How to switch HDMI inputs and open TV apps from your phone

A game console on HDMI 1, a set-top box on HDMI 2, a laptop that comes and goes on HDMI 3. On most remotes, getting to the right one means pressing Input, waiting for a menu, stepping through sources and trying to remember which port the console is on. Opening an app is similar: home screen, scroll, scroll again.

A phone can do better because it can show the TV's own list of inputs and apps as named, tappable rows. This guide shows how that works in Remotly, what to do when an input or app is missing, and how the experience differs between TV platforms.

Before you start

• The TV is paired and shows Remote ready. Inputs and apps are read from the TV over the local network, so the phone and the TV need to be on the same Wi-Fi.
• Know what your TV offers. Compatible TVs with the full toolset show Apps and Inputs below the remote. Android TV and Google TV devices get the essential buttons, including an input key, but no input or app list. A TV added through Home Assistant shows a source picker when the server publishes one.
• Name your inputs on the TV if you can. Remotly shows the names the TV reports. If your TV lets you rename inputs in its own settings, a label like Console is easier to find than HDMI 1.

Switching inputs on a compatible TV

1. Open the TV from My devices.
2. Tap Inputs below the remote, or the input key in the remote's top row. On these TVs both open the same list.
3. Remotly loads the inputs from the TV. Each row shows the input's name and, where the TV reports it, whether something is plugged in: Device connected, No connected device detected or Connection status unknown.
4. Tap the input you want. The TV switches to that source, and Remotly shows that the TV accepted the request.
5. If the list is empty or out of date, tap Refresh list. A TV that does not share its inputs gets a message instead of an empty screen.

Opening apps and saving shortcuts

1. Tap Apps below the remote. Remotly loads the apps installed on the TV.
2. Type into Search for apps to filter a long list, then tap an app to open it on the TV.
3. Tap the star next to an app to make it a shortcut. Starred apps appear as a row on the remote screen of that TV, one tap from the direction pad.
4. Tap the star again to remove a shortcut. Shortcuts are saved per TV, so the living room and the bedroom can each have their own.

If an app does not open, Remotly says whether the TV did not respond or did not allow the action. An app installed after the list was loaded appears after Refresh list.

Android TV, Google TV and Home Assistant

• Android TV and Google TV: the input key sends the TV's own input command, and what happens next depends on the model; it may open a source menu or move to the next input. Choose from a menu with the direction pad and OK. Remotly does not list apps on these devices, so open them from the TV's home screen with the direction pad.
• Home Assistant: for a TV your server exposes as a media player, the device controls show a Source picker when the server publishes a source list, and Sound mode when it publishes sound modes. Pick an option and tap Apply mode. The source the server reports as current is shown as well.

Limits worth knowing

An input list is only as detailed as what the TV reports. Some TVs do not say whether a device is plugged in, and input names are whatever the TV calls them. Switching depends on the TV accepting the request: Remotly sends it once, reports what the TV confirms and never repeats a command on its own.

If the TV jumps to an input by itself when a console or set-top box turns on, that is usually HDMI-CEC on the connected device, not the phone. You can change that behavior in the TV's or the device's settings.

Finding and pairing devices is free. Apps, Inputs, shortcuts and the remote buttons come with Remotly Pro, and the app shows what your plan includes before purchase.