Is it possible to capture/receive IR signals in an Android application?

Question

Is there any ways to receive IR signals in android?

While searching, I found ways to transmit data from Android devices.

Found this one very useful: https://github.com/rngtng/IrDude

So, is it also possible to receive IR signals generated by other IR transmitting devices like Remotes? If yes, i want to print those signals (hex values) in my app UI. Can anybody give some light on the issue, please... :)

I'm using Galaxy S4 for development.

try out this tutorial: https://github.com/rngtng/IrDude/blob/master/src/com/rngtng/irdude/MainActivity.java — nano_nano, Jul 08 '13 at 11:42
thanks.. :), but this is the same project I refereed in my question.. It only have the sending/transmitting part, but I need the receiving part. — Midhu, Jul 08 '13 at 11:51
Yes, there are also apps available to capture IR remote codes as well. — , May 29 '14 at 21:41
Hey...this Question is 11 Months old now. Do you have a implementation yet to Receive IR Cods on Samsung, Sony or other Devices. Right now I have only found the HTC Library for Receiving IR Codes. — , Jun 10 '14 at 13:47
Sorry, but I failed to find such implementations at that time, and for now, I'm not following the issue. — Midhu, Jun 12 '14 at 04:16
@user3689294 Could you name one that works on a Samsing Galax S4, please? — Tamás Bolvári, Jun 13 '16 at 20:36

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 30 '15 at 09:24

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My idea is>> Cameras detect IR LED flashing. Capture the the signal through android camera. if you know the encoding signal of IR transmitter you can decode it. its very interesting question you raised. I wish to work on it if i got time.:)

answered Apr 30 '15 at 09:24

Danish Kayani

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after all its all about 1s and 0s – Danish Kayani Apr 30 '15 at 09:25
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I had the same idea but found out that the signal is sent at 40kHz. I doubt the camera can detect the signal. – T3rm1 Oct 26 '15 at 16:19
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Camera is too slow for this idea. – Tamás Bolvári Jun 13 '16 at 20:37
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Camera is not accurate enough to capture ALL infrared light, if you capture the IR light, you will see a violet light regardless the button remote presses – Jul 07 '16 at 20:52
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Currently the fastest camera chip is made by Sony and can shoot at just under 1000fps, which is still 30-40 times slower than what would be needed to decode an IR signal. – technical_difficulty Oct 19 '18 at 20:07

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 08 '13 at 11:47

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Is there any ways to receive IR signals in android?

Few Android devices have any IR support, let alone some sort of IR receiver. If you build your own device, you are welcome to do what you want.

answered Jul 08 '13 at 11:47

CommonsWare

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haha.. :) So in short, I can't do it so easly.. uhh.? Anyway, I'm too late to comment, but yet, thanks for the cool answer.. ;) – Midhu Apr 03 '14 at 07:19
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My Galaxy S4 has an IR transmitter. Didn't know that until today. Let the fun begin! try this; it actually works! http://www.appbrain.com/app/samsung-ir-universal-remote/remote.control.samsung – X-Ray May 10 '14 at 23:41
For HTC the OpenSense SDK exists with IR Support. HTC One has an IR Sensor too. – CodingYourLife Aug 22 '14 at 02:49
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Lots of devices have ir blasters nowadays, galaxy s4+, many others. not sure about recievers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_devices_with_IR_blaster – chiliNUT Mar 17 '16 at 03:10

score -4 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 16 '16 at 23:20

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EVERY smartphone has an IR transmitter AND and IR receiver.

It is used to detect when your phone is on your ear to disable the touch-screen, so your ear doesn't tap "back" while you are talking.

This IR element is programmable. The IpBike guy uses this in his app; see here: http://www.iforpowell.com/cms/index.php?page=run-time

Some devices (eg: Samsung S6 Edge) have a second IR element as well, pointing a different way, specifically for controlling TVs etc.

answered Mar 16 '16 at 23:20

cnd

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_"EVERY smartphone has an IR transmitter AND and IR receiver."_ **FALSE**. I don't even understand why you stated it, why would this be true? Infrared support obviously has hardware and software requirements. NOT every smartphones have it. For example, I have a [Motorola Moto X Play](http://gadgets.ndtv.com/motorola-moto-x-play-2820) smartphone which unfortunately does NOT support this feature. But there are many other devices out there on the market which don't. – Sk8erPeter Jun 06 '16 at 20:26
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The distance between ear and phone is not detected by IR, it's detected by a proximity sensor – Jul 07 '16 at 20:51
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I have Samsung Galaxy S6 and it only has an IR sender.. (just like a normal TV remote control) but it can't read IR signals.. tried it yesterday with various apps. – MilMike Nov 18 '16 at 16:43
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I have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and it does NOT have an IR transmitter (I wish it did). – Remy Lebeau Feb 24 '17 at 19:04
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In fact, IR sensors ARE commonly used in smartphones as the proximity sensor according to wirelessdesignmag and android.stackexchange (search internet for additional confirmation) This doesn't mean other sensors are not used for that same purpose in some smartphones. – ExMilitum Oct 21 '16 at 21:41

Is it possible to capture/receive IR signals in an Android application?

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