Zapp / Samsung
Samsung TV remote app for iPhone
Control a Samsung smart TV from your iPhone over Wi-Fi: power, volume, channels and apps. The remote is free; one payment for the extras, no subscription.
One payment of $9.99. Never a subscription.
iPhone and iPad · iOS 17 or later
How it connects
Zapp connects to the television over your Wi-Fi network using Samsung’s own remote protocol — the same one the Samsung app uses. The TV issues a permission the first time and Zapp remembers it, so you are only asked once.
What you have to do once
- Put the iPhone and the television on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Open Zapp and let it find the TV, or add it by IP address.
- Accept the "Allow" prompt that appears on the television screen. That happens once, so do it while you still have the TV’s own remote, or can reach the TV.
Which Samsung TVs it works with
Samsung smart TVs running Tizen, from 2016 models onwards — Crystal UHD, QLED, Neo QLED and The Frame among them. Samsung sets from 2015 and earlier use an older protocol Samsung has retired, and no current app can drive them.
Free and Pro on Samsung
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| The full button remote, including the colour keys and the number pad | Free |
| A remote layout matched to your model year — the 2021+ Smart Remote and the 2016–2020 one are different objects | Free |
| One-tap shortcuts to the popular streaming apps your television has — YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Spotify and the like | Pro, $9.99 once |
| A keyboard for the TV’s own search and text fields | Pro, $9.99 once |
| Waking the TV from network standby | Pro, $9.99 once |
| Voice typing: say it, and your words go into the search or text 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 Samsung, 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. With Pro, Siri can turn the Samsung on from standby too.
If the Samsung 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.
- If Zapp doesn’t find the TV, add it by IP address: on the TV, Settings → General → Network → Network Status → IP Settings.
- If you missed or refused the “Allow” prompt, the TV remembers that. Find Zapp in the TV’s device list (on most models Settings → General → External Device Manager → Device Connection Manager → Device List), allow it, and connect again.
- For waking the TV from standby, the TV’s own “Power On with Mobile” setting (under Network → Expert Settings on most models) has to be on.
What it will not do
- Samsung TVs from 2016 onwards. Older sets use a protocol Samsung has retired.
- The first pairing needs the television switched on — a set that is fully powered off cannot accept a new connection from any app.
- Samsung sets from 2020 no longer share a list of their apps, so Zapp asks the television about the popular ones and shows those it confirms. An app outside that set does not get a shortcut.
- Typing works in the TV’s own text fields: its search, settings and Wi-Fi password. Apps that draw their own keyboard — YouTube is one — can’t be typed into from a phone on a Samsung, because the TV doesn’t allow it. There you pick letters with the arrow keys.
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 Samsung TV remote?
Yes, as long as the iPhone and the Samsung are on the same Wi-Fi network. Put the iPhone and the television on the same Wi-Fi network. Open Zapp and let it find the TV, or add it by IP address. Accept the "Allow" prompt that appears on the television screen. That happens once, so do it while you still have the TV’s own remote, or can reach the TV. After that the whole button remote is free.
Does it work without Wi-Fi?
No. Zapp talks to the Samsung 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 Samsung, one optional payment of $9.99 adds: one-tap shortcuts to the popular streaming apps your television has — YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Spotify and the like; a keyboard for the TV’s own search and text fields; waking the TV from network standby; voice typing: say it, and your words go into the search or text 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 Samsung?
Samsung TVs from 2016 onwards. Older sets use a protocol Samsung has retired. The first pairing needs the television switched on — a set that is fully powered off cannot accept a new connection from any app. Samsung sets from 2020 no longer share a list of their apps, so Zapp asks the television about the popular ones and shows those it confirms. An app outside that set does not get a shortcut. Typing works in the TV’s own text fields: its search, settings and Wi-Fi password. Apps that draw their own keyboard — YouTube is one — can’t be typed into from a phone on a Samsung, because the TV doesn’t allow it. There you pick letters with the arrow keys.