Depends on the model It depends which model you have
Haier ships more than one kind of set. Remote Pro controls Google TV / Android TV; it does not control the entry-level in-house-smart models. Check yours first — it takes about ten seconds.
Haier’s smart televisions are mostly Android TV or Google TV, which Remote Pro pairs with directly. A few entry-level Haier models use an in-house system that we cannot control — the Google Play Store icon is the quick test.
The home screen answers this faster than the model number does.
Android TV and Google TV sets boot to a Google home screen of content rows, list the Google Play Store in their apps, and the remote has a Google Assistant microphone button.
If the home screen looks like nothing you have seen on another brand — or the television is not a smart TV at all — it is running the manufacturer’s own system. No Google Play Store and no recognisable platform branding is the giveaway.
Setup
Your Haier (Google TV / Android TV) and your iPhone need to be on the same WiFi network. That is the only requirement — no dongle, no hub, no infrared.
Connect your iPhone to the same WiFi network as the TV. Not the guest network, and turn off any VPN on the phone — a VPN hides the TV from it.
Open Remote Pro and tap Scan. Android TV and Google TV devices announce themselves on the network by name.
Tap your TV. It puts a 6-digit pairing code on screen — type that into Remote Pro. This is Google’s own encrypted handshake, and it only happens once.
Paired. Full D-pad, OK, back, home, volume, mute, power, playback, and your iPhone keyboard typing straight into search and sign-in fields.
More detail on this platform: Google TV / Android TV remote app for iPhone →
The alternative
Remote Pro cannot control this one. These are the options that actually work, best first.
Check the manufacturer’s own iPhone app first. Most brands ship a free remote app for their own smart platform, and it will always beat a third party at controlling their own television.
Look for HDMI-CEC. A soundbar, games console, Fire Stick or Chromecast plugged into the set can often control power, volume and input with its own remote, and that remote may be easier to replace.
If it is not a smart TV, it can only be controlled by infrared — and an iPhone has no infrared blaster. No app of any kind can control it, ours included. A replacement or universal IR remote is the only real fix.
Adding a Fire TV Stick, a Roku or a Chromecast with Google TV to that television gives you something Remote Pro can control, and is often the cheapest route to phone control on an older set.
The honest part
The TV has to be awake for that first pairing, because you need to read the 6-digit code off the screen. After it is paired, Remote Pro can wake it from standby.
Remote Pro implements the current (v2) Android TV remote protocol — the one every Google TV and recent Android TV device uses. A very old set-top box still on the original protocol may not pair.
Remote Pro controls four platforms: Samsung Tizen, Fire TV, Android TV / Google TV and Roku. Everything else — including every infrared-only television — is honestly out of scope, and we say so rather than let you find out after paying.
An iPhone has no infrared blaster, so a television that is only controllable by infrared cannot be controlled by any phone app — ours or anyone else’s. We say that on every page rather than hide it in a review reply.
Google’s free Google TV app has a built-in remote and it is good, provided you are signed into a Google account on your phone. Remote Pro pairs with the device directly, no account needed, and covers your Samsung, Fire TV and Roku gear too.
Start with your TV brand’s own app. If you add a streaming stick to the set later, Remote Pro controls Fire TV, Roku and Google TV sticks natively.
Remote Pro controls Samsung, Fire TV, Android TV / Google TV and Roku from one app, over your own WiFi. Full D-pad, volume where the platform supports it, and a real iPhone keyboard for search fields.
Get Remote Pro — free on the App Store Get →