Despite the fact that it is an element that is practically present only in Xiaomi and Huawei mobiles , the infrared port of the telephones is for many a stranger, even if it is present in the technical sheet of your mobile phone. Today we are going to review how we can take advantage of this sometimes forgotten feature.
Infrared technology is still very present on the market, in fact until the arrival of smart device controls equipped with bluetooth, all of the ones we have used at home worked with this technology.
Where it is located?
Mobile phones that have this technology normally have this infrared port on the top , in which we understand as front when we are looking at a device, such as a television.
You’ll usually find it on the top, centered edge. If your phone is of a bright color, you will notice the port in that area, dark in color, as we would find it in any other remote control.
How to check that it is active and working
If you are not completely sure that your mobile has an infrared port, you can choose to directly check that the hardware is working properly. For this we can enter the engineer mode. When we enter it we can check the operation by activating an individual functionality test .
This means that instead of testing all the hardware of the phone, only one of the components will be tested, in this case the infrared port. Click on the test and when you see the green “Pass” message, the port is working correctly . This function is available on both Xiaomi and Huawei mobiles, and you can access them with both codes on the phone’s numeric keypad. You must enter these codes.
- In the case of a Xiaomi mobile, enter * # * # 6484 # * # *
- If it is a Huawei mobile, just enter * # * # 2846 579 # * # *
How to configure it on a Xiaomi mobile
To be able to use the infrared port in a Xiaomi mobile it is necessary that we use the system application integrated in MIUI. This is the ” My remote ” app that gives us access to all the options to control a device. All we have to do is the following:
- Open “My Remote”
- Click on the button “Activate remote control”
- Or click on the “+” icon
Now choose the type of device, the brand and the model, the app will automatically configure itself so that when you click on the terminal, they translate into recognizable orders for that device.
How to configure it on a Huawei mobile
It is something similar, only that logically in this case we use the app that comes pre-installed with EMUI. Therefore, what we must do is the following:
- Open the ” Smart Controller” app
- Click on the “+” icon
Here we only have to choose the device that we want to control from an available list. Now, we also have the option of not choosing any device and choosing the ” customize ” button that gives us access to learn the commands of a specific remote control. With this method, the phone can control a device by learning the codes from an infrared remote that we already have.
What uses does this technology have?
Well, today it is basically Xiaomi and Huawei mobiles that have this versatile connectivity. Thanks to it, it is possible to interact with the phone through this type of connectivity that uses infrared rays to send orders to a device.
To be able to use the infrared port, you need an app that is compatible with them and that can manipulate them to send the necessary combinations of these rays so that the devices can interpret what we want to do. Although each of the mobile manufacturers have their own app, as you have seen in the case of Xiaomi and Huawei, in order to control the devices, many of the ones we find in the Play Store are more complete, which give us support for greater number of devices. But there are other alternatives to be able to use the infrared port of your mobile.
Recover files from old mobiles
The basic mobiles of two decades ago, the classic Nokia for example, had an infrared sensor. This was the primitive way that they could send files wirelessly between different phones.
Therefore, you could use this technology to be able to recover photos and other documents from those basic phones, as long as your new mobile can receive those contents. Of course it is a very slow transmission method.
Control the TV
With this infrared technology we can control the television, at least its basic functions, such as changing the channel, controlling the volume , or turning it on and off. Without a doubt, it is the most common method by which we use the infrared of the phone.
The air conditioning
This connectivity also allows us to control the air conditioning, which can save us from an insufferable night in some cases. Normally these infrared controls usually have a limited life, but thanks to these ports on the mobile we can control the temperature at which they operate, the speed of the fan, or the movement of its blades.
For the stereo
It is also possible to control the volume of our audio equipment, especially of the traditional mini chains and compatible Hi-Fi equipment. With it we can switch between the different sound sources , control playback, volume as well as turn the device on and off.
Learn features on old devices
If in doubt, it is the great advantage of this port, the possibility of giving a new life to devices that we could no longer use because their remote controls did not work.
When collecting configuration data from online databases that are usually updated regularly, it is difficult for you not to find a configuration mode for the port that suits the device you want to control, whatever type it is. As you can see, it is a little extended connectivity, but in return it continues to give many users a lot of joy.
