasker / MacroDroid / adb via a broadcast, off by default and token-guarded:

adb shell am broadcast -a com.erfanbagheri.controlix.TRANSMIT \
    --es remote_name "Living Room TV" --es button power --ei repeat 2
adb shell am broadcast -a com.erfanbagheri.controlix.TRANSMIT \
    --ei carrier_hz 38000 --es pattern "9000,4500,560,1690,560,1690"

Without a token, any app on the phone can fire your codes. Set one in Menu → Automation → Set a broadcast token; every broadcast then needs --es token <value>.

• Cross-device macros & scenes — "movie time" = TV on, receiver to HDMI 2, AC to 24 °C, each with its own delay.
• Widget & scene favourites.

Sharing & data

• QR / URI remote sharing — a configured remote becomes a scannable code.
• Backup & restore (JSON round-trip, unit-tested).
• Community-updatable code database — contribute codes by pull request, the same model that made irdb work.
• Full Farsi localization with real RTL: mirrored layout, localized digits, Yekan Bakh typeface, pad keys pinned LTR so arrow/VOL/CH rows stay readable.

Tools

• IR self-test — proves your emitter fires.
• Signal analyzer — decode what your old remote sends, byte by byte.
• TV-B-Gone — the classic power-off sweep.
• Database health — see exactly what's bundled and what's missing.

Non-goals

These are permanent decisions, not backlog items.

• iOS. No iPhone has ever shipped an IR blaster. A Wi-Fi-only companion app would have no reason to exist.
• "Learning mode." Android's ConsumerIrManager is transmit-only on every consumer phone — the hardware physically cannot receive or decode an incoming IR signal. "Aim your old remote at the phone" is not implementable. Codes come from databases plus manual raw-timing entry. (The signal analyzer works by reading a logged capture, not by receiving live.)
• Accounts, telemetry, ads, location, content feeds.

Code database

Codes come from crowd-sourced, permissively licensed databases, merged by scripts in src/main/python/:

• Flipper-IRDB — ~50 device categories, 118 TV brands alone, .ir files in parsed or raw form.
• irdb — protocol/device/function notation, 3205 manufacturers.
• lirc-remotes — the classic LIRC community database (2646 remotes).

Contains data from irdb and lirc-remotes by Simon Peter and contributors, used under permission. For licensing details and for information on how to contribute to the database, see https://github.com/probonopd/irdb.

The bundled database ships in the APK; see docs/DB.md for the pipeline and provenance rules.

Architecture

app/src/main/java/com/erfanbagheri/controlix/
├── MainActivity.kt          Compose entry point; l10n, hardware volume keys
├── ir/                      IR hardware + parsing + protocol encoders
│   ├── IrTransmitter.kt     ConsumerIrManager wrapper — the only hardware surface
│   ├── ProntoParser.kt      Pronto Hex → carrier + microsecond pattern
│   ├── IrFileImporter.kt    .ir / LIRC / Pronto-NX ingestion
│   ├── protocols/           NEC, Samsung32, RC5/RC6, SIRC, Kaseikyo…
│   └── SignalInspector.kt   decoder for analyzer + test bursts
├── data/                    SQLite DB, device store, effective-button resolver
├── feature/                 macros, scenes, favourites, automation receiver
├── ui/                      Compose screens + icons
├── widget/                  home-screen widget
└── quicksettings/           quick-settings tile

114 Kotlin files, 66 unit tests. The app's entire hardware dependency is ConsumerIrManager.transmit(carrierHz, pattern). Everything else is data and UI.

Borrowed codes are first-class: when a remote lacks a key, the resolver borrows the best-matching sibling code from the brand, marks it in the UI, and remembers what you accepted so it gets better on every session.

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome, especially code contributions for devices the database doesn't cover — the "Missing a code?" flow inside the app builds a validated submission bundle for you.

./gradlew testDebugUnitTest    # run the suite before you push

By contributing you agree your code/data is licensed under GPL-3.0.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for the full text.

© Controlix contributors. IR code data © their respective authors, used under permission (see Code database).