Xiaomi’s modern Smart TVs are powerful multimedia centers, but their built-in remotes are often minimalist and lack a full keyboard. Typed text to search for movies or surf the web using navigation buttons can become a tedious, time-consuming process. Fortunately, the Mi Home ecosystem offers an elegant solution that turns your smartphone into a versatile remote control with advanced functionality.
Using a mobile device as a controller opens up access to voice input, a handy keyboard, and even the ability to stream content directly from the screen of the gadget. Controlling a Xiaomi TV through a phone becomes especially relevant when the regular remote is lost, discharged or simply does not have the necessary buttons for comfortable navigation. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to connect, configure hidden functions and solve typical connection problems.
Before you start setting up, it’s important to understand that there are several signal technologies, each with its own characteristics and hardware requirements, and the choice of the specific method depends on the model of your TV, the version of the Android TV or PatchWall operating system, and the presence of an infrared port in the smartphone itself.
The main ways to connect a smartphone to TV
The first step is always to determine the technical potential of your smartphone-television bundle. There are three main communication channels that the software uses to emulate the remote, and understanding the differences between the two will help avoid confusion when setting up and choosing the right application.
The most common and functional way is to connect over a local Wi-Fi network, in which case both devices must be on the same subnet, which ensures high response speed and transfer of complex data, such as images from the phone screen. This method is ideal for Android TVs, where the protocol allows not only to switch channels, but also to control the mouse cursor.
The second option is only relevant for owners of Xiaomi, Redmi or Poco smartphones equipped with an integrated infrared emitter (IR port), in which case the phone physically mimics the signals of a conventional remote, and the presence of a shared Wi-Fi network is not required. The presence of an IR port can be checked by looking at the upper end of the case: there must be a small black glass.
⚠️ Note: When using an IR emitter, make sure there are no obstacles between the top of the phone and the TV receiver, as the infrared signal does not pass through solid objects and requires line of sight.
A third, less obvious method involves using Bluetooth technology. Some modern Xiaomi remotes connect via Bluetooth, and the corresponding applications can emulate this protocol, although this is less common in third-party software. Most often, Bluetooth is used as an auxiliary channel for the initial pairing of the voice remote, after which control is duplicated over Wi-Fi.
Official Mi Remote application for IR management
Xiaomi smartphone owners have a built-in advantage: the Mi Remote app, which turns the phone into a universal remote that can control not only TVs, but also air conditioners, set-top boxes and audio systems of various brands, and the app does not depend on the TV operating system, the main thing is the presence of an infrared port.
The setup process is as automated as possible. Once the application is launched, you need to select the device type (in this case TV) and the brand of your TV (Xiaomi, Redmi or Mi TV). Then a series of test signals will appear on the screen, which you need to respond to with a confirmation button if the TV responds. Usually 3-5 successful tests are required to calibrate the code.
The feature of this method is the ability to create multiple remote profiles, which is useful if you have multiple TVs in the house or want to have a separate profile with stripped-down functionality for children, and the application also allows you to add widgets to the desktop for quick access to frequently used functions, such as volume control or input switching.
- 📱 Universality: Supports thousands of models of equipment from different manufacturers, not only Xiaomi.
- 📶 Autonomy: Works without internet and Wi-Fi, using only hardware IR port.
- 🔋 Energy efficiency: Minimal impact on smartphone battery power compared to the constant search for Wi-Fi networks.
- 🎛️ Macros: Ability to create scripts, such as turning on TV and switching to HDMI 1 one-button.
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If your phone doesn’t have an IR port, but the Mi Remote app has a “Add remote” feature, try using the Online Remote mode, which works over Wi-Fi, if the TV supports Miio protocol.
Control settings via Wi-Fi and Android TV
For TVs running Android TV (including Mi TV Stick and Mi Box), network connectivity is the most effective, enabling full touchpad emulation, which is critical for navigating an interface where the cursor is often absent. This will require a third-party but time-tested application, such as Google’s Android TV Remote Control or specialized utilities like Remote Control for Android TV.
The first thing to do is make sure your smartphone and TV are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and users often have a problem when the phone is in the 5GHz band and the TV is connected to 2.4GHz, and the router isolates these networks from each other, in which case the devices simply will not see each other on the list available for connection.
Once you install the app on your phone, launch it and press the device search button. You may see a request on your TV to confirm pairing with your new device. Use your regular remote (or buttons on your TV case) to press "Allow" or "Allow" and then a virtual touchpad will appear on your smartphone screen.
☑️ Checklist of successful Wi-Fi connection
The functionality of this connection goes far beyond just switching channels. QWERTY-Keyboard, which makes typing search queries into YouTube or Netflix an instant process.In addition, many apps allow you to stream files from the phone gallery directly to the big screen or use your smartphone as a game console with a gyroscope.
| Function | IR port (Mi Remote) | Wi-Fi (Android TV Remote) | Voice control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working without a network | Yes. | No. | Partially. |
| Input of text | No. | Full keyboard | Voice. |
| Cursor control | No. | touchpad | No. |
| Requires direct visibility | Yes. | No. | No. |
Using Chromecast and broadcasting
Google Cast (Chromecast built-in) technology, which is built into most modern Xiaomi TVs, is not the spinning interface of the TV in the classical sense, but it allows you to fully control the playback of content from your smartphone, which is ideal for watching videos from your browser, social networks or personal video archives.
To use this feature, you don't need to install additional remote applications. It's enough that a source application (e.g. YouTube, Netflix, VLC Player) has a broadcast icon (a rectangle with waves) that you click on it and select the target device, your Mi TV. Once connected, the phone becomes a controller: you can pause the video, rewind and adjust the volume, while continuing to use the phone for other tasks.
There is also Screen Mirroring, which duplicates the image from the smartphone to the TV. Unlike Chromecast, where the content is downloaded by the TV itself from the Internet, when mirrored, the phone encodes the video stream and sends it to the TV. This puts a lot of strain on the smartphone processor and can lead to delays, but allows you to display the content of applications that do not support standard broadcast.
⚠️ Attention: With active use of screen broadcast (Mirroring), the smartphone can significantly heat up, and battery life will be reduced in the future. 3-4 It is recommended to keep the device on charge.
How to reduce the delay when broadcasting the screen?
Solving Connection and Visibility Problems
Despite its apparent simplicity, users often experience a situation where the phone does not see the TV, the most common reason being the isolation of customers in router settings (AP Isolation), a security feature that prevents devices within the same Wi-Fi network from communicating with each other, and to correct this, you need to go to the router settings (usually at 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) and turn off the AP Isolation or Client Isolation option.
Another common problem is desynchronization. IP-If the router gives the TV a new address and the app on the phone tries to knock on the old one, the connection will not be connected, in which case rebooting both devices and the router helps. It is also worth checking whether the antivirus on your smartphone or the built-in firewall of the TV block incoming connections.
If you use an IR port but the TV doesn't respond to any of the codes offered, try to choose a brand-like analogue. For example, Redmi TVs often use codes from Hisense or TCL, since the production of panels and boards can be contracted. The Mi Remote app has a "Code Search" feature that goes through all known combinations automatically.
- 🔄 Reboot: Completely shutting the TV off the socket for 10 seconds resets network errors.
- 📡 Wi-Fi frequency: Make sure devices are not spread across different guest networks.
- 🛡️ Antivirus: Temporarily turn off network protection on your smartphone for verification.
- 📶 Signal: A weak Wi-Fi signal on a TV (less than 1 division) can cause loss of control packets.
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90% of connection problems are solved by restarting the router and checking that the phone and TV are on the same subnet (the same is true). IP-lock-house).