---
title: "Searching for Something on My Smart TV Became Much Easier When I Started Using My Phone"
date: 2026-11-06
author: "John Hannah"
featured_image: "https://techrt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/iphone-tv-remote-with-keyboard.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Technology"
    url: "/topics/technology.md"
tags:
  - name: "SP"
    url: "/tags/sp.md"
---

# Searching for Something on My Smart TV Became Much Easier When I Started Using My Phone

I use my Smart TV for plenty of things, but there is one part of the experience that still feels like it belongs to an older generation of technology: searching.

The TV itself is perfectly capable of finding movies, shows, videos, and apps. The frustrating part is entering the search.

A physical remote just isn’t the most convenient keyboard.

So instead of trying to make the remote do something it wasn’t designed for, I started using my iPhone for text input.

## Finding Something to Watch Shouldn’t Take Five Minutes

### The Content Isn’t the Problem

Smart TVs have access to an enormous amount of content.

The problem is getting to a specific piece of content quickly.

If I want to search for a particular movie or YouTube video, I don’t want to spend several minutes moving between letters on the TV screen.

This is especially noticeable when the search query is longer than a few words.

### The Remote Makes Every Letter a Separate Action

With a traditional remote, typing often means navigating through an on-screen keyboard and selecting individual letters.

It works, but it doesn’t feel particularly efficient.

Your phone, on the other hand, already has a keyboard designed specifically for entering text quickly.

That’s an obvious advantage when the goal is simply to search.

## Your Phone Can Handle the Typing

### TVRem Puts the Keyboard Where It Makes Sense

[TVRem](https://www.electronic.us/products/tvrem/) turns an iPhone or iPad into a Smart TV remote and includes keyboard input for situations where you need to type.

That means I can use my phone for the search itself and then continue using the remote interface to control the TV.

It’s a simple division of tasks:

- **Phone keyboard → enter the search**
- **TV → show the results**
- **Remote controls → navigate and watch**

It makes the whole process feel less awkward.

![TVRem iPhone TV remote app showing touch navigation, voice control, streaming app shortcuts and keyboard input](https://techrt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/tvrem-iphone-tv-remote-features.jpg)## It’s Useful for More Than Movie Titles

### Search Anything You Would Normally Type

The keyboard isn’t only useful when searching for a movie.

I can use it for things like:

- YouTube videos
- names of actors or creators
- specific shows
- channels
- longer search phrases
- other text fields where the TV requires input

Basically, whenever I see a text field on the TV, having my phone nearby becomes useful.

## I Don’t Have to Keep Switching Between Devices

### One Phone Can Handle the Whole Interaction

Another thing I like is that I don’t need a separate physical keyboard.

My iPhone is already next to me most of the time, so it can handle both the typing and the remote controls.

I can type a search, navigate the results, adjust the volume, move around the interface, and continue watching without looking for another device.

That makes more sense to me than having a traditional remote plus a separate keyboard.

## The Experience Is Especially Noticeable With Longer Searches

### Short Searches Are Fine, but Longer Ones Show the Real Difference

If I’m entering one or two letters, the TV’s keyboard isn’t a huge problem.

But try searching for a long movie title or a very specific YouTube video with a remote.

That’s when the difference becomes obvious.

Typing the same thing on a phone takes much less effort, and I don’t have to think about where each letter is on the TV screen.

## A Better Way to Search on a Smart TV

A Smart TV is supposed to make finding content easier, but the traditional remote can still make text input feel unnecessarily complicated.

Using an iPhone as a remote doesn’t change how the TV works. It simply gives me a more convenient way to interact with it.

For anyone who searches frequently on their Smart TV, having a [TV remote app with a keyboard](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tvrem-universal-smarttv-remote/id6746162794) is one of those features that seems minor until you actually start using it.