Guides

How to Convert Your Smartphone Into a TV Remote Without an IR Blaster

Lost the clicker somewhere between the couch cushions again? In plenty of Aussie loungerooms, the humble TV remote has officially become redundant. With most modern televisions sold through retailers from JB Hi-Fi to Kogan now relying on WiFi, Bluetooth, or HDMI-CEC instead of the old infrared blaster, that dusty plastic wand can stay lost down the back of the sofa for all anyone cares.

What you actually need is already sitting in your pocket. Whether you are streaming the footy on Foxtel, binging Kayo during the cricket, or just trying to mute a screaming toddler mid-Elmo on Stan, your phone can take over as a full-featured controller for most smart TVs, set-top boxes, and streaming sticks. The trick is knowing which connection standard your gear speaks and then picking an app that speaks it too. This guide walks through the wireless options available right across Australia, covers the apps that work with local telly brands, and sorts the tricks that save you when the handset refuses to behave.

Why modern televisions dropped the infrared blaster

For decades, every TV shipped with a little red-glowing eye on the front that listened for invisible pulses of light from the remote. Infrared worked fine in the era of analogue broadcasting, but it requires line-of-sight, has a short range, and cannot push commands back to the handset. Once WiFi became cheap enough to bake into a $400 Kogan or Hisense set, manufacturers began phasing out the IR receiver to save space, slim down bezels, and offer richer interactive features.

Modern smart TVs communicate through several different wireless standards, and knowing which one your set speaks determines which control method your phone can use. WiFi is the most common, since it is what streaming services already run over. Bluetooth Low Energy shows up in premium Samsung and LG models, while HDMI-CEC lets the TV pass commands through the HDMI cable to whatever is plugged in, like an Apple TV, Chromecast, or Fetch box. Casting protocols such as Google Cast and Apple AirPlay are technically not remote control standards, but they can perform the same role when you just want to fling a show from your phone onto the big screen.

Here is how the common connection options stack up against each other, especially when you are trying to control gear that is not in the same room.

Connection type Needs line-of-sight Works through walls Typical range Works without internet
Infrared blaster Yes No 5 to 10 metres Yes
Bluetooth No Partly 10 to 15 metres Yes
WiFi (same network) No Yes Anywhere with router No
HDMI-CEC No No Cable length Yes
Google Cast / AirPlay No Yes Anywhere with router No

For most Australian households running Netflix on the telly and Foxtel through a set-top box, WiFi remains the most flexible option because it works through walls and does not require the phone to be aimed at the screen. If you are using a Fetch box with Telstra internet at home in Sydney, the remote app on the Fetch box will hop onto the same 2.4 Ghz network and let you change channels from the kitchen while dinner bubbles away on the barbie.

Universal remote apps worth installing

If your telly is anything from a 2020 Samsung QLED to a budget Hisense bought at a Boxing Day sale, chances are it has a first-party companion app already sitting in the App Store or Play Store. Most of these apps are free, sit quietly on your phone, and replicate every button on the original clicker, including the volume rocker, the directional pad, and the home button. Where they fall short is when you have a mishmash of gear from different brands around the house, which is exactly when a third-party universal remote earns its keep.

Apps worth considering for Australian homes:

The Sure Universal and Mi Remote apps are particularly handy because they include a virtual IR blaster built into the software itself, using the phone's WiFi radio to mimic the pulses an IR handset would normally send. They will not work on every old telly, but they are a life-saver when you need to control a non-smart panel through a streaming stick or HDMI CEC.

Pairing your handset with the telly in a few taps

Pairing usually begins with making sure the phone and the telly share the same WiFi network. Australians on Telstra or Optus NBN at home in Brisbane will already have one network covering both devices, so this step is mostly a matter of confirming you have not accidentally left your handset on the 4G backup network. Open the TV's settings menu, look for the network or remote section, and confirm that WiFi remote, mobile control, or DMP is switched on. Different brands bury this toggle in different places, but the wording tends to be similar across the board.

Next, open the app on your phone and let it scan the network for compatible devices. The first time you connect, the TV will usually pop up a four-digit PIN that you type into the app. After that initial handshake, the phone remembers the pairing forever and reconnects automatically whenever both devices are awake. From that point on, swiping across the app feels identical to pressing buttons on the physical remote, including volume, channel changing, and inputs.

Make sure the TV firmware is updated before pairing, since older firmware versions sometimes drop new phone app compatibility and leave you stranded. Turn off any VPN on the phone temporarily, because VPNs push both devices onto different virtual networks and break the handshake. Stand within a couple of metres of the telly during the first pairing, even though WiFi works at greater distances afterwards. If the app still cannot find the TV, restart the modem, as routers occasionally lock out new smart-home connections after a long uptime.

If you are using an HDMI-CEC capable box, the setup is even simpler. Plug the box into the TV's HDMI port, switch on Anynet+, Simplink, or Bravia Sync in the TV menu (the wording depends on whether you have Samsung, LG, or Sony), and the box will respond to the telly's native remote automatically. From there, you can control the box through the phone's casting menu the same way you handle audio at home.

Casting from your phone when the remote option fails

Sometimes you do not actually need a remote app. You just want to fling a YouTube clip, a Stan show, or a highlights package from the AFL live app onto the big screen while you finish folding the washing. That is what casting protocols exist for, and they are baked into most phones sold in Australia over the last five years.

Google Cast works from any Android phone or any browser tab on any device. Tap the cast button inside the app, pick your TV from the list, and the stream jumps from the handset to the telly in seconds. The phone then becomes a play, pause, and volume remote without any extra setup. Apple AirPlay does the same trick for iPhone users with an Apple TV or any AirPlay-compatible smart TV. Foxtel, Kayo, Stan, Binge, and the AFL live app all support one or both of these protocols, which means the casting button often replaces the remote altogether for casual watching. The phone keeps playing audio through its own hardware too, so earbuds stay connected while the picture moves to the bigger screen.

For those who rely on the standard two-finger scroll on apps that only stream on the small screen, casting is often the simplest path. While you are sorting out your telly setup, you might also want to block spam calls and messages on your phone in Nigeria, since switching WiFi networks sometimes wakes up old text scams that had been silent for months.

Sorting out glitches and signal hiccups

Even with the right app installed, you will occasionally hit a snag where the phone and the telly refuse to talk to each other. The most common cause in Australian households is router-related, since most NBN boxes are crammed behind a TV cabinet alongside the modem and struggle with interference from Bluetooth speakers, soundbars, and microwaves all fighting for the same 2.4 GHz airspace. Moving the router a metre or two away from the telly, switching the smart TV to the 5 GHz band, or hardwiring it onto Ethernet will usually solve the problem.

If the TV drops off the app's device list entirely, head into the TV's network settings and run a fresh connection test. That will tell you whether the issue sits with the router, the telly, or the phone. From there, the following checklist covers the most common fixes Australians tend to hit during a typical arvo of troubleshooting.

Quick fixes for stubborn pairings:

For users who also like to keep an eye on global alerts, it helps when a single handset can switch from entertainment to information without missing a beat, like checking the breaking flood warning issued for coastal areas in Lagos and Delta States during a commercial break without losing control of the broadcast.

Once everything is humming along, you can stash the physical remote in a drawer for safekeeping and the next time someone says the clicker is lost, you can just pull out the phone and keep the show going.