The HTC One and Sense TV

The HTC One has everything in it (except HTC opted to exclude the kitchen sink). Don't believe me? It even has an IR Blaster! An IR Blaster is a device that emulates an infrared remote control to autonomously control a device that is normally controlled only by remote control key presses. In laymen's terms - we're talking about a remote control built into your phone through the power button.

I was excited to hear that they added remote control capabilities into the HTC One, that way I don't need to find a remote (which is generally misplaced). I just have to know where my phone is and I always know where my HTC One is located at.

The app works really well and is very easy to pair with your TV. I've had some problems with it pairing with certain things like a digital TV converter box, and certain TVs. Another problem I have is just changing channels goes up in the channels, but doesn't go to channels that actually have shows on them. That's because for example, channel 5 has nothing on it, but 5.1 does. This probably has something to do with the transition to all digital TV or something with my Vizio TV. As HTC develops their Sense software more I'm positive the kinks will be worked out!

The UI of the app is clean and simple to use and has the necessary buttons to navigate through all the menus and channels. All you need is one device and you control all your TVs in your house! Changing to different programmed remotes is easy and has a TV guide that syncs with the cloud. Swapping back and forth between channels is extremely easy as you can just pull down the notification and you'll see recent channels that you've been on with a little thumbnail of what show is on that channel. 

You can favorite shows and get reminders for upcoming shows in BlinkFeed, which make Sense TV more than just a universal remote app. It's an entire assistant to help you watch what you want to watch. If you don't already have an HTC One, you might want to hold off on chucking all those universal remotes and replacing them with the HTC One. For HTC One owners, you really could!

Sense TV: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (9 of 10)