Misplaced the remote control that came with your Apple TV?? Worry not, you can still replicate all its functions by setting up iPhone as remote for Apple TV. This guide will walk you through all the essential steps.
Choose your iPhone as remote for Apple TV
You can use iPhone as TV remote by setting it up in Control Center. Just make sure you have an iOS device with iOS 12 or later or an iPadOS device with iPadOS 13 or later. Once the setup is complete and connected to the Apple TV, the controls will be activated automatically.
- For Control Center, go to the Settings first.
- Choose Control Center.
- Select Customize Controls.
- Under ‘More Controls’, tap the + icon adjacent to ‘Apple TV Remote’.
- Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to turn your phone into a TV remote.
- Choose your Apple TV.
If your living room is a hodgepodge of scattered clothes, books and gadgets then, there are good chances of misplacing essentials like your Apple TV remote. Nevertheless, there’s a workaround for this problem.
How to use TV remote on iPhone

Go to ‘Settings’ on your iPhone, tap ‘Control Center’, and select the ‘Customize Controls’ option.

Next, under the ‘More Controls’ section that appears, tap the + icon adjacent to ‘Apple TV Remote’.

The Remote app will appear as a remote icon in Control Center. Just swipe downwards from the top-right corner of your iPhone Home Screen.

Access it by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Now, select your ‘Apple TV’ when it appears on the screen. Your iPhone is now ready to be used Apple TV remote.

Here’s how its controls appear. Additional controls become visible during playback. Tap the Skip Back button to skip back 10 seconds or tap the Skip Forward button to skip forward 10 seconds.
Apple TV remote not working on iPhone
To make sure that your iPhone works as the TV Remote, check the following.
- Verify that both devices are on the same home network.
- Verify that both devices have up-to-date system software.
- Try restarting both the iPhone and Apple TV.
It is particularly noteworthy to mention here that the Apple TV Remote in Control Center works only with Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. If you have an Apple TV (3rd generation), you’ll have to use the Apple TV Remote app to control your Apple TV.
Hope that makes sense!
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