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Clik turns your phone into a remote for YouTube parties (hands-on)

Clik turns your phone into a remote for YouTube parties (hands-on)

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A new iOS and Android app turns your mobile device into a remote control for any internet-connected screen.

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Clik iOS
Clik iOS

The developer behind popular messaging service Kik has released a new app designed for those of you who throw plenty of YouTube parties. Clik essentially turns your Android or iOS device into a remote, letting you control YouTube videos on any internet-enabled screen, whether it's your desktop or a smart TV. Unlike may similar apps, though, Clik doesn't require Wi-Fi, instead giving you the option to use your phone's 3G connection instead. Syncing up your mobile device with a bigger screen is a simple process — all you need to do is visit clikthis.com and scan the giant QR code that pops up. Once that's done your browser window will turn into a video player with all of the controls mapped to your phone.

Clik for iOS screenshots

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You'll be able to play and pause videos, adjust the volume, as well as fast forward and rewind. In our experience the delay between selecting an action on a phone and seeing it happen on the big screen was virtually non-existent — Clik is very fast. The app also offers simple but functional options for finding content, dividing the interface into favorites, browse, and search. Favorites and search work as you'd imagine, while browse lets you scroll through videos in a number of different categories, including trending and most viewed, as well as channels from popular content providers like The Onion and Louis C.K. Unfortunately, right now Clik doesn't sync with your YouTube account, so you'll have to create a new, separate set of favorites while using it. The app also supports multiple control inputs in its Multiplayer Mode, where several devices can be synced with the same screen. While this lends an interesting social element to the app, we could also see it leading to some frustrating new takes on fighting over the remote.

Clik offers a relatively straightforward experience, and what it does, it does well: it's fast, easy-to-use, and — more importantly — free. It also has plenty of room to grow, since right now it only supports YouTube videos. With a few more services onboard, and the ability to sync with your pre-existing accounts, Clik could eventually become something very special.

Update: It's come to our attention that Android users already have access to an app with nearly identical features — Google's own YouTube Remote, which lets you control YouTube over both 3G and Wi-Fi, and even includes a similar multiplayer control option. We reached out to Clik CEO Ted Livingston, who stated that the company filed a patent for the pairing process two and a half years ago and that Clik can be differentiated from Google's app based on its "platform potential for content owners and developers" and "built-in web standards."