Chinese chip maker Rockchip has released a new tool that lets you remote control an Android 4.2 device with a Rockchip RK3188 using pretty much any Android phone or tablet.

In other words, you can plug an Android TV stick like the Tronsmart MK908 into your television to run Android apps on a big screen and fire up a mobile app to use your phone as a remote control or gamepad.

rkcontrol

Rockchip has had a similar tool available for RK3066 devices for a while, but now the RKRemoteControl app is available for devices with Rockchip’s latest processors.

You can download the Android app and user manual from Geekbuying.

Most Android TV sticks with RK3188 processors and Android 4.2 or later come with an app called eHomeMediaCenter pre-loaded. You can launch this app and set the name of your device from the settings menu.

rkcontrol2

Then you fire up the mobile app and search for the device name you just entered.

Once you’ve done that you should be able to use your phone or tablet as a remote control for handling media playback, a keyboard for entering text, or a virtual gamepad for playing video games.

rkgamepad

 

You can customize the layout of on-screen buttons to work with various games, although to be honest, the user interface looks pretty complicated, and I suspect it’d be tough to hit the right buttons without constantly looking down at your hands (and away from the TV). You might be better off just getting a USB or Bluetooth gamepad.

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8 replies on “Remote control an RK3188 Android stick with your phone, tablet”

  1. I cant connect to my MK888. Does it have this media server? How to install it without changing a whole system?

  2. We are about to us three sticks on three tvs to run full animated menu boards that can be changed in a flash via any phone or tablet. We do have the issue of remote keyboards and mouse for each, but after reading this I feel I have just solved the problem. I am also thinking of putting cameras on each to somehow use motion to activate different animations and ads. Like if there are no people, the images are just a mess of info and images, but once there is a person standing in front of them, they will straighten out and display the menu. I think it would be fun for our customers and has many different possibilities to have a crowd also interact with the store.

  3. but does it fix any problems with actually navigating some apps? For instance with DroidMote I can’t slide categories to the left in Netflix

    1. for slide use two finger very close with DroidMote. Two finger is multitouch e one finger mouse. I can use netflix and all other apps.

  4. “You might be better off just getting a USB or Bluetooth gamepad.”

    That’s definitely a better experience… but as for Bluetooth, have you ever powered up one of these things with only a Bluetooth input device? I have. Doh! (For those who haven’t, you need to navigate menus to re-pair with your Bluetooth keyboard/mouse/gamepad on each boot.)

    This is a nice solution that doesn’t involve having an extra keyboard just to pair stuff.

  5. A little OT but since we’re talking “stick PCs” again…

    I’d love to see some photos of real-world use of any of these suckers. I have never come up with a way to use them that you could call civilized. Either I end up with a bunch of cable ties lashing the whole cable-octopus into a sort of dangling “sack” or I have to duct tape the thing to the table.

    The ones that plug directly into an HDMI TV port “stay put” but risk wrecking the TV’s connector due to excess strain.

    The MiniX, UG008, etc. nano-tabletop form factor is better but once again Apple got something right AFAIK. Doesn’t the Apple TV box put the P/S inside the main unit to add some weight so it can stay put better with cables hanging off it? This has to yield a result superior to even the G-Box products that also suffer from cable-drag-it-itis.

    1. I have an MK802III hanging from the back of my TV, and there is zero strain on the plug. My Xbox component cables have more weight (and put more strain) on the plugs than the TV Stick does. I can’t even see if from the front of the TV as it doesn’t hang below the bottom edge. I don’t know what you are doing but these sticks are stupidly light.

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