Zapp / Google TV
Google TV TV remote app for iPhone
Control a Google TV or Android TV from your iPhone over Wi-Fi: pair once with the code on screen, and every button is free. Keyboard and apps with Pro.
One payment of $9.99. Never a subscription.
iPhone and iPad · iOS 17 or later
How it connects
Google TV uses an encrypted remote protocol that requires the phone and the television to prove who they are to each other. Zapp generates its own certificate on the phone, and the television shows a six-character code to complete the pairing.
What you have to do once
- Put the iPhone and the television on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Open Zapp and choose the television.
- Type the six-character code shown on the TV screen. That happens once.
Which Google TV TVs it works with
Devices running Google TV or the older Android TV: built into many televisions (Sony BRAVIA, TCL, Philips, Sharp, Xiaomi and others, on their Google TV and Android TV models), and on streamers such as Chromecast with Google TV and the Google TV Streamer.
Free and Pro on Google TV
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| The full button remote in the Google TV layout | Free |
| A keyboard that opens by itself when the TV asks for text | Pro, $9.99 once |
| One-tap shortcuts to a fixed list of popular streaming apps | Pro, $9.99 once |
| Voice typing: say it, and your words go into the search field open on the TV | Pro, $9.99 once |
| Your iPhone’s side volume buttons turn the TV up and down while the remote is open | Pro, $9.99 once |
Pro is one payment, never a subscription. What Pro unlocks on every brand.
Beyond the remote screen
Free on Google TV, as on every TV: a Home Screen widget for this TV, Control Center and Action Button controls (iOS 18), the remote on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while it’s open, Siri for pause, mute, volume and turning the TV off, and the Apple Watch app with the Digital Crown as the volume knob.
If the Google TV isn’t found or won’t respond
- Check the iPhone and the TV are on the same Wi-Fi network, not a guest network, and that no VPN is running on the phone.
- On the iPhone, Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network: make sure Zapp is switched on. Without it no app can see the TV.
- The pairing code only appears while the TV is on and showing a picture. If it times out, choose the TV in Zapp again for a fresh code.
- If Zapp doesn’t find the TV, add it by IP address: on the TV, Settings → Network & Internet, then the Wi-Fi network it’s on.
What it will not do
- The television must be on for the first pairing, because the code appears on its screen.
- Google TV doesn’t tell remote apps which apps are installed, so the shortcuts are a fixed list of popular ones: an app the TV doesn’t have opens its store page, or nothing.
- Waking the TV from standby isn’t available on Google TV, and neither is a list of the inputs by name.
- Sony, Philips, TCL, Thomson, Xiaomi, Sharp, Vestel, Arçelik, Beko and Grundig televisions work only if they run Google TV or Android TV. Their sets with the maker’s own system are not supported.
Saying this plainly is the point: a remote app that promises what it cannot deliver wastes your evening and earns a refund. If the answer above is no, it is genuinely no.
Questions
Can I use my iPhone as a Google TV TV remote?
Yes, as long as the iPhone and the Google TV are on the same Wi-Fi network. Put the iPhone and the television on the same Wi-Fi network. Open Zapp and choose the television. Type the six-character code shown on the TV screen. That happens once. After that the whole button remote is free.
Does it work without Wi-Fi?
No. Zapp talks to the Google TV over your home network, and an iPhone has no infrared, so no iPhone app can control a TV without one. With no router, a second phone’s hotspot that both the TV and your iPhone join can stand in, if that hotspot lets devices on it see each other.
Is there a subscription?
No. The whole button remote is free on every TV you own. On Google TV, one optional payment of $9.99 adds: a keyboard that opens by itself when the TV asks for text; one-tap shortcuts to a fixed list of popular streaming apps; voice typing: say it, and your words go into the search field open on the TV; your iPhone’s side volume buttons turn the TV up and down while the remote is open.
What does Zapp not do on Google TV?
The television must be on for the first pairing, because the code appears on its screen. Google TV doesn’t tell remote apps which apps are installed, so the shortcuts are a fixed list of popular ones: an app the TV doesn’t have opens its store page, or nothing. Waking the TV from standby isn’t available on Google TV, and neither is a list of the inputs by name. Sony, Philips, TCL, Thomson, Xiaomi, Sharp, Vestel, Arçelik, Beko and Grundig televisions work only if they run Google TV or Android TV. Their sets with the maker’s own system are not supported.