By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote A Mi Box remote is small, it runs on Bluetooth, and it goes missing. The good news is that a Mi Box needs none of it to pair with a phone, because Xiaomi’s boxes, sticks and TVs run Google’s Android TV or Google TV. Everything that works on those works here.
Which app should I use?
The Google TV app is free, comes from Google and has a remote built in. If a Xiaomi device is the only thing you control, start with it.
A Decent Remote makes sense if you have other TVs too, because one app handles Samsung, LG, Fire TV and the rest with one layout and no account. It is on iPhone today, and the Android version is in testing. It is free for your first 50 button presses, and after that it is paid, with no ads.
Xiaomi’s own Mi Remote app is a different thing. It mainly sends infrared from Xiaomi phones that have an IR blaster, which is handy for an old TV and has nothing to do with Wi-Fi control of a Mi Box.
How do I pair a Mi Box with my phone?
- Join the same Wi-Fi as the box.
- Open the app and pick the box. It shows a 6-character code on the TV.
- Type the code on your phone.
The pairing lasts, so you do this once. On some devices the code disappears quickly. If that happens, ask for a new one in the app rather than typing the old one.
Which Xiaomi devices have we seen working?
Android devices report a model code rather than the name on the box, so this list uses the codes. Each has had a button press reach the screen through A Decent Remote since June 2026.
| Device | Reported as |
|---|---|
| Mi Box S | MIBOX4 |
| Mi Box 3 | MIBOX3 |
| Other Mi TV devices | MiTV-AESP0, MiTV-AFKR0, MiTV-AFMU0, MiTV-AXFR0 |
| Other Mi TV devices | MiTV-MOOR0, MiTV-MOOR2, MiTV-MSSP1, MiTV-MSSP2, MiTV-MZTU0 |
These come from iPhones so far. The connection is the same from an Android phone, but we have not seen a Xiaomi device on the Android version yet.
What if the box is not on Wi-Fi?
A phone needs the box on your network, so a new router or a forgotten password stops everything. The Mi Box has a USB port, and a USB mouse usually gives you a pointer, which is enough to get through the Wi-Fi settings. A Mi TV Stick has no normal USB port, so it needs an adapter or a replacement remote.
Connecting a TV to Wi-Fi without a remote covers the other routes, and a cheap replacement remote is an honest answer if none of them fit.
What does a phone do better than the Mi remote?
Typing. Searching with the arrows on a Mi Box is slow, and passwords are worse. With a paired phone you use your own keyboard, and typing on Android TV explains what works and where apps get in the way.
