Source: https://bsky.app/profile/funnysnarkyjoke.bsky.social/post/3lmkfwebeuc27
In fact you can use your smartphone to change the channel on nearly any TV. In the comments on that post some people talk about how to do it. Basically you need a smartphone with either builtin IR or use a USB-C IR blaster or if your phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack you can also try one of those but I’m not sure if the 3.5mm ones are as commonly supported.
I saw a video on a new budget phone recently that had IR. I think only the Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, and OnePlus are the ones carrying the torch at this point… But not even on all phones they release.
I carried around my old HTC One M7 in my laptop bag for YEARS after I had upgraded explicitly for the IR blaster. It’s probably in there still right now in fact.
Yeah, since it was mostly used for data connections between phones. It was replaced once bluetooth got a little bit better.