Blog
TV remote guides for iPhone.
Guides to controlling a TV from your iPhone — how discovery works, how Samsung, LG and Android TV sets pair, and what to do when a TV won't show up.
Setup & pairing
Local network access, discovery and the pairing prompts each TV shows on first connection.
3 articlesSamsung Tizen
Controlling Samsung smart TVs — the prompt that appears on screen and what Tizen exposes.
2 articlesLG webOS
Pairing with webOS sets, the prompt on the TV and the buttons the LG protocol supports.
2 articlesAndroid TV & Google TV
Android TV boxes and Google TV sticks, and the pairing code they ask for up front.
2 articlesGoogle Cast
Chromecast and Cast-built-in TVs — playback, volume and what casting can and can't do.
1 articleRoku
Roku players, sticks and Roku TVs, and the keys their remote protocol makes available.
Coming soonDLNA
Generic DLNA renderers — the fallback for sets that speak nothing more specific.
Coming soonTroubleshooting
A TV that won't appear, a pairing that won't take, a command that doesn't land.
1 article12 min
Why LG TVs are harder to find on a home network than Samsung ones
Samsung announces itself; an LG has to be looked for. The Apple entitlement behind the difference, and what to check when an LG is slow to show up.
10 min
How to control an Android TV or Google TV from an iPhone
A six-character code, typed once. How an iPhone pairs with an Android TV, a Google TV or a Chromecast with Google TV — and which Chromecasts it can't drive.
5 min
Android TV vs Google TV: what changes for a remote
Same OS, same remote protocol, different home screen. What the two names actually mean, and why a remote app doesn't need a separate version for either.
6 min
Casting is not remote control: what Google Cast can and can't do
Two different jobs people lump together as one. What casting controls once a stream is running, and why menu navigation was never part of it.
10 min
How to control an LG TV with your iPhone
One PIN, typed once — after that an LG webOS TV stops asking. What pairs, what the buttons do, and why LG can take its time to show up in the scan.
7 min
Samsung's “allow this device” prompt, explained
The box on screen is Tizen's permission model, not an error. What Allow and Deny actually do, and where the TV keeps its list of remembered devices.
11 min
How to control a Samsung TV with your iPhone
Same Wi-Fi, one allow prompt on the TV, no Samsung account. What works, what Samsung's protocol never exposes, and what to do when the set stays hidden.
10 min
Your TV doesn't show up in the remote app: a diagnostic checklist
Permission first, then network layout, then the TV itself. Ordered by how often each one is actually the cause, not by how technical it sounds.
7 min
Does a TV remote app need Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi, infrared and Bluetooth compared
No iPhone has ever shipped an infrared emitter, so no App Store remote can drive an old non-network TV. The three transports, and the honest alternative.
7 min
Why a TV remote app asks for Local Network access on iPhone
Decline the dialog and the app is not broken, it is blindfolded — iOS returns no devices and no error. What the permission actually gates.
12 min
How to use your iPhone as a TV remote
What actually has to be true for a phone to drive a TV — a smart TV, a shared network, a protocol the app speaks, and usually a one-time pairing handshake.