Control your TV with your watch

Note: This feature is currently available to Pixel Watch 3 devices. It's not yet available for other watches that run Wear OS. For updates and announcements about Wear OS watches, go to the Wear OS Community help page.

Use your watch to control your TV with the Google Home app. Turn on your TV, play media, navigate with a virtual D-pad, or control the volume, all from the comfort of your wrist.

What you need to get started

Google Pixel Watch
TV compatible with Google Home
The latest version of the Google Home app

Get started

Add the TV remote tile to your device from the Watch Tile Library.
- Google Pixel Watch:
  1. Tap and hold the screen swipe left until the Add tile button.
  2. Tap Add tile and look for the TV remote tile.
  3. Tap TV remote to add it to your watch home screen.
If you have a home and a TV already set up in your Home app, the TV remote tile is ready to be used once added. Select the TV you want to control through the tile.

Note: Only one TV can be controlled through the TV remote tile. If your TV isn't added to your Home app yet, refer to Link your TV to your Google Nest or Home speaker or display.

If you have multiple homes tied to your Google account, you will need to set up the tile.
- Tap Select choose the Home address that you want to use select the TV you want to control.
Similarly, if you have multiple Google Accounts on your watch and need to switch to another:
- Scroll to the bottom of your watch screen, tap Select choose the account you want to use choose the Home address tap the TV you want to control.

Basic Controls

You can use your watch just as you would your normal remote control. The TV remote tile provides shortcut access to media controls, volume, D-pad remote, and an Open button for the Google Home app.

TV media control

Control media that plays on Chromecast and TVs. Open the TV remote tile and tap the Media Player icon.

This allows you to:

Play, pause, or stop to control what's being played
Check media progress
Control media playback: previous and next buttons
Control volume

Volume control

Control the volume of connected devices that are currently playing media in the home. To access volume control on your watch, open the TV remote tile and tap the Volume Volume

icon. You can also use the crown to increase or decrease the volume.

Remote

If you need a virtual D-pad to navigate your Smart TV, tap the Remote icon in your TV remote tile. Like a D-pad on a physical remote, it has the directional and selection buttons.

Use the D-pad ring to navigate up, down, left, or right. To select, press the middle button.

Fix issues with your TV on your watch

You might have a problem with your watch if:

You don’t see the Google TV remote tile.
You’ve updated to the latest version and still don’t have access to the experience.

1. Update all apps

If you don’t see the Google TV remote tile on your watch, make sure all Play Store updates are installed:

On your watch, press the crown to open the app launcher.
Scroll down towards the bottom and tap Manage Apps
Tap Update all.

Note: If the changes are not immediately present, you may need to wait 4 hours and restart your watch to allow the configurations to be updated and applied.

2. Force close the app

If your Google Home app is 2.27.65.4 or greater and you still don’t see the TV remote tile:

1. Try force stopping the Google Home app.

On your watch, press and hold the app icon in the app launcher tap Force Stop.

2. Reopen the Google Home app and then you should see a “What’s new” notice, showcasing the newest features.

3. Now, you should be able to add the Google TV remote tile on your watch.

Press and hold a tile press (+) button.

3. Restart your watch and phone

If you are still experiencing issues after installing all Play Store updates and force stopping the Google Home app, restart your watch and phone.

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