Free Vizio Remote App: Vizio's Own and What Else Works

Search for a free Vizio remote app and the store hands you a dozen lookalikes, many of them free for three days and then billed weekly. The genuinely free one is Vizio’s own, and it is good. Here is what it asks for in return, and when something else is quicker.

Which Vizio TVs can use a free remote app at all?

Only SmartCast sets, which Vizio began shipping in 2016 and later sold as VIZIO OS. A phone remote talks to the TV over your Wi-Fi, and the older sets from 2010 to 2015 run VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA or VIA+) with nothing on the network to talk to.

The model number tells you. A lowercase i or d straight after the screen size marks the old generation, as in E500i-B1E or M501d-A2R. SmartCast numbers don’t carry it: E55-E1, M65-F0, V435-J01. A few 2015 sets, such as the M43-C1, have no letter and are still the old kind, while the 2016 P65-C1 was already SmartCast, so a -A, -B or -C suffix settles nothing. The app’s own message does.

For one of those, Vizio’s own app costs nothing to try. A Decent Remote can’t pair with it, and says so on screen instead of timing out.

What does Vizio’s free remote app do, and what does it cost you?

VIZIO Mobile, from VIZIO, Inc. It is free with no trial clock. Once you pick your TV in the app, it is a full remote, and in some SmartCast apps it lets you type with the phone keyboard. Around the remote it also gives you:

• Soundbar controls: volume, bass, treble and sound modes.
• Casting photos and videos to the TV.
• WatchFree+, over 300 free live channels, with or without a Vizio TV.

What you pay instead:

• A free Vizio account. Setup guides start with signing in, then move on to the device list.
• A busier app, because the remote lives inside a content app.
• On iPhone, iOS 16 or newer, according to its App Store listing.

The store is full of lookalikes called things like Remote for Vizio. The official app lists VIZIO, Inc. as publisher, and its US listing is titled VIZIO Remote (Official).

To set it up:

1. Put the TV on your Wi-Fi and the phone on the same network.
2. Install the app and sign in, or create the account.
3. Tap Select a Device at the top and choose your TV.

If the TV isn’t on Wi-Fi yet, no phone app can start it. Start with getting a TV onto Wi-Fi without the remote.

If you own one Vizio and have no strong feelings about accounts, stop here and use it. Most other “free” remote apps charge for the useful part, which the no-subscription list sets out app by app.

Is there a free Vizio remote app for Android?

Yes, and it is the same one: search for VIZIO Mobile by VIZIO, Inc. on Google Play. It is free to download, and on Android it is the right answer today.

A Decent Remote is iPhone only for now. The Android version is being built now. Leave your email and you get one message the day it is on Google Play.

One Android-only option: a phone with an infrared blaster can run an infrared remote app that talks to the Vizio with no Wi-Fi. Most current phones lack one, and this guide shows how to check yours.

Is there a free universal remote for a Vizio, and when is another app better?

Not a universal one. The free remotes are single-brand apps, paid for by the manufacturer. A Decent Remote is not free forever either: your first 50 button presses are free, enough to pair the TV and see whether it works, then it is paid. There are no ads and no account.

Vizio’s own app is the better deal on price, on Android, on soundbar and speaker control, on casting and on typing. A separate remote app is quicker in a few plain situations:

• You don’t want a Vizio account just to change the volume.
• It isn’t your TV. At a rental or a parent’s house, A Decent Remote asks the TV for a PIN and keeps no account.
• You have other brands. One app covers Samsung, LG, Roku, Fire TV and the rest.
• Your iPhone is older. A Decent Remote installs from iOS 15.

If none of those apply, use Vizio’s.

How do I pair A Decent Remote with a Vizio TV?

Many TVs make you accept a prompt with a button on the remote. A SmartCast TV shows a PIN by itself, so nothing needs accepting.

1. Turn the TV on and put your iPhone on the same Wi-Fi.
2. Open the app. It scans the network and lists your Vizio. Vizio’s pairing service sits on one of two ports depending on firmware, and the app checks both.
3. Tap the TV. A PIN appears on its screen.
4. Type the PIN into the app. The pairing is saved, so you only do this once.

From there the phone does power, a volume slider, the arrows, OK, input, channels and numbers, and opens Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and the other main apps. If the PIN never appears, see lost your Vizio remote.

What can’t a free Vizio remote app do?

• Work without a network. No Wi-Fi, no phone remote. An iPhone has no infrared emitter to fall back on.
• Type. A Decent Remote doesn’t type into a Vizio’s search boxes or password fields yet. Vizio’s own app can, in some apps.
• Run the extras. Soundbar settings, casting and WatchFree+ live in Vizio’s app.
• Control the 2010 to 2015 sets. It can’t pair with VIA or VIA+.
• Always turn the TV on. Pair with the TV switched on so the app can note its address. If the phone can switch the TV off but not on, set its power mode to Quick Start.