Media Bar in Android TV

[Haioken]

The Android TV app is not a web wrapper client.

Ok, so with the understanding then that the WebOS client is a web wrapper client, I have the WebOS version installed on my father's TV and it works flawlessly with a remote.
Selection of elements follows a reasonably natural flow.

However if I install the Android version (not Android TV) - which is also a web wrapper client, the remote control is basically unusable.
The navigation buttons seem to be operating as a mouse cursor, with no visibility.

Would it be possible to modify the official android client to allow the remote to function like it does on WebOS when sideloaded to a TV?

I understand that the UI in the android client is designed for touch capability, but if remote navigation has previously successfully been built for WebOS, I would expect that it can't be that difficult to implement on the android app side, after all they're both web wrappers - thus little more than a directed embedded browser?