Comparison

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote vs Remote Buddy Mobile 2

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote

Control your media playback on Kodi and Plex with this intuitive remote app. Manage playback, volume, and navigation directly from your device, including Apple Watch support.

Highlights
  • Automatic installation discovery
  • Play/pause control
  • Volume control
  • Apple Watch control
  • Full navigation options
  • Works with Kodi and Plex
Features
Read full description

Features: • Automatic installation discovering • Easy play pause control access • Volume control • Apple Watch control • Every navigations options controls • Work with Kodi and Plex • and more

About

Remote Buddy Mobile 2

Control your Mac from your iPhone or iPad. Use it as a trackpad, keyboard, or for app-specific controls and media playback. Mirror your Mac's screen and manage power functions remotely.

Highlights
  • Remote control for 100+ Mac apps
  • Multi-touch trackpad with Mousespot
  • Web video playback control
  • Screen mirroring up to 60fps
  • Keyboard and numpad input
  • Power actions and Wake-On-LAN
  • Secure TLS connection
Features
Read full description

Control your Mac, with your iPhone or iPad acting as trackpad, keyboard, mirrored display and powerful remote control for 100+ Mac apps. Watch web videos and streaming services in Safari or Google Chrome and control playback, speed and volume from the comfort of your couch. Use the built-in, high performance screen sharing to mirror your screen on your device's display and control your Mac from another room. Deliver your presentations with confidence using the multitouch trackpad and its elegant Mousespot highlight. Launch, switch and quit apps - or pick from Remote Buddy's huge library of 1.200+ actions for 100+ popular Mac apps, right from your device. Remote Buddy Mobile is the mobile companion app for Remote Buddy, the remote control app for your Mac. KEY FEATURES • Remote Control Control 100+ popular Mac apps with 1.200+ tailor-made actions. • Multi-touch Trackpad with Mousespot Click, drag, scroll, switch spaces or invoke Mission Control. Want to highlight parts of your presentations? Or looking for the mouse pointer? Remote Buddy's Mousespot spotlight effect is just a tap away! • Shortcut Bar The configurable shortcut bar provides quick access to essential actions for the controlled app in the Remote and Trackpad modes. • Smart Remote Fusing the best parts of remote, trackpad and shortcut bar into a single, app-specific view, Smart Remote puts everything needed to control an app within reach. • Web Video Control Control playback, speed and volume of almost all web videos - without having to fiddle with controls in the browser. Works with YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, tv.apple.com, Vimeo and many more in Safari and Google Chrome. • Screen Sharing Instantly see your Mac's screen, with up to 60 frames per second. Supports zooming, dragging, clicking, scrolling, multiple displays and more. • Actions and App Control Pick from Remote Buddy's huge library of 1.200+ app-specific actions; launch, switch and quit apps right from your device. Favorite frequently used apps and actions for quick access. • Keyboard and Numpad Type text and numbers into browsers, search fields, editors, spreadsheets and more. Supports modifiers, cursor keys, the iOS keyboard's dictation feature, password manager integration and more. • Power Actions and Wake-On-LAN Save power by putting your Mac to sleep - and wake it up later through Wake-On-LAN. Or initiate a reboot or shut down right from the app. • Audio Settings Change your system's default audio output to a different device or AirPlay target. Control its volume and mute status where supported. • Connection secured with TLS Support for the new Secure Connection feature of Remote Buddy 2.0, keeping your connection private through strong, certificate-based TLS 1.2 encryption. SUPPORTED APPS Some of the Mac apps that Remote Buddy for Mac and – thereby – Remote Buddy Mobile can control out of the box: Acrobat Pro, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Reader, AirFoil, Aperture, Audio Hijack 3, Audirvana, Books, Broadcasts, Calendar, Deckset, DVD Player, Elmedia Video Player, EyeTV, FlexTime, Firefox, GarageBand, Google Chrome, Impress (OpenOffice.org & LibreOffice), iPhoto, iTunes, Keynote, Kodi, Lightroom 1/2/3/4/5/Classic/CC, Mac Blu-Ray Player, Movist, Music, OpenPHT, Photo Booth, Photos, Plex for Mac, Plex Media Player, Podcasts, PowerPoint, Preview, QuickTime Player, Roon, Safari, Skim, Spotify, TV.app, VoodooPad, VLC, XBMC, Yojimbo A complete list of supported apps is available at the Remote Buddy website. If you want us to add support for an app that's not listed there, please let us know through the contact form of our website. HOST REQUIREMENTS Requires a Mac running Remote Buddy 2.0 or later. Remote Buddy 2.0 requires macOS 10.12 or later. Licenses for Remote Buddy for the Mac are sold separately and not part of this app.

Screenshots

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote2 screens
Remote Buddy Mobile 24 screens

Verdict

The call

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote and Remote Buddy Mobile 2 both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 75% of Remote Buddy Mobile 2's written reviews are positive against 32% of Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote's. Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 12 months) and ratings volume (133 vs 35). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Remote Buddy Mobile 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 133 and 35 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote's written reviews are positive against 75% of Remote Buddy Mobile 2's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote ships an update every 2 months, Remote Buddy Mobile 2 every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote versus Remote Buddy Mobile 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlex & Kodi (XBMC) remoteRemote Buddy Mobile 2
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (133 ratings)4.6 (35 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.1% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings133 — better35
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.4
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAntoine BarraultIOSPIRIT GmbH

Customer experience

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote

All ratings133 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral2.3%
Negative12.0%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive32.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative62.8%

Remote Buddy Mobile 2

All ratings34 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote

Reported bugs

47 issues
  • App did not find Kodi or Plex sessions
  • App Support link goes to a broken web page
  • No way to manually enter settings
  • App doesn't work on app installations or web versions of Plex
  • App is useless without manual settings
Show 42 more
  • App does not find Plex installation
  • App Support does not work
  • App doesn't find any Plex installations on network
  • App doesn't work
  • App does not find Kodi
  • App gives no option to configure manually
  • App can't connect with Plex
  • App only controls volume and stops playback
  • App crashes as soon as I try to tap IP address or any other info
  • Controls won't work unless I purchase apps
  • Not possible to test before buy
  • App did not work, lacked options & settings
  • App doesn't work at all
  • App doesn't see Kodi and gives no option to configure manually
  • App is useless since I can't get it to connect with my plex
  • App doesn't work with plex
  • App crashes on tap
  • App doesn't work with Plex install
  • App doesn't work with plex even with instructions
  • App not worth downloading
  • Couldn't connect with XBMC
  • Can't connect
  • App didn't work for plex
  • App doesn't work with Plex
  • App has different port for remote control
  • App doesn't work well enough to get to the point where you would push play
  • App has an error when trying to enter IP
  • App support won't open
  • App has to pay for certain buttons to work
  • App does not work with Boxee
  • App has no instruction or help menu
  • App has no support or instructions on setting up remote for plex
  • App has an ad at the bottom
  • App has ads
  • App has ads that cover up buttons
  • App has iAd blocking buttons
  • App doesn't type for web surfing
  • App only works for 2 secs before crashing
  • App requires purchase of play button
  • Ads won't go away even after paying
  • Ads cover up info and play/pause buttons making them unusable
  • Ads cover the bottom buttons

Requested features

6 requests
  • Needs more buttons
  • Keyboard mode for text entry
  • Option to configure manually
  • Make it free or cost money
  • Type for web surfing
Show 1 more
  • More comprehensive controls

Remote Buddy Mobile 2

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote

No in-app purchases

None

Remote Buddy Mobile 2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote free?
Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Remote Buddy Mobile 2 free?
Remote Buddy Mobile 2 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote or Remote Buddy Mobile 2?
Remote Buddy Mobile 2 is rated higher. Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote averages 4.4 out of 5 from 133 ratings, while Remote Buddy Mobile 2 averages 4.6 from 35 ratings.
Do Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote or Remote Buddy Mobile 2 have ads?
Neither Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote nor Remote Buddy Mobile 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote or Remote Buddy Mobile 2?
Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote ships an update every 2 months, and Remote Buddy Mobile 2 every 12 months. Most recently, Plex & Kodi (XBMC) remote was updated on November 1, 2026 and Remote Buddy Mobile 2 on November 3, 2026.

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