It’s hard to believe that home theater could actually be more fun. However, the advent of smartphones and apps has really changed the way that we control and even view home theater content.

If you’ve got an A/V product and a smartphone, you may want to do a little app search. Today, almost every manufacturer has an app. However, it’s not limited to just hardware. DISH, DirecTV, TiVo, Verizon, Netflix, Slingbox, and a slew of other service and software providers also have apps. While some are pretty obvious, there are plenty that are not—but can still provide a lot of fun and functionality.

Buying an app is typically less than a handful of clicks, and many are inexpensive (and sometimes free!). It’s finding them that can be a painful process. Currently, iTunes has home theater under the ginormous catchall known as Entertainment. That means that remote control apps are often in the same area where you’d find Chuck Norris Facts.

So we went to work, combing through the various available apps and found eight fun (and not-so-obvious) home theater apps.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.