Privacy policy
In short: the app has no account, no analytics and no app-operated server. The free version shows a small Google ad, which a one-time purchase removes. Your saved TVs stay on your phone, and commands go directly from your phone to the TV you choose.
Smart TV Remote Control (Google Play package app.smarttvremote, called "the app" below) controls compatible televisions over the local network. It does not require an account and has no analytics or app-operated server. The free version shows a small ad from Google AdMob; a one-time Remove ads purchase turns it off.
Data handled by the app
The app stores the following information on your device:
- saved TV names and local-network addresses;
- LG pairing keys and approved TV certificate fingerprints;
- Android/Google TV pairing information and an app certificate held by Android Keystore;
- Samsung pairing tokens and approved TV certificate fingerprints;
- Sony BRAVIA pre-shared keys and TV hardware addresses used for Wake-on-LAN;
- preferred language, theme, vibration and touchpad settings, and per-TV app favorites.
This information is used only to find, authenticate, reconnect to, and control TVs you select. It is not sent to the publisher. Commands and pairing information travel directly between the phone and the selected TV. Sony BRAVIA IP control uses Sony's local HTTP protocol, so its pre-shared key is not encrypted while traveling on the local network.
When supported, the app reads the selected TV's power, volume, playback, installed TV apps and input information to display its controls. App icons are requested from the selected TV. Android TV app shortcuts are a fixed list; the app does not read Android TV's installed-app inventory. Text entered into the LG or Android TV remote keyboard is sent to that TV when you choose Send. This is not an inventory of apps installed on your phone.
Samsung identification reads the selected TV's name and hardware address using its local HTTP device-information endpoint. Pairing tokens and remote commands use a secure WebSocket connection, with the TV certificate remembered after approval. No Samsung account or cloud service is used.
Optional diagnostics
Recent connection and action results are kept in memory during the app session. They include app and Android versions, the phone's manufacturer and model, the phone's Wi-Fi signal strength and band (not the network name), TV platform, supported controls, reported power/volume/playback, action categories and failure stages. Reports exclude TV names and network addresses, PINs, pairing keys, typed text, number-key values, app IDs, URLs and raw error messages.
Selecting Copy diagnostics places a report on the Android clipboard. The app does not upload it. If you paste it into a message or another app, the recipient and that app handle the copy under their own policies. When the app goes to the background, the latest session is also saved on the device so the next report can include it; it is replaced each time and removed when you uninstall the app. A copy you made can remain on the clipboard or in the destination you chose.
Problem reports
If the app crashes or stops responding, it saves a short record on the device: the time, the app version, the error type and the code locations involved (a stack trace) and, after a crash, the session results described above. Records exclude error messages and thread names and keep every exclusion listed for diagnostics. At most three records are kept, and they are excluded from backup. On Android 11 and later, the app also reads Android's own record of this app's recent not-responding and native-crash exits when it next starts.
Report a problem in Settings lets you describe the problem and choose whether to include diagnostics and saved records; you can view the full text first. The report also states the phone's manufacturer, model and Android version. Send by email opens your email app, or Android's share sheet, with the report addressed to the contact below. Nothing leaves the phone until you send it from that app. Copy places the report on the clipboard instead. Saved records are deleted after they are included in a report you send or copy, when you choose Discard, when app storage is cleared, or when the app is uninstalled. Reports emailed to the publisher are used only to diagnose and fix problems. To have a report you sent deleted, email the contact below.
Advertising and purchases
The free version shows one small banner ad below the remote buttons. It never appears on the touchpad, keyboard, setup or settings screens. Ads are served by Google AdMob through the Google Mobile Ads SDK. To show ads, limit how often you see them, measure them and prevent fraud, Google may collect from your phone the advertising ID, IP address (from which an approximate location can be derived), device and app information such as the model, Android version and app version, and your interactions with the ad. Google handles this data under its own privacy policy: Google Privacy Policy. See also how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the app shows Google's consent form before any ad is requested. You can change your choice at any time in Settings > Ads > Ad privacy choices. Anywhere, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in Android's settings, or opt out of personalized ads there. The publisher has blocked sensitive ad categories (for example dating, gambling, alcohol and sexual content) and limits ads to a general-audience rating, but cannot review every ad in advance.
The publisher receives only aggregated ad reports from Google, such as impressions and earnings per country. It does not receive your advertising ID or other personal data from the ads.
To choose which ad to show, the app downloads a small signed settings file from smart-tv-remote.pages.dev, the app's first website, when it starts. That request is an ordinary web request handled by Cloudflare (see "This website").
Remove ads is a one-time purchase made through Google Play. Google processes the payment under its own terms and privacy policy. The publisher receives the order details Google provides (for example an order number, the product, the price and the country) but never your card or bank details. The app asks Google Play whether your Google account owns the purchase each time it opens; it does not store your payment details. To restore the purchase on another phone, use the same Google account and tap Restore purchase in Settings.
Permissions
The app uses Internet, network-state, Wi-Fi-state, and multicast-state permissions to discover and control TVs on the same network. The normal vibration permission supports optional button feedback. The free version also declares permissions used by Google's libraries: advertising ID (ads), Google Play billing (the Remove ads purchase), and basic phone state, wake lock and foreground service, which the Google Mobile Ads SDK and its background scheduler use. None of these shows a permission prompt. The app does not request location, contacts, microphone, camera, storage, or notification access.
Retention and deletion
Saved TV information remains on the device until you select Forget this TV, clear the app's storage, or uninstall the app. Android cloud backup and device transfer are disabled for this data.
Forgetting a TV also removes its saved favorites. General preferences remain until changed, app storage is cleared, or the app is uninstalled. Android/Google TV's phone identity is held in Android Keystore and may be shared by saved TV pairings; forgetting one TV does not remove that identity. Uninstalling the app removes its app-owned Keystore entries. The app does not provide an online account to delete.
Sharing and sale
The app does not sell user data and does not share saved TV information with the publisher, advertisers, or analytics providers. In the free version, Google collects the advertising data described under "Advertising and purchases" directly from your phone to serve ads.
Children
The app does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
This website
This website has no cookies, analytics or third-party scripts. It is hosted on Cloudflare Pages, which processes standard request data such as IP addresses to deliver and protect the site.
Changes
Material changes to this policy will be published on this page with a new date.
Contact
Falaqa Apps
Email: moh.khll@gmail.com