Samsung Tizen
Samsung TV keeps asking to allow a device? Why it happens and how to stop it
Nefarius Apps11 min read
When a Samsung TV keeps asking you to allow a device, a phone, tablet or app near the TV or on its network is asking to connect. The box comes from the TV's Device Connection Manager. It comes back for one of three reasons. Samsung names the Facebook app on a phone as the cause of the "Smart Device" box. An app or smart home hub can connect many times while the TV asks at each connection. Or a device that you do not know sends requests. To stop it, find the source, set Access Notification to First Time Only, and clean up the Device List.
Which pop-up is on your TV?
Samsung TVs show several boxes that look alike. Each box has a different source and a different setting. Find your box in this table before you change a setting.
| What you see | What it is | Where to stop it |
|---|---|---|
| A box that names a device, or "Smart Device", and asks for permission to connect, with Allow and Deny | A device near the TV or on its network that asks to connect | Device Connection Manager (the rest of this article) |
| A code on the TV screen when an iPhone or iPad connects | An AirPlay connection | Apple AirPlay Settings |
| A Bluetooth device, such as headphones or a speaker, that connects to the TV | A Bluetooth connection | Bluetooth Device List |
| A privacy notice that comes back every few hours | A Samsung message, not a device | Your Samsung account |
For AirPlay, Samsung's AirPlay guide, updated in February 2026, gives the path: Settings (All Settings), then General, then Apple AirPlay Settings. On 2022 to 2025 TVs, select Connection instead of General. Require Code sets if the TV asks for a code only the first time an Apple device connects, or every time. Reset Paired Devices removes all Apple devices from the TV's memory.
For Bluetooth, Samsung's Bluetooth guide gives the path: Settings, All Settings, Connection, Bluetooth Device List. Select the device, select Delete, and confirm with OK.
The privacy notice is not a device. TechRadar reported in February 2025 that some Samsung TVs show it every few hours. One owner stopped it: they signed in to their Samsung account on Samsung's website and opened the privacy updates. This is a user report, not a fix from Samsung.
Why does the Samsung TV keep asking to allow a device?
The box is the TV's permission step for phones, tablets and apps. Samsung's e-manual describes Device Connection Manager for "mobile devices or tablets connected to the same network as the TV". Our article on Samsung's allow-this-device prompt explains what Allow and Deny do. This section explains why the box comes back.
The "Smart Device" box and the Facebook app
One version of the box names no real device. It says that a "Smart Device" wants to connect, or that you must give permission to connect. Samsung's US support page on this message said that it "keeps returning even if you Allow or Deny it". Samsung gave the cause: "this message is actually caused by Facebook on your phone". The page told you to update or close the Facebook app on the phones and tablets on your network. That page now redirects to Samsung's support home, so this article links to the archived copy from February 2025.
A Samsung Community Manager gave the same cause in January 2024. The moderator wrote that the box appears when the Facebook app runs on a nearby phone or on a device connected to your Wi-Fi. In an apartment building, a neighbor's phone could make the box appear. The moderator also wrote that Facebook was looking into the issue. We found no later statement from Samsung that the issue is fixed.
Owners report one more detail. In a 2021 Reddit thread, an owner saw the box about 15 times a day. Each request was a new "Smart Device" entry. For this reason, Deny on one entry does not stop the next request.
An app or a smart home hub that connects again and again
Phone remote apps and smart home hubs, such as Home Assistant and Homebridge, connect to the TV again and again. An app connects when you open it, and a hub connects when it restarts. If the TV asks at each connection, you see the box each time.
The Home Assistant documentation has a troubleshooting entry with the name "Samsung TV keeps asking for permission". It says: "The default setting on newer televisions is to ask for permission on every connection attempt." Owners report the same problem with other tools. On the Homebridge plugin's issue tracker, a user wrote in 2019 that the TV asked often, probably at each restart of Homebridge, although Access Notification was Off. On Samsung's European forum, iPhone owners wrote that their remote apps were asked every time.
If the box shows the name of an app or a hub that you use, this is the cause. The settings in the next section stop it.
A device that you do not know
A guest's phone on your Wi-Fi can send a request. On a shared network, the devices of other residents can send requests too. On Samsung's European forum, an owner in a condo with shared Wi-Fi cleared 135 entries from the list. Another owner on a school network got the box every few minutes.
For the remote-control connections that apps and hubs use, the device must be on the same network as the TV. The Home Assistant documentation says that Samsung TVs do not accept these connections from a different subnet or VLAN. The "Smart Device" box is different: Samsung's moderator also names Facebook on a nearby phone. Our guide to a phone and a TV on the same Wi-Fi that do not connect explains guest networks and device isolation, which keep devices apart on a router.
How to stop the pop-up
Do these steps in order. Use the TV's own remote, because the box and the settings are on the TV.
Close or update Facebook on the phones in your home
Samsung's fix for the "Smart Device" box is on the phones, not on the TV.
- Find the phones and tablets in your home that have the Facebook app.
- Update the Facebook app on each one, or close it.
- Watch the TV to see if the box stops.
You cannot close the apps on a neighbor's phone. If you live in a building with shared Wi-Fi, use the TV settings below.
Set Access Notification to First Time Only
Access Notification is the setting that controls the box. Samsung's 2020 e-manual says that it sets "whether to display a notification when an external device such as a mobile device or tablet attempts to connect to the TV". Home Assistant tells you to set it to First Time Only. Then, the documentation says, "the TV should no longer ask for permission on each connection".
On newer Samsung TVs, the path is in Samsung's 2023 e-manual:
- Press the Home button on the TV remote.
- Select Menu, then Settings, then All Settings.
- Select Connection.
- Select External Device Manager.
- Select Device Connection Manager.
- Select Access Notification, and then select First Time Only.
On older TVs, Samsung's 2020 e-manual puts the same menu in Settings, then General, then External Device Manager, then Device Connection Manager. Some models show the name Device Connect Manager. Samsung says that menus change with the model and the software version.
Clean up the Device List
The Device List is in the same menu. Samsung's e-manual says that it manages "a list of external devices registered to the TV". Samsung's 2018 e-manual adds that you can view, edit or remove the entries.
- Open Device Connection Manager, as in the steps above.
- Select Device List.
- Remove the old entries, such as a long list of "Smart Device" entries.
- For an app or a hub that you use, set its entry to Allow.
- For a name that you do not know, set the entry to Deny, or remove it.
Home Assistant gives the same advice: clean up the earlier connection attempts in the Device List. Samsung's Smart View guide shows the opposite case: if the TV rejects a phone, select the phone in the list and change it to Allow.
Why Off is not the fix
Some guides tell you to set Access Notification to Off. Samsung's e-manual does not say what the TV does with a new device when it shows no box. Owners report two different results. Some owners still got the box with the setting at Off, on Samsung's forum and on Reddit. In the Samsung Community thread, the owner wrote that the menu says devices connect automatically when notifications are off. Use First Time Only. With it, the TV still asks the first time each device connects.
Is someone trying to get into your TV?
The box itself is not a sign of an attack. Samsung names the Facebook app as the cause of the "Smart Device" box. A request comes from a device near the TV or on its network, and the box exists so that a person in the room decides. The box waits for a selection on the TV itself, so the phone that sends the request cannot answer it.
Select Deny for a name that you do not know. If unknown requests continue on your home Wi-Fi, change the Wi-Fi password. The US Federal Trade Commission's guide to home Wi-Fi security says: "A unique and secure Wi-Fi network password prevents strangers from getting onto your network."
On a shared network in a condo, a dorm or a campground, you do not control the password. If you can, connect the TV to a network that only your household uses.
A remote app that asks only once
Phone remote apps use the same box. Tivi, a universal TV remote app for iPhone from Nefarius Apps, finds the TVs on your Wi-Fi. It controls Samsung, LG, Android TV and Google TV sets and needs no account. Commands go from the phone to the TV on the local network.
At the first connection to a Samsung TV, the TV shows the box with the app's name. Select Allow on the TV. The TV then gives Tivi an approval, and Tivi keeps it. Each time Tivi connects again, it sends the approval back to the TV. If your TV is set to ask at every connection, set Access Notification to First Time Only. If you remove the TV from Tivi, Tivi deletes the approval, and the TV asks again at the next connection. The guide on how to control a Samsung TV with your iPhone gives the full procedure.
Tivi has limits:
- The iPhone and the TV must be on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Tivi cannot answer the box for you. Select Allow with the TV's remote.
- Tivi has no input button, and it does not control Roku devices or Apple TV.
The short version
A Samsung TV that keeps asking to allow a device gets connection requests from a device near the TV or on its network. Samsung blames the "Smart Device" box on the Facebook app on a phone or tablet. Other causes are an app or hub that connects often while the TV asks every time, and a device that you do not know, often on shared Wi-Fi.
Close or update Facebook on the phones in your home. Then open Device Connection Manager on the TV, set Access Notification to First Time Only, and clean up the Device List. Do not use Off as the fix. Deny names that you do not know, and change your Wi-Fi password if unknown requests continue.
Common questions
Should I press Allow or Deny?
Select Allow only for a name that you know, such as an app on your own phone or a hub that you set up. Select Deny for all other names. For the "Smart Device" box, Deny is a safe choice, but the box can come back as a new request. The settings in Device Connection Manager stop it better than one Deny.
Can my neighbor connect to my Samsung TV?
A neighbor's device can send a request from the same network as the TV. Samsung's moderator also wrote that a nearby phone that runs Facebook can make the box appear. With Access Notification set to First Time Only, a new device cannot connect until someone selects Allow on the TV. Samsung does not document what happens with Off. If you see names you do not know on your home network, change the Wi-Fi password.
Does the Smart Device box come from Bluetooth?
Samsung does not say that. Its e-manual describes Device Connection Manager for devices on the same network as the TV. Bluetooth devices use a different list, the Bluetooth Device List, which you find in Settings, All Settings and then Connection.
Can I answer the box without the remote?
The box waits for a selection on the TV itself. The easiest way is the TV's remote. If you lost the remote, our guide to a lost TV remote explains what you can try on a Samsung TV, such as the control button on the TV.
Sources
- Samsung (archived 2025). Smart Device message keeps appearing on my Samsung TV.
- Samsung Community (2024). Smart Device pop up messages asking to connect.
- Samsung (2023). E-Manual for 2023 TVs.
- Samsung (2020). E-Manual for 2020 TVs.
- Samsung (2018). E-Manual for 2018 TVs.
- Samsung (2022). How to connect mobile device and TV with Smart View.
- Samsung (2026). How to connect mobile device and TV with AirPlay.
- Samsung (2024). How to connect Bluetooth devices to your Samsung TV.
- Home Assistant. Samsung Smart TV integration.
- TechRadar (2025). Infuriating pop-up appearing on your Samsung TV? You're not alone.
- Federal Trade Commission (2022). How to secure your home Wi-Fi network.
- Reddit, r/4kTV (2021). Samsung TV smart device permission notification.
- Samsung Community (2019). Smart Device trying to Connect Everytime.
- Samsung Community (2019). Smart device permission notification.
- GitHub, homebridge-samsung-tizen (2019). TV always requests to grant the control.