You'd prefer it until you try using it. When you want to reduce the volume the last thing you need to do is go looking for the app. Now a watch app, that's something.
My HTC One M8 back in the day shipped with a universal remote app that used the built-in IR blaster and it was fantastic. HTC's subsequent discontinuation of that app (and its replacement with a third-party app that was basically useless) is what immediately drove me to never want to buy an HTC product again.
I had that phone too and I vaguely recall that wasn't HTC's decision to cripple the IR but rather the result of HTC infringing someone else's (because naturally someone would have a patent about something as obvious as using a smart phone as an IR remote....)
On iPhone, there is a built in remote app in control center, then you use the volume buttons on the phone to adjust the TV volume. It’s part of the OS, not the remote app from the App Store, and I’ve found it to be a good fit for those emergency volume adjustments. Sharing so others can benefit from what took me a while to discover :)
I got into a very similar conversation with Chase's robo call the other day. Went like this:
C: bla bla bla, if you want to speak to a representative say "representative".
Me: representative
C: sorry i couldn't understand, please chose an option or say representative to speak with one
Me: re-pre-sen-ta-tive
C: (same answer as before)
Me: REPRESENTATIVE
C: (same answer as before)
Me: GO FUCK YOURSELF
C: Ok, I'll call a representative
I want to believe that their system either sensed the tension in my voice or saw the expletive and decided to call for adult supervision.
I'm not an native English speaker so I have an accent (which isn't too heavy, but still). Using any form of speech recognition is an instant fuck-show.
