Leeous

Open Beam - an open-source smart TV remote, and more

August 16, 2026

I recently moved in with some new roommates, which means there are suddenly quite a few new smart TVs throughout the house, specifically Roku and Vizio models right now.

Both Roku and Vizio already blast ads every chance they get on the hardware itself, but their official remote apps take it a step further by embedding banner ads directly into the control interface. Vizio even requires you to sign in with an account just to use basic remote functions on your local network. I have absolutely no interest in creating a Vizio account just to control a TV in my living room.

Looking through the Play Store for third-party alternatives was equally frustrating. Nearly every non-official app is packed with invasive banner ads and video pop-ups. Normally, when I look for alternatives to an ad-ridden mobile app, I expect to find a solid open-source project near the top of the search results, but there was a surprising gap here. While a few attempts (probably) exist, I wanted to take a crack at building a clean, modern, privacy-respecting solution myself: open-beam.

Why Dart & Flutter?

This project presented the perfect opportunity to dive into Dart and Flutter. Coming from a web development background focused primarily on React and TypeScript, working with Flutter has been surprisingly enjoyable. The component-driven architecture feels natural, and being able to target both Linux and Android from a single codebase makes it a great fit.

As for iOS support: I plan to publish to the App Store down the line if donations eventually cover the cost of Apple's annual developer registration fee, but Android and Linux are the immediate targets.

Getting Involved

I have a feeling open-beam might resonate with anyone tired of ad-bloated remote apps. Since I'm still relatively new to Dart and Flutter, I am more than happy to welcome collaborators, contributions, or code reviews from anyone interested in building out a unified, multi-brand TV controller.

The initial groundwork is at Leeous/open_beam. If you're interested in testing or contributing, feel free to check out the repo or otherwise reach out.

Pivoting Focus & Current Context

My dedication to creating FOSS software ebbs and flows, but while I'm currently looking for full-time work in the field, I find I can only stay motivated when building things that genuinely excite or solve immediate problems for me.

A few of my other side projects have taken a back seat for good reasons:

  • plasma-chatgpt started feeling out of place. Being on the latest version of KDE Plasma meant working with sparse, moving documentation for modern Plasma API changes, and I've come to realize I'm not particularly fond of working with C++/Qt in general. At least for now.

  • I do plan to return to TrashCompactor eventually, but dealing with the current quirks of running Source 2 devtools on Linux is frustrating, and I refuse to reboot into Windows just to write code. As well, I think the launch of S&box was fairly underwhelming. I'm excited to see where Facepunch takes things, but it's taking a backseat for now.

Wrap-up

With all of this being said, moving kind of marks a new stage in my life, one where I can focus much more on pursuing a career I actually want, building new connections, and overall improving my skill sets. Exciting times, assuming we don't go through a deep depression soon. 😄