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Comment by ramraj07 | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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....)

we measure innovation by the number of patents given, so gotta keep up the statistics

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 :)

For that situation, wouldn't you use voice control? I can say "OK Google mute" in less time than it takes to reach for a remote.

Sure. Assuming your voice assistant works first time. Otherwise the dialog would go a little more like this:

Me OK Google mute

Me> OK...Google....mute

Me> OKGOOGLE mute

G> Sorry, I don't understand

Me> mute...

Me> MUTE MUTE MUTE MUTE MUTE

Me> OKGOOGLE MUTE

G> What would you like to mute?

Me> The TV

Me> Mute the fucking TV Google

Me> OKGOOGLE MUTE THE FUCKING TV

G> Sorry, I don't understand

Me> Fuck it. I should have just looked for the controller to begin with.

This comedy piece usually sends my family into laughter when I try to ask Google Auto to play a song or to call someone.

I end up with some vulgarities and ask my children to do it the old fashioned way (that is to tap the name on their phones, not to use smoke signals)

I stopped wondering where kids pick up vulgarities after I caught myself years ago yelling at a guy in another car.

And we usually end up insulting Alexa as well.

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.

The standard polite way to request an agent is: "operator operator fuck fuck fuck"

If I roar "I WANT TO SPEAK TO A HUMAN" into the phone, this works about 66% of the time.

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