Android TV gets its own iPhone app

Google has quietly introduced a new iPhone application that works with Android TV, its smart TV platform for standalone media players and TVs. The Android TV app for iOS lets those with any supported device use their iPhone as a remote control for their system – just like the Android counterpart already offers. With a basic, no-frills design, the app lets you search using your voice or text, as well as use the d-pad or gestures to control your Android TV.

The app works over Wi-Fi to connect with your Android TV, and requires that the iPhone and player are on the same network.

In addition to offering another way to work your Android TV, the app allows multiple people to connect remotes in order to take advantage of Android TV’s multi-player games.

Having a remote app that works across devices for this purpose is fairly important, so it’s surprising that Google took so long to bring this app to iOS. But perhaps that speaks to the company’s larger focus on its more successful smart TV platform, Google Cast (previously known as Chromecast.) Those low-cost dongles snagged the title of “most popular streaming device” of 2015, as Google sold over 20 million of the original Chromecast devices.

The new Android TV app is a free download on iTunes.