Unified Remote for Android gives you full control over your PC
Apps like Splashtop are great for remote controlling every aspect of a computer, including seeing the screen on the device. That’s sometimes not what you want, though. Sometimes you just want to lie in bed and not have to use the mouse on the bedsheet to switch between one video and another, pause and play etc. For things like that, you want something like Unified Remote.
Unified Remote connects to your Windows computer via Bluetooth or USB. The Windows computer has to run a server app they provide, but aside from that, it’s pretty straight forward. I paired mine with Bluetooth. which was just a matter of selecting my PC in the “add server” option on the tablet as they had already been paired previously. Once connected, you can access a list of different “remotes” which are specific input screens for various Windows programs. The “basic input” gives you a mouse, where you simpy control the cursor by sliding your finger around the screen. You also have various keyboards, numpads etc for that kind of input. Then you have more specialized remotes that work e.g. just for Windows Media Center, Spotify etc – the list of such remotes is very long.
The end result is that your Android device becomes a very powerful PC remote. It allows you to control your PC from around the room without having to worry about a wireless mouse and keyboard and somewhere to place those. It multitasks perfectly well, meaning that you can minimize the app or shut off the screen and still be able to immediately pick up where you left. This makes it perfect for tablets used on the couch, as you can e.g. keep half an eye on a move while you surf on your tablet and they just pop into the app and control it when needed.
There are two versions; one free version and one $4 version. The free versions has less special remotes, but still works fine for basic mouse control and such. $4 isn’t much for an app like this, though.
[Free version | Full version]