How To Convert Your iPhone Into Remote Control

iPhone → Remote Control

Mustufa Ansari
8 min readFeb 3, 2022
iPhone into remote control

You can do incredible things with your iPhone these days. Your iPhone gives you turn-by-turn driving directions, make you watch live streaming matches, shows you the best places to eat nearby, check you in for a flight, and entertain you while we’re waiting in some line.

The iPhone is an amazing gadget. But can you use it to operate our home cinema or lower the volume on our stereo? Yes. You possibly can do this. Remote control seems to control your home cinema faster than an eye blink. But they are often not around when you need them.

If you find yourself frequently and frantically searching around for the remote control, then you should consider turning to your iPhone into a remote control. That way you can control all your devices, using a device that you always have with you.

The iPhone remote control can make you control your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV with your phone. You’ll need to download a few applications on your for turning your iPhone into a remote-control device. Yes, it is no longer a tech dream to use your iPhone as a universal remote.

This article will help you and guide you on the ways by which you can turn your iPhone into a remote control.

Why You Should Turn iPhone Into Remote Control

Before we get started, let’s take a moment to talk about why you should turn your iPhone into a universal remote. The foremost reason is no other than convenience. Imagine being able to control your TV without getting up and grabbing the physical remote from across the hall.

Now think of tapping a single button on your iPhone Video Games, TV, receiver and Xbox One all operate simultaneously. You may have too many remotes, or not enough, universal remote on your phone makes operating your home entertainment system and smart appliances both easy and convenient.

How Remote-Control Works?

Let’s have a quick look at how a remote-control works?

The remote control operating system is based on the principle of infrared ray (IR) technology. You may be interested to know that works, although your eyes can’t see an infrared ray, your devices can. You might have noticed a red beam at the top of your remote control, which is an infrared signal source.

TVs, DVD players, cable boxes and stereos use that infrared (IR) signal to know when to do things like change the channel or play the DVD. Remote sends light pulses to the receiver. Those pulses encode a binary signal. The receiver decodes this pulse into binary code.

And send this binary code to the microprocessor. These codes represent commands, such as power on, volume up, or channel down. According to the binary code, the microprocessor sends a command to the component of the receiver to do the action.

For further understanding, you can watch the following video:

iPhone As Remote Control

iPhone remote control will get you a seamless experience. You can use your iPhone to control your smart TV from anywhere in the Wi-Fi range. With the latest version of iOS, the Apple TV Remote is automatically added to the Control Center of your phone.

As it works with Siri, you can ask the personal assistant to find something exciting to play or listen to. By using it you can quickly navigate and control your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV right. But if you don’t already have the Remote app on your iPhone or iPad, be sure to download it for free in the App Store.

With the top remote apps for iOS, you can turn your iPhone into an excellent remote control for your smart TV. All you need is to pick up out the most preferred app to get started. You can also operate your non-IOS smart devices with iPhone remote control. The following are a few methods by which you can do so.

1: How To Set Up The Apple Tv Remote In Control Center Of Your iPhone

If you’ve set up your iOS device to control your Apple TV, then the Apple TV Remote is automatically added to Control Center when you update to the latest version of iOS. you can also add up the Apple TV Remote to Control Center manually. All you need is to go to Settings > tap on Control Center > Customize Controls and tap the “Add” icon next to Apple TV Remote.

Then you will be required to set up the Apple TV Remote in Control Center:

2: How To Set Up Downloaded Apple Tv Remote App

For controlling an Apple TV (3rd generation), you need to download the Apple TV Remote app from the App Store on your iPhone for turning it into a remote control.

3: How To Set Up The Remote App On You iPhone Using Home Sharing

Another way of using the Remote app on your iPhone with Apple TV is home-sharing. you’ll need to connect the two devices so they can communicate with each other.

Firstly, open settings app On Apple TV.

  1. Click on Accounts.
  2. Then click on home-sharing and turn on home-sharing.
  3. You will be asked to enter your apple id if you have not signed in for further processing.
  4. Select Continue. And Enter the password associated with your Apple ID then click on sign in.
  5. Your Apple TV will display libraries with Home Sharing turned on that use your signed-in Apple ID.
  6. Then open Remote app on your iPhone and tap on Set up Home Sharing.
  7. Sign In your apple Id if you have not in the upper right corner of the screen and get started.

How To Use The Remote App To Control Apple Tv?

The interface of the Remote app might look different, but it works very similarly to the Siri Remote.

  • The remote app requires you to use the trackpad on the center of the screen, just like the trackpad on the Siri Remote.
  • Press and hold Menu to go directly to the Home screen.
  • Tap Play/Pause in the lower right corner of the screen to pause or play content.
  • Use your finger across the screen and swap left or right for rewinding or skipping ahead when content is playing.
  • While music is playing on Apple TV, tap Now Playing on the Remote app to access playback controls, like song skip, shuffle, and repeat.
  • When you are in a text field, a keyboard will automatically appear. Use the on-screen keyboard instead of swiping for typing.
  • You can also tap Hide in the upper left corner of the screen if don’t want the keyboard to pop up. Click on the keyboard icon in the upper left corner of the screen to call up the keyboard again.
  • For exiting screen tap menu

What If You Can’t Set Up The Apple TV Remote?

If you can’t set up or face any inconvenience regarding Apple TV Remote in Control Center or the Apple TV Remote app, try these steps. Check to see if you can set up the app after every step.

  1. Check that your iPhone, is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV. For checking on your iOS device, go to Settings > Wi-Fi. On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Network.
  2. Make sure that your iPhone, is updated to the latest version of iOS, and so is your apple tv
  3. Restart your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV. Also, try restarting your iPhone
  4. If you still can’t set up the Apple TV Remote, contact Apple Support.

iPhone Into Remote Control For Non-Ios Devices

You can not only Turn iPhone Into A Powerful Remote Control for Your apple Tv but also non-IOS devices. With the following top remote apps for iOS at your iPhone, you can turn your it into an excellent remote control for your smart TV. Setting up these remote app s is quite simple.

Once you are done with setting them, you will fine-tune the app to control your requirements. you can easily get these apps installed.

1. Samsung Smart View app

You can use Smart View to control your Samsung Smart TV even without a remote control. It can be easily installed on your iPhone very easily. This app can be picked for a more personalized experience. By using it you can quickly navigate and control your smart TV.

It also features the option of turning the compatible TV in a standby mode. Besides that, it comes with an art mode to customize images to your best liking.

2. Panasonic TV Remote 2 app

Panasonic television sets can be controlled using this app. It is a virtual remote control that allows you to connect your TV from your phone. The interface is clean and user-friendly.

Among several impressive features, it can also transfer pics from your iOS device to the TV or vice-versa.

3. Remote for LG TV

you’ll love this app if you own an LG smart television. This app has a cool interface and very easy to use. Added hotkeys allow you to adjust volume and switch channels more easily.

Once you connect the remote app with your TV, you can control multiple functionalities through this LG TV app. Make sure your smart TV and your iPhone are connected to the same Wi-fi network.

4. Android TV

In order to control your Android TV, this remote app is up is very convenient. It can easily turn your iPhone into a remote control. the neat Interface and touchpad gestures make it simple to handle your TV.

You can easily enter text with the software keyboard. It also provides the option to search using voice commands.

5. Sonymote

Your iPhone can be easily turned into sony tv remote control by this app. If you have Sony TV, you shouldn’t look beyond “Sonymote.” The app features intuitive user-interface and is easy-to-use. Besides, it doesn’t require any settings.

Sonymote has support for several languages. the free version of the app comes with ads. And if you want to have an uninterrupted experience, you will need to switch to the premium ($5.99) version. Make sure your smart TV and your iPhone are connected to the same Wi-fi network.

6. Universal remote tv smart

This is yet another universal remote-control app. For controlling your Android TV, this remote app is up is very convenient. Talking about the UI, it seems to be on point. It makes it quite simple to adjust volume and switch channels.

There is also a navigation pad to let you control the TV with ease. One important thing worth noting is that you will have to upgrade to the pro version ($4.99).

After you have installed a relevant app in your iPhone next step is to Launch the app. Some of the apps have better controls than others.

Conclusion

The iPhone remote control can make you control your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV with your iPhone. You’ll need to download a few applications on your phone for turning it into a remote-control device. In this article, we have explained multiple ways by which you do that and enjoy a seamless experience.

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Mustufa Ansari

📱Android/iOS Developer 🖋️ I Write For Mobile Developers 🎓 Tech Enthusiast