Fire TV is one of the most popular TV sticks that is used by so many people, and it is also inbuilt in some televisions such as Toshiba and Insignia.
Everyone loves using these to stream TV, it is so popular that even if your TV doesn’t have these capabilities, most people will want to own a Firestick.
However, if your TV has inbuilt Fire TV, can you use it without a remote? Well yes. You can. If you lose the remote to your Toshiba Fire TV, you can still use it without the remote.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s take a look at what your options are.
What are your options?
APP- The first option you have if you lost your Toshiba Fire TV remote, is to install the Amazon Fire TV app on your smartphone. This option is totally free, and it is probably the best option for most people.
Remote- Okay, so you lost your Toshiba Fire TV remote, you could always buy an Insignia Fire TV remote. These will work perfectly fine with a Toshiba Fire TV too. Toshiba do not currently sell replacements for the original remote, but Insignia do, so that is a good back up plan.
Fire Stick.- If neither of these other options sound good to you, you could just buy a new Amazon Fire TV Stick. Simply plug it into a free HDMI port on your Toshiba Fire TV. An Amazon Fire TV stick will come with a bundled remote.
However, there is a drawback or two of doing this, first of all you will have to select that particular port as an input to enjoy content through your new fire stick.
This is because, while power is on, your Toshiba Fire TV will sometimes not automatically switch to this port and will instead show the Toshiba Fire TV home screen by default.
This is probably the biggest drawback, so while it is not a major problem, it is still a problem you will have to overcome.
Installing the Firestick TV App on your Mobile.
If you want to go with the first option, which is to use the Firestick TV app on your mobile phone, then this is pretty easy. This is how you can do it;
- The first step is to open the Google Play Store, or the Apple App Store on your smartphone.
- Now you need to search for the Amazon Fire TV application.
- Next, once you have found the App, click download, or get to downloading the Amazon Fire TV app. This app needs to be run on mobiles that have an operating system of Android OS 4.0.3 minimum, or IOS 7.0 or newer. Double check in your settings to ensure that your mobile phone is up to date.
- Once you have downloaded the app, click ‘Open’ to launch the app and get started.
- Select on screen instructions to use the app to control your Fire TV. You are all sorted now and can control your TV from your phone instead!
Toshiba Fire TV Setup- with no remote.
Now that you have downloaded the App, things can begin to get rolling. Remember, you need to have the app downloaded for this to work. Here’s how;
- First you need to launch the Fire TV app on your phone, then switch on the Wi-Fi, you cannot do this without a Wi-Fi connection.
- Connect your smartphone to the same Wi-Fi that your TV is connected to.
- Now, sign in to the app with your Amazon account login credentials, these may be your email address or phone number, and your password.
- If you do not already have an existing account with Amazon, then you can sign up for this by putting in your name, email ID, and a nominated password (x2). Once you have successfully logged into your Amazon account, the TV should come up displaying a 4-digit code on the screen, you need to enter this code onto your mobile so pair your mobile and your TV together with the fire stick hardware.
- Your mobile phone screen should now show ‘Searching for Fire TV device’. You need to ensure that this device is signed in to the same Amazon account as your Fire Stick, or your TV, otherwise they will not set up properly.
- Click the ‘New Device’. It should then detect the Fire TV Stick that is connected to an HDMI port, or the device that has the built-in Fire TV system. Some on-screen buttons should come up, it will then ask you to press the ‘Home’ button, and the ‘Play/Pause’ buttons afterwards. Now, you are all set up and can start streaming your content
Okay, but… What do we think?
Since Toshiba or Amazon are not selling the compatible remote for Toshiba Fire TV, the only real backup option there that is just as good, is to buy the Insignia remote, and pair it with your Toshiba TV. Using mobile apps is easy, as free, but nor is it comfortable and flexible.
Touchscreens with mobile phones are not all that useful and convenient when it comes to using them as on-screen virtual buttons, instead of real physical buttons as you experience on a remote control.
This is why many people, especially older people will not like using them to control a television, if you have unstable hands, or if your eyesight is not all that great, trying to control a TV through a mobile phone could easily turn into an argument between you and your phone, and become so frustrating that the relaxing entertainment of watching TV would lose its relaxing factor and just become frustrating.
A Fire TV remote is far too much more sleek and ergonomic in handling than any smartphone of a normal size. You would also need to keep the Bluetooth on to enable your mobile connection with your TV.
This will put an additional load on your phone’s battery and will drain it faster. If your phone already has a shoddy battery, then you can see yourself having to keep it on charge throughout a whole TV show just to be able to use it as a remote.
A physical remote on the other hand simply works on two dry cells, and thus there is no additional draining of your phone battery. It is easy and simple.
You will also have to disable ‘Auto Screen Off’ on your phone to prevent it from going into sleep mode while you are watching TV. If you do not, you will repeatedly have to wake up your phone while you are watching TV just to use it as a remote.
This will also drain more battery and be more frustrating to you.
Similarly, if your TV was bought post- 2002, then it should also be a CEC (Consumer Electronic Control) compliant device. Then you can purchase a CC compliant remote to control the fire stick device of your television.
Should I just buy a whole new TV?
While it may seem like overkill, some people may consider simply buying a whole new TV when they lose the remote, or if they have got a bit bored with the same model of TV.
Since many new modern-day, large screen sleek televisions will also serve as a nice changeable photo frame, they can 100% enhance the decor, glitz, and glamour of your home.
So, if your TV is not behaving as you want and your Toshiba Fire TV is starting to irritate you since you lost the remote, a replacement might be on the horizon.
If your home needs a decor facelift, you can always consider upgrading your TV to a newer, higher tech model. If your current TV is a full HD TV, you might even want to consider upgrading to a 4K TV.
If the screen size of your current TV is smaller, you might want to buy a 55” or a 65” TV, to give you a more dramatic, cinematic experience. This does depend on the size of your living room/ TV room, your budget, and other things of course.
TV technology is definitely evolving at an appreciable pace, however do remember, you do not need to shop for expensive models for them to be a good model TV.
There are better and smarter LED, and AMOLED panels that are being released all the time. When it comes to audio, you can always go for a TV that comes with Dolby Vision, or an HDR tech in-built in the system.
If you do have brand loyalty, then why not simply upgrade to a newer and higher model. You can always get an exchange offer for your old set (TVs and vehicles have this in common).
A TV from the likes of Samsung, with a projector screen like a foldable panel is scheduled to hit the consumer markets, and you can guarantee there will always be companies with bigger and better tech releasing newer models.
All these options are there to consider if you decide that your old TV needs to hit the road, and you want to bring in a newer model TV to spruce up your life. There is no reason why this can’t be an option for you.
What are the FAQs?
How do I reach the home screen on my Toshiba Fire TV?
Simply press the Home button, which is shown as a house icon at the bottom of the screen on your mobile phone (if you are using the app).
How can I navigate through the different menu options?
You have a 5-way scroll button on screen to use. There are four directional arrows for left, right, up, and down. The central circular button is a ‘select’ button.
How can I save a Wi-Fi password on my Fire TV?
After language selection, the app should ask whether you wish to save the Wi-Fi password. If you do this, clicking yes, then you will not have to enter the password every time you log in to your Amazon account.
It is much like any website you access on your PC or Mobile, click yes to allow it to remember your password history.
