---

Control your Windows PC from your phone — LocalTV Remote

LocalTV Remote is a free, open-source app that turns your phone into a wireless mouse, keyboard, and volume remote for any Windows 10/11 PC or laptop — over your local Wi-Fi.

You only install it on the PC. Your phone just opens a web page (a PWA in the browser), so there's nothing to install on the phone — or on any other device you use to control the PC. No app store, no second download.

Multiple people can control one PC at the same time — everyone uses their own phone as their own remote, so there's no single remote to pass around the room. It's LAN-only: no cloud relay, no accounts, and your data never leaves your network. The PC runs a single Node process at ~25–40 MB RAM with no bundled Chromium.

LocalTV Remote is the open-source, remote-only companion to LocalTV. It contains no Chromium, no DRM, and no TV/streaming mode — just the remote-control daemon.

From pairing to a permanent home-screen remote

---

Why LocalTV Remote?

Looking for a free, open-source alternative to Unified Remote or Remote Mouse? Most phone-as-remote apps make you install a companion app on both your phone and your PC, lock features behind a paid tier, or route input through their cloud. LocalTV Remote doesn't.

_{*Reflects common free tiers of popular alternatives; their features may change. Compare for yourself.}

---

Features

---

Install

Option 1 — winget (recommended)

Now available on the Windows Package Manager — installs without the SmartScreen prompt:

Open Terminal/PowerShell and Paste:

winget install LocalTV.Remote

Option 2 — Installer

⬇️ Download LocalTV Remote for Windows — Free

Latest release: v1.1.4 · Windows 10/11 · ~27 MB. Download the installer, run it, and you're paired in under a minute. Already installed? Grab the link above to update to the latest version.

The setup wizard will:

• Install to %ProgramFiles%\LocalTV Remote
• Create a Start Menu shortcut
• Add a Windows Firewall inbound rule (so your phone can reach the daemon without a popup)
• Optionally create a desktop shortcut and enable start-on-login

First run shows a Windows SmartScreen "unknown publisher" notice (the installer isn't code-signed yet). Click More info → Run anyway to continue.

---

How to use

1. Launch — double-click the tray icon or start from the Start Menu
2. Pair — a pairing window opens with a QR code and a 6-digit PIN
3. Scan — open your phone camera, scan the QR code
4. Control — the phone browser opens the controller UI; swipe to move, tap to click

Your phone remembers the pairing token — next time it reconnects automatically.

---

How it works

Phone browser (PWA)
      │  WebSocket + HTTP  (LAN)
      ▼
LocalTVRemote.exe  ←── Express + ws server on 0.0.0.0:6776
      │
      ├── Mouse / Keyboard → koffi → Win32 SendInput
      ├── Volume           → PowerShell COM → IAudioEndpointVolume
      └── Pairing window   → WebView2 (system runtime, not bundled Chromium)

• Input is injected OS-wide via SendInput — works in any app including games and full-screen windows
• Volume uses a persistent PowerShell STA process talking to Windows Core Audio COM directly — accurate to the system tray to within ±1%
• The pairing window uses the system WebView2 runtime (pre-installed on Windows 11, auto-installed on Windows 10) — no bundled browser

---

Security

• LAN-only — binds 0.0.0.0 for control but restricts pairing routes (/host, /api/state) to loopback, so the PIN is never served to other devices on the network
• 6-digit pairing PIN derived from machine identity; trusted sessions resume via a stored token
• WebSocket origin checks on every upgrade
• Rate limiting — 500 messages/sec/client; idle clients are disconnected after inactivity
• Single-instance lock — second launch exits cleanly instead of conflicting

---

Build from source

Requirements: Node.js 22+, Windows 10/11

git clone https://github.com/creationsofm7/localtv-remote
cd localtv-remote
npm install

Dev mode (TypeScript, no build step):

npm run dev

Full production build (SEA exe + payload):

npm run dist        # typecheck + bundle + branded exe + payload
npm run installer   # compile Inno Setup → release/LocalTVRemote-Setup-x.y.z.exe

Environment variables:

---

Project layout

src/
├── core/
│   ├── server/          # Express + WebSocket control server
│   ├── main/
│   │   ├── audio/       # Persistent PowerShell Core Audio host
│   │   ├── input/       # SystemInputRouter + Win32 SendInput backend
│   │   └── native/      # koffi FFI bindings, native-require loader
│   └── shared/          # Protocol types, pairing logic
└── daemon/
    ├── index.ts         # Entry: daemon mode or --webview child mode
    ├── tray.ts          # systray2 tray icon + menu
    └── startup.ts       # Run-at-login registry toggle

public/control/          # Phone controller PWA (HTML/CSS/JS + SW + manifest)
scripts/
├── bundle.mjs           # esbuild → build/localtv-remote.cjs
├── build-sea.mjs        # Node SEA blob + rcedit + PE subsystem flip
├── assemble-payload.mjs # release/app/ with koffi stripped to win32_x64
└── build-installer.mjs  # Inno Setup compile → release/LocalTVRemote-Setup-*.exe
installer/
└── localtv-remote.iss   # Inno Setup script

---

Cross-platform

Windows is the only supported target today. The input layer is abstracted behind SystemInputBackend (src/core/main/input/backends/input-backend.ts). Adding macOS/Linux means implementing that interface — contributions welcome.

---

Contributing

1. Fork and clone
2. npm install && npm run dev
3. Make changes, run npm run typecheck to verify
4. Open a PR — CI will typecheck on push

---

FAQ

How do I control my laptop from my phone without installing an app?

Install LocalTV Remote on your Windows PC (it's the only device that needs anything installed). Launch it, scan the QR code with your phone's camera, and your phone's browser opens a controller page — a trackpad, keyboard, and volume remote. Nothing to install on the phone, no app store, no account.

Can multiple people control one PC at the same time?

Yes. Several phones can connect at once, and everyone uses their own phone as their own remote — so there's no single remote to toss around the room. Each phone pairs independently and securely. Handy for a shared screen, a meeting room, or a media PC.

Is there a free, open-source alternative to Unified Remote or Remote Mouse?

LocalTV Remote is exactly that: free, Apache-2.0 open-source, with no companion app required on the phone and no paid tier. See the comparison above.

Is controlling my PC from my phone over Wi-Fi safe?

It's LAN-only — input never leaves your local network and there's no cloud relay or account. Pairing requires a 6-digit PIN derived from machine identity, WebSocket connections are origin-checked, traffic is rate-limited, and the pairing PIN is only served to the PC itself, never to other devices. See Security.

Does it work in games and full-screen apps?

Yes. Input is injected OS-wide via Win32 SendInput, so it works in any app, including games and full-screen windows.

---

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.
Copyright 2026 Mudit Pandey.