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Open SourceMac Remote for Google TVNigeria
Couch
Couch is our open-source macOS app that turns the Mac into a better remote for Chromecast with Google TV. It speaks the same protocol as Google's own remote app, so nothing is installed on the TV and nothing leaves the home network. It adds typing, voice search, app launching, scenes and a phone remote on top of a faithful copy of the real remote.
SwiftSwiftUIPythonAndroid TV RemoteOpen Source
Headline
Open source, MIT licence
01 The brief
What they needed.
The remote that ships with the Chromecast is easy to lose and painful to type with. We wanted the Mac that is already open on the couch to do the job better: proper typing into the TV, voice search, one-click apps and automations, without installing anything on the TV or sending anything to a cloud.
02 Our approach
How we built it.
A SwiftUI and AppKit app with a remote window, a menu bar panel and global shortcuts, talking to a local Python helper over a WebSocket bound to 127.0.0.1 only.
The helper speaks the Android TV Remote v2 protocol for keys, text, voice and links, and optionally Google's adb for installed apps, recent apps, storage and installs.
Typing mode sends keystrokes straight into the TV's text box; holding the mic searches by voice; links dropped on the window play on the TV.
Automations include a sleep timer, a wake-up time, pausing when a call starts, scenes, couch:// links for Shortcuts, and a token-gated phone remote over the local network.
03 Outcomes
What shipped.
Concrete results, not promises. Each line is something that exists and works today.
Open source on GitHub under the MIT licence
Nothing installed on the TV, nothing sent off the home network
Remote, typing, voice, apps, automations and phone remote in one app
04 Stack
SwiftSwiftUIPythonAndroid TV RemoteOpen Source
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