Best Universal Remote App in 2026: 9 Apps Compared

SmartThings is the closest thing to a true universal remote app for Samsung households, because it is made by Samsung and covers the full TV remote, not just power and volume. You get channel and volume control, a keyboard for searching, and access to apps, plus control of other Samsung smart home devices in the same app. Setup takes a few minutes once both devices share a Wi-Fi network and you sign in with a free Samsung account.

The limit is brand scope. SmartThings works best with Samsung TVs and devices, and it will not replace a remote for an LG TV or an older infrared sound system on its own. If your living room is mostly Samsung, though, it is free, polished, and hard to beat.

LG ThinQ gives LG TV owners a full remote on their phone, with power, volume, channels, navigation, and a keyboard that makes searching far easier than pecking at an on-screen keyboard with arrow keys. Voice control is included on supported models, and the same app can control LG washers, fridges, and other appliances, which suits a home that already uses LG products.

As with SmartThings, the app is built for its own brand first. Support varies by model year, so an older LG TV may offer fewer features than a recent one. For a recent LG TV, ThinQ is free, well designed, and the obvious first app to try before any third-party option.

The Roku app is a strong remote for anyone whose main watching happens through Roku. It covers navigation, playback, volume, and voice search, and it adds private listening, so you can listen through headphones connected to your phone while the TV stays quiet. That feature alone makes it worth installing for late-night viewers.

The app controls the Roku device, not the TV brand around it, though on Roku TVs the two overlap closely. If you use Roku alongside a cable box or a game console, you will still need another remote for those devices. For Roku-first households, it is free and excellent.

Apple TV Remote is not a separate app to hunt for, because it lives in iPhone Control Center and in the Apple TV Remote area of iOS settings. It gives full navigation, playback, volume, and a proper keyboard for searching, and it pairs quickly with an Apple TV on the same network. For iPhone owners with an Apple TV, it is the simplest remote in this list.

The scope is narrow by design. It will not control a Samsung or LG TV directly, and it will not help with an old infrared device. If Apple TV is your main box, use this first and keep your TV remote only for power and input changes.

Google Home turns your phone into a remote for Chromecast and Google TV devices, with playback, volume, and navigation, plus voice control through Google Assistant. It also manages other Google smart home devices, so a Chromecast household can control the TV and the lights from one app. Setup is straightforward once the phone and the device share a network.

Power and input control depend on the TV model and its HDMI-CEC support, so some TVs still need their own remote for switching on. If you already use Google devices, Google Home is free and convenient. If you use a different streaming platform, the matching brand app will usually work better.

The Amazon Fire TV app gives Fire TV owners a full remote with navigation, playback, volume, and voice search through Alexa, plus a keyboard that makes typing show titles far less painful. It is free, and it pairs with Fire TV sticks, boxes, and Fire TVs on the same Wi-Fi network after you sign in with an Amazon account.

Like the other brand apps, it is built for its own platform. It will not control a Roku, an Apple TV, or an older infrared device. For a Fire TV household, it is the best free remote app available, and it is a useful backup when the physical remote goes missing.

Alexa earns a place here because it can control many TVs by voice, either directly for supported brands or through Fire TV and compatible smart home skills. You can ask for a show, change volume, or switch inputs on supported sets, and routines can dim the lights and start a film in one command. The app itself is free, and many users already have it installed.

Voice control is less precise than buttons for navigating menus, and the exact commands vary by brand and model, so you may need to check your TV maker support pages first. Alexa works best as a hands-free companion to a button remote app, not as a complete replacement for one.

BroadLink is different from the brand apps above, because it can control older infrared devices that have no Wi-Fi at all. You buy a BroadLink hub, such as the RM4 series, place it where it can see your devices, and the BroadLink app sends commands through the hub. That covers old TVs, air conditioners, and fans that no brand app will ever support.

The app itself is free, but the hub is a separate purchase, so the total cost is higher than a free brand app, and setup takes longer, with device learning for remotes the database does not already know. The hub also works on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only, which matters if your router splits bands. If you still own infrared gear, BroadLink is the most practical way to bring it under phone control.

SofaBaton pairs a phone app with a physical remote, which solves the main complaint about phone remotes: the lack of real buttons. The app handles setup, button customisation, and macros that turn on several devices with one press, while the remote adds a screen, a scroll wheel, and rechargeable power over USB-C. It supports infrared, Bluetooth, and learnable signals, so it covers a wider range of gear than a Wi-Fi-only app.

You must buy the remote, so this is the most expensive option here, and initial setup can take a while as you add each device. For a home theatre with several brands and older gear, that effort pays off, because one remote and one app finally replace a drawer full of plastic remotes.