By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote 
Search for a free Samsung remote app and you get a wall of apps that are free for three days and then ask for a weekly fee. The genuinely free one is Samsung’s own, and it is good. Here is what it does, what it asks for in return, and when something else is quicker.
What is the best free Samsung TV remote app?
SmartThings, from Samsung. It costs nothing, there is no trial clock, and it runs on iPhone and Android. Once your TV is added as a device, the TV’s card in the app opens a full remote: power, volume, channels, a number pad, a touchpad for moving around, plus Home and Back.
What you pay instead is set-up:
- A Samsung account, with the TV added to it.
- A few extra taps, because SmartThings is a smart-home app with a remote inside it.
- On iPhone, iOS 17 or newer, according to its App Store listing.
If you own one Samsung TV, an Android phone and no strong feelings about accounts, stop reading and use it. Most other “free” remote apps in the store are free to download and then charge for the useful part, which the no-subscription list sets out app by app.
How do I set up SmartThings as a free Samsung remote?
- Switch the TV on and put your phone on the same Wi-Fi. A guest network often hides the TV, and if your router offers two bands, Samsung’s support page suggests the 2.4 GHz one.
- Install SmartThings and sign in with your Samsung account.
- Tap Add (the plus icon), then Device, By brand, Samsung and TV, then Start.
- Choose the Location and Room for the TV.
- Confirm on the TV. Depending on the model year, you select OK or type in a PIN shown on the screen.
- Open the TV’s card and tap the remote icon.
Step 5 can be the catch when the remote is the problem. A PIN you read off the screen needs no remote, but an OK on the TV does. The TV’s own controller button can press it, and the lost Samsung remote guide shows where to find it.
When is a different Samsung remote app better than SmartThings?
SmartThings wins on price, on Android and on anything Samsung-specific, such as linking the TV to the rest of a Samsung smart home. A separate remote app is quicker in a few plain situations:
- You do not want a Samsung account just to change the channel.
- It is not your TV. In a rental, at a friend’s or at a parent’s, SmartThings wants the set registered to your account. A Decent Remote asks the TV once and keeps no account.
- You have other brands. Two or three official apps means two or three sign-ins and layouts. A Decent Remote covers thirteen brands in one.
- You want the remote to be the first screen, with a Source key and app tiles within reach.
If none of those apply, SmartThings is the better deal. The Galaxy phone guide compares the Samsung features on Android.
How do I pair A Decent Remote with a Samsung TV?
- Put the iPhone on the same Wi-Fi as the TV, with the TV on and showing a picture, not in standby or Art Mode.
- Open the app. It finds Samsung TVs on the network. Tap yours.
- The TV shows a request from “A Decent Remote”. Select Allow. The TV withdraws the request after about 30 seconds, and Retry in the app shows it again.
- Press any key. Later connections are silent, with no second approval.
It works on Samsung smart TVs from about 2016 over Wi-Fi. Sets from 2010 to 2015 use older protocols, and some of them ask for a PIN instead. The app is free for your first 50 button presses, then paid, with no ads and no account. The Android version is being built now. Leave your email and you get one message the day it is on Google Play.
What does a free Samsung remote app not do?
- Work without a network. An old TV with no Wi-Fi cannot be reached, and an iPhone has no infrared blaster to fall back on.
- Wake an unplugged TV. Power-on from the phone works while the TV keeps its network alive in standby. After a power cut it needs one press of the power button first.
- Cross networks. The phone and TV must see each other, so a guest network or a VPN can hide the set.
- Run on Android. SmartThings does. Ours is iPhone only today.
Is there a free Samsung remote that needs no app?
Sometimes. An iPhone’s Control Center remote works on Samsung sets that support AirPlay, after you add the TV to the Home app. It is a basic remote with arrows and pause, not inputs or app launch, and the Control Center guide shows how to check your set. The small controller button on the TV is the other free option, good for power and the on-screen menu in an emergency.