Before you start
- Your TV is on and showing a picture — not in standby.
- Your phone and TV are on the same Wi-Fi network — the same network name, not a guest network.
- You can see the TV screen — you may need to approve the connection there.
Pair your TV
Use your remote, or the power button on the TV itself. Wait for the home screen — a TV in standby won't appear in iMote.
On your TV, go to Settings › Network & Internet and note the network your TV is connected to. Put your phone on that same network.
Depending on your model's software, this menu may be Settings › Network instead.
Open iMote and tap Add device. Your TV appears by model or by the name you gave it, for example "BRAVIA 4K" or "Sony XR-55A80L". Tap it.
A pairing code appears on the TV screen. Type it into iMote and tap Pair.
The code is generated fresh each time and expires after a short while, so enter it as soon as it appears.
No remote? Use the button on the TV
Sony keeps its physical controls minimal, and the location varies by series.
- Most recent BRAVIA models — a single button on the back panel, lower right, near the standby light.
- Some models — a small joystick-style control on the underside, toward the left or right corner.
- Older sets — a row of labelled buttons along the right side edge.
Here's the catch: on Sony the pairing code has to be typed into your phone, not the TV. So the TV button doesn't need to enter anything — it only needs to power the TV on and get you to the home screen.
Press the button once to turn the TV on.
Wait for the home screen.
Read the code off the screen and type it into iMote.
If the TV is stuck on an input with no picture, press and hold the button to bring up the on-screen menu, then use it to reach Home.
If something isn't working
My TV isn't in the list
Check the network name at Settings › Network & Internet and match your phone to it exactly.
Check it's not a guest network. Guest networks stop devices from seeing each other. Move your phone to the main network.
Turn off any VPN on your phone. A VPN routes your phone off the local network, so it can't see your TV.
Pull down to refresh the device list in iMote and give it ten seconds.
Restart the device properly. Unplug it at the wall, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in. This clears more than the power button does.
If your TV or streaming box is plugged in with an Ethernet cable, that's fine — wired and wireless work together, as long as both are on the same router.
No code appears on the TV screen
The service on your TV that handles remote pairing has probably got stuck. Clearing its stored data resets it without affecting anything else:
On the TV, go to Settings › Apps and turn on Show system apps.
Find Android TV Remote Service in the list.
Open Storage and choose Clear storage.
Restart the TV, then try pairing again from iMote.
This is a safe reset — it only forgets which phones have paired, so any other phones in your home will need to pair again too.
It keeps asking me to pair over and over
Same cause as above. Clear the storage for Android TV Remote Service using the steps in the previous section, then pair once more.
The remote works, but the TV won't turn on from my phone
Sony calls this Remote start, and it's off by default. The menu path depends on your model's software, so try these in order:
- Settings › Network & Internet › Remote start
- Settings › Network › Remote start
- Settings › BRAVIA Settings › Remote start
- On older sets: Settings › Network › Home Network Setup › Remote start
Turn it on. Be aware it slightly increases standby power use — that's the trade-off Sony documents for this feature.
Still stuck?
Tell us your model number — you'll usually find it on a sticker on the back of the TV or streaming device — and we'll take a look.