By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote Panasonic kept real buttons on their TVs longer than most brands, which makes the no-remote input switch a solved problem on every model year, even the ones no app can control.
How do I switch inputs with the buttons on the TV?
Face the TV and reach around the rear left edge (some models: bottom edge). You’re feeling for a small cluster: power, volume, channel, and an F or MENU button. The dance: hold F/MENU until a function list draws on screen, step through it to Input Select (repeated presses of F/MENU or the channel keys, model-depending), then use volume +/- to pick the input and confirm with F/MENU. Thirty seconds once you know the pattern.
When can my iPhone do this instead?
On every Viera through the 2018 model year, immediately and permanently. These sets accept network control with no pairing whatsoever:
- iPhone on the same Wi-Fi as the TV.
- Open A Decent Remote; the Viera appears and connects with no PIN and no prompt.
- Inputs, volume, apps, navigation and media keys are now on the phone.
It’s the easiest brand in the entire lineup, which makes the next part more annoying.
What about 2019 and newer sets?
From 2019, Panasonic encrypted their control protocol with per-device keys, so these sets no longer take commands from anyone on the network. Pairing still works, but the TV shows a PIN you type into the phone first. A Decent Remote does that handshake, and tells you plainly when a set will not take it, rather than connecting to nothing (the full story). Coverage varies by model year, and the fallbacks if yours will not pair are the button dance above, Panasonic’s own app where your model is supported, or a $10 generic IR remote, which decades of stable Panasonic IR codes make a near-certain fix. HDMI-CEC also helps daily: wake the streaming box you want and the TV switches to it by itself.
