PikTV remote

[ausphil]

Hello, just got our Pik TV box. I have a speaker connected via bluetooth to the box and was wondering if there is a way to control the volume from the source? My remote is paired with the TV remote so it only controls the TV volume. Even if I unlearn it, it won't let me control the volume from the Pik TV remote. Any suggestions?

[WestCoasterBC]

@ausphil  The volume control only works for the "TV" function. It doesn't control any sound bars, receivers etc.

[ausphil]

Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps I should clarify - I am looking to control the source (PikTV box) output volume. For example, I have a Windows PC connected to the speaker where I can control the Windows volume (source output) as well as the speaker volume separately. From playing around it seems to me that the PikTV output volume is fixed.

[WestCoasterBC]

The volume controls the TV function only as the audio is fixed and doesn't respond to volume adjustments (inputted commands from the remote) on the android device itself. Perhaps if there was "root" access there would be an app that could do this. But being a certified android tv device users will never have root.

[PeterFD]

I have the same experience, a bluetooth speaker paired to the Pik TV box has fixed audio volume.

Please clarify what you mean by "TV function only".

I assume the Pik remote can control only the Pik box. 

The audio volume was fixed regardless of whether playing TV or apps or on demand material.

Thanks

Peter

[NFtoBC · Accepted solution]

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@PeterFDwrote:

I have the same experience, a bluetooth speaker paired to the Pik TV box has fixed audio volume.

Please clarify what you mean by "TV function only".

I assume the Pik remote can control only the Pik box. 

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When you select a TV when setting up the PikTV device, it sets the remote to control the On/Off function, and the volume of the TV. Channels, guide, etc., are completed through the PikTV device. Thus, external devices, such as a Bluetooth speaker, would not have the volume controlled through the PikTV remote, but rather the remote belonging to the device itself. 

[dominicl]

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@ausphilwrote:

From playing around it seems to me that the PikTV output volume is fixed.

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That's correct. It is the default behavior for Android TV set-top boxes and cannot be changed by the user. Even if you use a virtual remote to send the volume up/down key codes to Android (instead of using the PikTV remote to send volume up/down codes to the TV via infrared), Android would ignore the key due to a config called config_useFixedVolume.

Device manufacturers can choose to enable it, but it's a design choice.

In the Android TV versions up to and including Oreo, Google also used fixed volume in their emulator (tool used by app developers), but it appears they are using variable volume in the current Android P preview: