When you’re watching TV the remote control seems to have a life of its own, often resulting in it disappearing when you decide you want to switch channels. Being somewhat larger than a standard Sky remote, your iPad is far less likely to go missing, so wouldn’t it be great if you could use the tablet you’re using to check emails while you watch TV to control your Sky+HD box? The release of Sky+ 4.0 means that this is exactly what you can now do.

Getting up and running is very simple – just make sure that your Sky+HYD box and your iPad ate connected to the same network and you’re ready to go. While the app itself is not new, many of its existing features have been updated and there are plenty of new options that have been added as well. The big new feature is remote control. Using gestures you can control the playback of whatever you’re watching, tapping to play and pause, and swiping to skip back and forth.

Sky+

This is by far the biggest new feature of the app, but there’s more too. You can also connect to your Planer and schedule programmes to record, check what you have lined up for recording and add reminders. The TV guide has been improved so that navigation is easier than ever and you can tab on the icon for a channel to switch your TV to that station. It would have been good to see more of these feature implemented in the iPhone version of the app, but the extra screen space of a tablet makes all the difference.

In addition to this, there is also an improved search tool that can be used to search for programmes from within the planner as well as when looking at TV listings. There have been general improvements to the look, layout and navigation side of things; whether you are an existing user of the app, or you’re yet to try it out, this is a great tool to supplement your TV viewing.

Note – this app is only available in the UK.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the app by paying a visit to the Sky+ 4.0 review page.