By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote Sony spreads its no-remote escape routes across four options, and which one you reach for depends on whether this is a one-time rescue or the new normal.
Where is the physical button, and what can it do?
Newer Bravias put a single button on the bottom edge, centered under the logo; older sets hide buttons behind the rear right edge. One press is power. Press-and-hold (or repeated presses, model-depending) opens a minimal menu where volume and input selection live. It’s enough to get watchable TV tonight.
What’s the fastest full-control fix?
The iPhone, because Sony’s pairing needs no original remote at all:
- Same Wi-Fi, open A Decent Remote, tap the Bravia when it appears.
- Read the 4-digit PIN off the TV screen, type it in the app. Done permanently: Sony’s session normally expires every couple of weeks, but the app renews it silently in the background (details).
- Power, inputs, volume, app launching and real keyboard typing now live on the phone. On Android-era Bravias, Google’s pairing route works as a second path to the same TV.
What are the stopgaps while the phone charges?
A USB keyboard plugged into an Android-era Sony navigates the entire interface with arrow keys, which is the comfortable way to do one-time setup jobs like joining a new Wi-Fi network. And HDMI-CEC (Bravia Sync) means waking a console or streaming stick powers the TV on and switches input in one move; that device’s remote then covers day-to-day playback until the proper fix is in place.
If the Bravia never appears in the app at all, work the network checklist; Sony sets additionally offer a pre-shared key mode for never-expiring control, covered in the Sony guide.
