Lack of dual remotes and universal remotes

[RCrow]

Having a handicapped member of the family, it really upsets me there is no support for dual remotes or a more standard IR interface that allows for universal remotes. The Telus box uses the Technicolor remote codes which I have yet to find a universal remote that works with the Telus box. More upsetting is I have a programming background and see more standard IR interface routines on GitHub so it would be fairly simple for Telus to add a new IR interface routine to the Android box. 

I realize there were pressures on Telus's two programmers on this project to release the Telus TV box fast but considering the thousands of customers paying a lot of money for Telus TV that Telus would put more priority on making a stable working product and hire a few more programmers to make it happen.

[Nighthawk]

What type / model of remote are you wanting to use for your family member?

The set top box running Android TV should be able to use any compatible AndroidTV IR or bluetooth remote. I would be quite surprised if Telus actually has any in house custom programming for the remotes on the set top boxes. It would be more likely that the device manufacturer is the one controlling hardware related features. Telus has programmers for their TelusTV+ app on the set top box but that's separate from the hardware.

AndroidTV boxes in general seem to have their own set of codes that universal remotes aren't compatible with. Universal remotes don't typically have the same buttons on them that the Telus set top box remote does. Same goes for other AndroidTV compatible remotes. Most universal remotes are rather ancient too so finding one that is compatible with AndroidTV would be very difficult. 

[RCrow]

I probably went overboard on the post but it is so frustrating. My wife uses a wheelchair to get into the living room then has to call me to find the remote. It would be very convenient if she had a remote on her end table all the time. We previously had Shaw Direct satellite which worked well but when we moved into this house it would have been difficult to run satellite cable throughout the house. So we got Telus TV.

Answer to your question, ANY second remote would be great. I have tried remotes that claim they are compatible with Technicolor, VANTIVA and no luck. Even a voice controlled remote like Harmony or Broadlink would work.

You mentioned that Telus probably doesn't have control over the manufacturer of the android box but Telus is buying thousands of the boxes so they should have some say on the boxes capabilities.

Well once my contact is up I will see what options I have.

[KHR]

One potential option is to use the Google TV app as a remote. It has most functionality that the TELUS remote has (d-pad, back, home, volume) although there are no shortcuts to guide, On Demand, Netflix, Prime and Recordings; you can use the d-pad left/right/up/down buttons to navigate where you need to. There's an option to bring up a keyboard to enter channel numbers either from the player or from the guide. You can even invoke the on-screen Google Assistant from your phone (though speech to text within the search menu won't work on your phone).