Android TV and Google TV guides

Android TV is the platform under a wide range of TVs and streaming boxes, and Google TV is the interface Google layers on top of it — one remote protocol covers both. It's one of the platforms Tivi, a universal TV remote app for iPhone and Android from Nefarius Apps, drives end to end, alongside Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Roku, and that includes the Chromecast with Google TV.

Pairing is a six-character code shown on the TV the first time a phone connects, typed back into the app once. After that the TV recognises the app by its certificate and stops asking. The thing to check is the hardware rather than the setup: a Cast-only Chromecast, or an uncertified Android box, doesn't run the remote service at all, so there's nothing to pair with — a Cast-only device gets volume and playback over Cast instead.

Start with how to control an Android TV or Google TV from an iPhone for the full walkthrough, or Android TV vs Google TV if the two names are the confusing part.