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Android Phone Cannot Find Your TV: App and OS Checks

# Android Phone Cannot Find Your TV: App and OS Checks

If your Android phone cannot find the TV, first check the correct app, an awake television and a reachable local network. Then check that app's permissions. The setting you need depends on the Android version and how the app searches for TVs; there may not be a Nearby devices switch for every remote app.

By TV Remotely · Updated · How we test

On this pageCheck the app and the intended device
  1. Check the app and the intended device
  2. Check the permissions your app requests
  3. Make one network comparison
  4. When the TV appears
  5. Related guidance
  6. Sources for these instructions

Check the app and the intended device

Identify whether you want the television's built-in platform or an HDMI-connected Roku, Fire TV or Google streaming device. Choose the supported controller for that target. If possible, compare with its official app while leaving the TV and network unchanged.

For Google's virtual remote, Google documents checking the phone and TV network before retrying setup. Those instructions apply to compatible Google TV devices, not to every smart TV brand. Google: virtual-remote troubleshooting.

Check the permissions your app requests

  • Open the phone's Settings, find Apps, select the remote app and open Permissions. Labels vary by phone manufacturer.
  • If Nearby devices is listed, read the app's explanation and allow it when it is needed for the TV-search feature you want to use.
  • If the app requests location for Wi-Fi discovery, check its explanation rather than assuming location always is—or never is—required.
  • Return to the app and run its TV search again. If Android offers a system device picker, select the intended TV there.

On Android 13 and later, some Wi-Fi discovery methods use Nearby devices permission; other methods have different requirements. Android 17 also adds local-network requirements for apps updated to target that version. That can make two apps on the same phone behave differently. Google's Wi-Fi permission guide and local-network guidance explain the platform rules.

If there is no relevant switch, update the app if an update is available, start its search feature and check its current help. You do not need developer mode or a target-SDK number to troubleshoot as an owner. Give support your Android and app versions if the expected request never appears. A permission change cannot add support for an incompatible television.

Make one network comparison

Confirm the TV is on and connected. Join the phone to your trusted main home Wi-Fi, then retry the same app. If your phone has a VPN, check whether local traffic is allowed and compare without it only where permitted.

If the TV is on Ethernet, it can still be reachable from Wi-Fi when the router permits that path. If both devices are on guest Wi-Fi, client isolation may block them. Start with TV-not-found troubleshooting rather than changing Android settings repeatedly.

If a supported manual connection works while scanning fails, report that difference. If both fail, you still need to consider the TV address, service availability, platform support and authorization.

When the TV appears

Finish the TV's own approval or code flow and test a direction key. If it responds, discovery and an initial command have succeeded. Test volume, keyboard and wake separately; their availability can differ.

The Android/Google TV hub covers that television platform. If the TV needs setup or an approval that you cannot select, use a compatible physical remote. If only one Android app remains unable to find an otherwise reachable TV, send its developer the TV model, Android/app versions, requested permissions and official-app comparison. Do not factory-reset the television to repair a permission the phone app has not implemented correctly.

Sources for these instructions