A remote menu control function mapping set including user interface control commands that control operation of a second device is obtained at a first device from the second device. The user interface control commands are encoded using a shared cross-communication library that defines a user interface sharing protocol. A menu that maps the encoded user interface control commands to menu items using the shared cross-communication library is generated. The generated menu is displayed on a display of the first device. A selection of a menu item from the displayed menu is detected. An encoded user interface control command that is mapped to the selected menu item is sent to the second device. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.