Lost Your LG TV Remote? Your iPhone Can Replace It

By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote

Quick answer Any LG webOS TV (2014 and newer) can be controlled from an iPhone over Wi-Fi. Accept the one-time pairing prompt with the joystick button under the LG logo, or plug a USB mouse into the TV. After that, the phone handles navigation, volume, apps, and even turning the TV back on.

LG’s Magic Remote is a genuinely nice remote, which makes losing it genuinely annoying: a replacement runs $20-$40. But every LG smart TV since 2014 runs webOS, and webOS accepts remote control from a phone over Wi-Fi. Like Samsung, there’s exactly one hurdle: a pairing prompt on the TV that must be accepted once. Here’s the no-remote way through it.

How do I accept LG’s pairing prompt without a remote?

Two hardware facts about LG TVs come to the rescue:

The joystick button. Nearly every LG TV has a small physical joystick under the front bezel, centered below the LG logo (some models: bottom-left rear). Press it in for OK, nudge it for navigation. One press on “Yes” is all the pairing needs.

USB mice just work. webOS is a pointer-driven OS (the Magic Remote is essentially an air mouse), so a normal USB mouse plugged into the TV’s USB port gives you a cursor immediately. If crouching under the TV to fiddle with a joystick isn’t appealing, the mouse is the comfortable option.

How do I pair my iPhone with an LG TV?

Connect your iPhone to the same Wi-Fi network as the TV.
Open A Decent Remote. LG TVs on the network show up automatically.
Tap the TV; the pairing request appears on screen.
Accept it with the joystick or mouse. Done. The approval is stored, and future connections are silent.

From then on you have the full remote on your phone: navigation, volume, inputs, app launching, and your iPhone keyboard for the TV’s search. The app can also turn the TV back on, because webOS TVs listen for a network wake signal even when off (if yours doesn’t respond, check that “Turn on via Wi-Fi” is enabled in Settings → Network).

What if the LG TV isn’t on Wi-Fi?

Use the joystick or a USB mouse to reach Settings → Network and join your Wi-Fi. One-time chore; after that, everything is phone-based.

What are the other options for a lost LG remote?

A replacement Magic Remote is $20-$40, and LG’s ThinQ app (like SmartThings) is a smart-home hub with a remote inside it. A Decent Remote is the remote-first option: full navigation, volume that keeps working when a soundbar is attached, network wake on both of the TV’s interfaces, and your iPhone keyboard for search. And the same app runs the Samsung, Roku, Fire TV, Vizio or Apple TV in the rest of the house.

Get A Decent Remote on the App Store One iPhone remote for Roku, Samsung, LG, Sony, Fire TV, Apple TV, Vizio, Hisense, Philips, Panasonic, Toshiba, Chromecast and Android/Google TV

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Frequently asked questions

Can I pair my iPhone to an LG TV without the Magic Remote?

Yes. You just need to accept the on-screen pairing prompt once. Use the joystick button on the TV itself (under the front bezel, below the LG logo), or plug a USB mouse into the TV; webOS is pointer-based and supports mice natively.

Which LG TVs support phone remote apps?

Any LG TV running webOS, which is nearly every LG smart TV from 2014 onward. The TV exposes a local-network control API that apps connect to over Wi-Fi.

Can the app turn the TV back on?

Yes. After the first pairing, the TV can be woken over the network (Wake-on-LAN). On most recent models this works out of the box; on some you may need "Turn on via Wi-Fi" enabled in the TV's network settings.

Can I type with the iPhone keyboard?

In the TV's own search and text fields, yes, and it's much faster than the on-screen keyboard. Inside individual streaming apps, text input is restricted by LG's platform, so navigation there is by d-pad.