Use your phone as an LG TV remote with LG ThinQ (2023–2025)

The short answer

You can control a 2023–2025 LG webOS TV from your phone with LG’s LG ThinQ app: install it, put the phone on the same network as the TV, open the app and follow its instructions to connect the TV. After that you tap buttons on the phone’s screen to control the TV.

The TV needs to be on and connected to your network first. LG notes that the service isn’t offered in every country and that the available features depend on your country and your phone’s operating system.

Before you start

• The TV is on and online. LG’s guides only describe connecting a TV that is already on the network. If the TV has never been set up or connected, do that first with the TV’s own remote.
• Phone and TV are on the same network. For example, the same home Wi-Fi.
• You have the right app. The app is called LG ThinQ. Before installing, check that the developer shown in the app store is LG Electronics; this guide covers only LG’s own app.

Connect the TV to LG ThinQ

1. Download LG ThinQ from your phone’s app store.
2. Connect the phone to the same network as the TV.
3. Open LG ThinQ.
4. Follow the instructions in the app to connect it to your TV.

LG’s TV user guides stop there: they don’t show the app’s pairing screens or say what the TV displays while you connect, so follow the prompts on the phone and on the TV as they appear.

With an NFC remote (2023 and 2024 guides)

If your TV’s remote has an NFC logo, LG’s 2023 and 2024 guides describe a shortcut for phones with NFC:

1. Turn on NFC in the phone’s settings. On Android, LG says to set NFC to read/write tags.
2. With the phone’s screen on, hold it within about 1 cm of the NFC mark on the remote. On some remotes the mark is on the back.
3. Follow the prompts to install LG ThinQ.
4. Tap the phone to the remote again to connect it to the TV.

LG notes that NFC installation isn’t supported in some countries; download the app from the app store instead. The 2025 guide doesn’t include this section.

Control the TV from the app

Once connected, you tap buttons on the phone’s screen to control the TV. LG’s 2023 guide lists what the app’s TV page offers:

• A simple remote for basic control. Select View All to open a full-screen remote.
• Sharing of sound, screen or content between the phone and the TV.
• A list of the apps installed on the TV.
• A list of the inputs, the devices connected to the TV’s external input ports.

The 2024 and 2025 guides only say you can tap buttons on the phone to control the TV. LG adds that the app’s screens and functions can change without notice, so your version may look different.

The guides also mention that you can press the microphone button in LG ThinQ to use the TV’s speech recognition, though some functions or devices may not work that way.

Limits to expect

• Some controls may be limited while you watch an external input, such as a set-top box on HDMI.
• Features differ by country and phone OS.

If the app won’t connect or control the TV

1. Check that the phone and TV are still on the same network, since LG’s connection steps require it.
2. Turn off both the TV and the phone, turn them back on, and try again. LG gives this advice in the same section of its guides, for when connecting the phone’s camera to the TV fails repeatedly; it’s a reasonable retry for the remote too.

In that camera part of the section, LG also recommends keeping the phone’s operating system up to date and using a 5 GHz router. LG gives those tips for the phone-camera feature, not specifically for the remote.

LG’s guides don’t cover app-side error messages or account problems. For those, use the help inside LG ThinQ or LG support for your country.

Common questions

Can I use LG ThinQ to turn the TV on?

LG documents a separate TV setting for that, TV On With Mobile, in General → External Devices. It needs an app that supports the feature, and LG’s guides don’t say which apps do. If your TV shows a wallpaper instead of switching off, see Always Ready; that’s a different standby feature.

Can I use the phone if I’ve lost the TV remote?

Only if the TV is already on and connected to your network. LG’s guides describe connecting the app to a TV that is online; they don’t describe setting up an offline TV from the phone.