How to use a Xiaomi TV without a remote

PatchWall is a skin, not an operating system — and that one distinction decides whether your phone can control the set at all. How to tell what is underneath, where the button is on a Mi TV, and why a Mi TV Stick has none.

On this page

1. First question: a television or a player?
2. What the button does on a Mi TV
3. The phone route over Wi-Fi
4. PatchWall is a skin, not an operating system
5. What that means once you know
6. Re-pairing and buying a replacement

1. First question: a television or a player?

Xiaomi sells both, and people searching for the same thing end up with completely different answers. A Mi TV or Redmi TV is a television with a physical button on it. A Mi TV Stick or a Mi Box plugged into somebody else's television has no button at all. Settle this before you spend ten minutes feeling along an edge that was never going to have anything on it.

What you actually have	Where the button is
Mi TV and Redmi TV sets	One physical button, underneath the panel. On most sets it sits below or near the logo along the bottom edge. The exact spot moves between models, so sweep the whole bottom edge rather than trusting a single described position.
Some Mi TV sets	On the rear panel instead, usually near the cluster of HDMI and USB sockets. On a wall-mounted set, tilt the panel slightly rather than groping behind it.
Mi TV Stick, Mi Box S and Xiaomi TV Box	Nothing. There is no power button of any kind. The player runs as soon as the television's HDMI or USB socket feeds it power, and it cannot be operated by hand at all — the same situation as a Roku streaming stick.
When you cannot find it	Read the model name from the label on the back, or from Settings then About if you can still reach the menus, and look that model up on Xiaomi's own product page. You will need the model for the rest of this page anyway, for a reason the next sections explain.

A recessed pinhole is not a hidden power button on any of these. And on a Mi TV Stick or a Mi Box there is genuinely nothing to press — if that is what you have, stop looking at the player and go to the television's own button, because the television is what needs switching on first.

2. What the button does on a Mi TV

On a Mi TV the panel button is a power switch and very little more. It is worth knowing before you spend twenty minutes pressing it in different rhythms hoping a menu appears.

One press when the set is off — the television turns on, and this is the part that reliably works.
One press when it is on — on most sets it goes off again, or shows a small power prompt. A full settings menu does not appear.
Settings, volume and inputs — generally out of reach, unlike the LG joystick that walks through the entire menu system from the panel.
A long press — behaviour varies by model and forces a restart on some. It is not a hidden menu and not worth experimenting with when you have no other way in.
On a Mi TV Stick or Mi Box — there is no button to discuss. Everything you can do by hand happens on the television itself; the player only responds over the network.

So on Xiaomi, as on Roku and Sony, the phone is the real route rather than a convenience. But before any of that, there is one question specific to Xiaomi that decides whether the phone route exists for you at all.

3. The phone route over Wi-Fi

Xiaomi's televisions and players run Google's platform — Android TV on most of the range, Google TV on newer sets — which means the remote protocol is Google's rather than Xiaomi's own. Everything goes over your network, not infrared.

The first connection has one detail that almost every guide gets wrong:

The pairing code is six characters, not six digits — the standard Android TV step, identical on a Mi TV, a Mi Box or any Google TV device. If you have paired one of those before, this is the same screen.
The code appears on the television. You can pair without a remote, but not without being able to switch the set on and see its screen. That is the real constraint behind this whole page.
Both devices on one network. A second access point or a guest SSID is the commonest reason a Mi TV never shows up in the list at all.
You are asked once. The key is kept after the first connection, so repeated code prompts point at the app, not at the television.

No phone can imitate an infrared remote, because no iPhone has an emitter. Everything described here needs the television on your network — which is exactly why the next section matters more on Xiaomi than on any other brand in this guide.

4. PatchWall is a skin, not an operating system

This is the part that decides everything, and it is the thing people get wrong about Xiaomi. PatchWall is Xiaomi's own interface, layered on top of what the television actually runs. Saying “my TV runs PatchWall” does not answer the question — PatchWall is the layer you look at, not the layer your phone talks to. What matters is whether Android TV is underneath.

Look at the old remote, even a dead one. Many Xiaomi remotes carry two separate buttons: one that opens PatchWall and one that switches to Android TV, often alongside a Google Assistant microphone key. If both are there, Android TV is underneath and the phone route works.
Look for the Google Play Store on the television. If it is there, so is the Android TV framework. Early Indian Mi TV 4 sets from 2018 ran a plain AOSP build with PatchWall on top and no Play Store at all — and those have no Android TV remote framework for a phone to talk to.
Check the model on Xiaomi's product page. This is the definitive answer and the only one that works when the screen stays dark.
Remember the region, not just the model name. The same name shipped differently in different countries: Indian versions leaned on PatchWall, while the Indonesian Mi TV 4A was sold as a full Android TV device with Play support. The name alone is not the answer.

So the useful question is never “does it have PatchWall”. It is “is there Android TV under the PatchWall”. On almost every Xiaomi set sold in the last several years the answer is yes, and from that point the set behaves like any other Android TV or Google TV television.

5. What that means once you know

Once Android TV is confirmed underneath, Xiaomi stops being a special case. The skin on top changes what you see; it does not change what the phone can send.

Three consequences worth knowing:

A remote app written for Google TV boxes works unchanged. Because the protocol is Google's rather than Xiaomi's, anything that drives an Android TV box drives a Mi TV too. This is the opposite of Samsung and LG, where each proprietary system needs its own implementation.
You can wake the set from standby. Wake-on-LAN works once the television's own network setting allows it, so the phone can switch it on instead of only operating a set somebody else turned on. Turn that setting on while you still have a working remote.
PatchWall does not block anything. If the phone connects but the television seems to ignore the menu buttons, you are usually looking at PatchWall rather than the Android TV home screen. Switch layers on the television and the same buttons start behaving as expected.

6. Re-pairing and buying a replacement

Most recent Xiaomi remotes are Bluetooth voice remotes, which means they can lose their pairing and look completely dead while the television is perfectly healthy. Check that before you assume the remote is broken.

Use the Android TV pairing menu. Because the set runs Google's platform, the option sits where it does on every Android TV: Settings → Remotes & accessories. Xiaomi's own button shortcuts differ by model, so a combination found online for a different Mi TV is likely to do nothing at all.
Match two things when buying, not one. The code printed on your old remote and the model name of the television itself. Checking only the brand is how people end up with a remote that pairs with nothing — and a voice remote has to be paired through a screen, which is the worse choice when you are already locked out.
A universal infrared remote covers the basics. Power, volume, channel and input will work on a Mi TV. The microphone and the Assistant button will not, because those ride over Bluetooth rather than infrared — and on a Mi TV Stick or Mi Box an infrared remote is no use at all.

That last point is worth repeating because it catches people: an infrared remote can switch a Mi TV on, but it cannot drive a Mi TV Stick, which only listens over the network. If a player is what you lost the remote for, the phone is not a convenience — it is the only route.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Where is the power button on a Xiaomi Mi TV?

On a Mi TV or Redmi TV there is one physical button underneath the panel, usually below or near the logo along the bottom edge; the exact spot moves between models, so sweep the whole edge. Some sets put it on the rear panel near the HDMI and USB sockets instead. A Mi TV Stick or Mi Box has no button at all, so if that is what you have, the button you need is the television's own.

Does my Xiaomi TV run PatchWall or Android TV?

Both, usually — and that is the point people miss. PatchWall is Xiaomi's interface layered on top of what the set actually runs, not an operating system in its own right. Look at the old remote: many carry one button for PatchWall and another that switches to Android TV, often beside a Google Assistant key. If the Google Play Store is on the television, Android TV is underneath. The exception is early Indian Mi TV 4 sets from 2018, which ran a plain AOSP build with PatchWall and no Play Store.

Can a phone control a Xiaomi TV?

Yes, on any set with Android TV or Google TV underneath, which is almost all of them from the last several years. The phone talks to the television over your own Wi-Fi rather than by infrared, and the first connection is approved with a code the television displays. The exception is the early AOSP-and-PatchWall sets, which have no network remote framework at all.

My Mi TV has no Google Play Store — can I still use my phone?

Probably not, and this is the one Xiaomi case where the answer is a flat no. A missing Play Store means the set is running a plain AOSP build with PatchWall on top rather than Android TV — that was how early Indian Mi TV 4 sets shipped in 2018. Without the Android TV framework there is no network remote interface for any app to reach, on any phone. Everything else on this page assumes Android TV is underneath, so check for the Play Store before you spend time on the rest.

How do I turn on a Mi TV without a remote?

Press the button underneath the panel, near the logo. If you cannot reach it on a wall-mounted set, press a button on anything connected by HDMI: with HDMI-CEC enabled, a games console or a streaming player will turn the television on and switch to its own input.

Does a Mi TV Stick have a power button?

No. A Mi TV Stick, a Mi Box S and the Xiaomi TV Box have no power button of any kind. They run as soon as the television's HDMI or USB socket gives them power, and there is no way to operate them by hand — only over the network. It is the same situation as a Roku streaming stick.

The app connects but the buttons do nothing — why?

Usually because you are looking at PatchWall rather than the Android TV home screen. The phone is sending the right commands; the layer on screen is just not the one that responds to them in the way you expect. Switch layers on the television, using the remote's Android TV button if you have it, and the same buttons start behaving normally.

Which replacement remote fits my Xiaomi TV?

Match two things: the code printed on your old remote and the model name of the television, from the label on the back. Checking only the brand is how people end up with a remote that pairs with nothing. A universal infrared remote covers power, volume, channel and input on a Mi TV but not the microphone or Assistant button — and on a Mi TV Stick or Mi Box an infrared remote is no use at all, because the player only listens over the network.

Using your phone instead

On any Xiaomi set or player with Android TV or Google TV underneath — which is almost all of them — Zap turns an iPhone or iPad into a full remote over Wi-Fi. It handles the six-character pairing code, remembers the key so it only asks once, and can wake the set from standby by Wake-on-LAN. Google TV is the platform Zap was built on first, and it is the platform under the PatchWall. The remote itself is free.

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