Samsung S4 ... it took me a long while to figure out that I could program it to control most things with a IR signal
A fantastic phone because it was one of the last models to have a replaceable battery ... a SDXC memory card slot ... temperature gauge / humidity / barometer sensor .... a heart monitor tester ... and a headphone jack!
By the time I knew how to use it, I had already upgraded to the latest Samsung phones
There used to be either a Japanese app or a homebrew app for the ds i think that used the ir in it. Also the wiimote was going to have that functionality aswell.
My favourite is to just get an old 3.5mm stereo male cord and cut off the end and carry the end around. Carry a few around with you when you think you might need one. When you see a public TV blaring whatever, just plug in the cord into the audio output of the TV and it will turn off the sound on most TVs
No remote or setting will ever change it until someone figures out what happened to the plug
You can get USB-C IR blasters and add it to any phone. Also there are some 3.5mm headphone jack ones too but I'm not sure if those would be supported as well.
My Samsung S6 had an IR sender in the front. It was the best feature ever on a phone. I had a remote controll app and could control any TV wherever I went. With just my phone.
When I was a teenager, I had a watch with an IR blaster and a few basic buttons (power, volume) built into it. I forget exactly how it worked; I think you would press the button you wanted and it would send out a bunch of common codes to control any nearby TV. Its intended use case was to do what the post describes, but more discreetly than pulling out a TV remote. I never got the chance to use it to that end, or maybe I wasn't brave enough to try, but I loved the idea.
If you get a flipper zero you can run a script that automatically switches any public tv to MSNBC, if the TV is "Smart" it can run proper workers content like Anark and the deprogram
I wish we had heavy ordinance like the founders intended, could shut up Faux real fucken quick. Just a 380 barage for a ten minute period would be enough to ruin both the infrastructure and kill most everyone involved.
When I was recovering from surgery last year my hospital room had a GIANT screen staring me down. I work with computers all day I see enough screens, even turned off the thing was haunting me. I asked if they could cover it with anything and half an hour later a squad of nurses with a sheet and chairs came in and covered it for me. They were both confused and excited it was great