You do realize that a remote control is always going to be faster than pulling out your phone, unlocking it, and finding the app whose content you want to view,

You do realize that a remote control is always going to be faster than pulling out your phone, unlocking it, and finding the app whose content you want to view, waiting for the app to launch? I've done countless usability studies and in-home studies where we looked at the behavior of people who have access to a remote control and apps on their phone or tablet that can launch content or control their set-top box. People loved the idea of this, but guess what the majority of users end up doing? Picking up the physical remote control. And tasks that you may think are easy and intuitive are not always for the average user. We saw many people struggle to play content via AirPlay. Remember, part of good UI design is embracing 40 years of ingrained behavior.