By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote 
The Apple TV is plugged in, the remote is lost or flat, and you need to know how far you can get without it. It comes down to one question: has the Apple TV finished its first-run setup yet? Here is what your iPhone can do, what it can’t, and how to get the box onto Wi-Fi when nobody has a remote.
Can I set up a new Apple TV without a remote?
Not with the iPhone alone, as far as Apple documents it. Apple’s setup guide starts with the remote: you pick your language and country first, and only then does the Apple TV offer Set Up with iPhone, which copies your Apple Account and Wi-Fi settings across when you hold the unlocked iPhone next to the box. The other choice is Set Up Manually. We found no Apple page that skips those first screens, and no remote app can control a box that has not got past them.
So you need one way to press a button. In order of effort:
- Your TV’s own remote. Apple says an Apple TV 4K can be steered by the TV remote over HDMI-CEC. Switch CEC on in the TV menu (look for a setting ending in “Link” or “Sync”: Anynet+ on Samsung, SimpLink on LG, BRAVIA Sync on Sony) and use an HDMI port that supports it. We could not test whether the arrows work on the very first screen. It costs nothing to try.
- Borrow a remote. An Apple TV HD or 4K takes any Siri Remote, Apple TV Remote or even the old aluminum Apple Remote. An Apple TV (3rd generation) needs the aluminum one.
- Buy one. A Siri Remote is $59 at Apple.
How do I connect an Apple TV to Wi-Fi without a remote?
The Control Center remote and A Decent Remote both reach the Apple TV over your network. Neither can hand a Wi-Fi password to a box that is not on one, so first get the Apple TV and the iPhone onto the same network.
- Ethernet is the shortcut. Apple says you can set up over a cable instead of Wi-Fi on a model with an Ethernet port. The Apple TV HD, Apple TV 4K (1st and 2nd generation) and the 128 GB Apple TV 4K (3rd generation) have one. The 64 GB Wi-Fi model of the 3rd generation does not. Plug the cable into your router while the iPhone is on the router’s Wi-Fi, and the phone remote below works.
- Changed router? Give the new one the old Wi-Fi name and password. The Apple TV remembers the network and joins it on its own, so you never touch the remote.
- Want Wi-Fi instead of the cable? With the phone remote, open Settings → Network → Wi-Fi, choose your network and type the password. Apple’s own wired-to-wireless steps say to unplug the cable first, then pick a network under Settings → Network. We could not confirm whether the phone remote stays connected through that switch, so have the password to hand and reopen the remote if it drops. If it is the TV that has no Wi-Fi, see connecting a TV to Wi-Fi without a remote.
How do I turn on an Apple TV without a remote?
An Apple TV has no power switch: it sleeps rather than turns off, and any signal wakes it.
- Turn on the TV or switch to its HDMI input. With HDMI-CEC on, Apple says the Apple TV turns on with it.
- Open the Remote in Control Center. Apple says using it wakes the box.
- Use A Decent Remote. For an Apple TV you paired earlier, the Wake button on the app’s home screen connects and sends a button press.
- Check the plug. A fully unplugged box cannot be woken from your phone. Plug it in and it starts itself.
How do I use my iPhone as the Apple TV remote?
Only for an Apple TV that is already set up and on your network. Apple’s own Remote is free and built in:
- Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center, tap Add Controls, then Add a Control and search for Remote (iOS 17 or earlier: Settings → Control Center → Apple TV Remote).
- Tap your Apple TV and enter the four-digit passcode if it asks.
A Decent Remote is the second route, and the better one if you also own other brands: open it on the same Wi-Fi, tap your Apple TV and type the 4-digit code the TV shows. If the Apple TV refuses before a code appears, the Apple TV pairing guide has the fix. On tvOS 15 or later you also get a keyboard (if the prompt misbehaves, see why the keyboard does not show) and app launching.
What the phone cannot do: pass the first-run screens, put a box on a network it is not on, or wake one that is unplugged. Control Center does not support an Apple TV 2 or 3, and our app can pair those only once a working remote is in hand. There is no sleep button in the app.
Why won’t my Apple TV remote turn on my TV?
The remote only does it after you ask the Apple TV to. On the Apple TV open Settings → Remotes and Devices, scroll to Home Theater Control and choose Turn On Your TV with Your Remote (with a receiver: Control TVs and Receivers). Then check that HDMI-CEC is on and the Apple TV sits in a port that supports it. Only the silver remote has a Power button. For an infrared TV remote, Learn Remote teaches it the buttons. A remote that will not pair at all is a different fix, covered in the FAQ below.