Lost Your LG TV Remote? Your iPhone Can Replace It
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.
Accepting the 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.
Pairing your iPhone
- 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 — 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).
If the 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.
Other options, honestly
LG’s official ThinQ app also works as a remote for LG TVs. A replacement Magic Remote is $20–$40, and third-party basic IR replacements are under $10 (but lose the pointer). For mixed-brand households, one universal app covers the lot — A Decent Remote also handles Samsung, Roku, Fire TV, Vizio, Apple TV and most other smart TVs.
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 TVFrequently 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 — that 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 — 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.