Infrared iPhones
No the iPhone still doesn’t have an IR ‘blaster’ you can use to control your TV. You can use your iPhone’s FaceTime (front facing) camera to troubleshoot problems with your remote control though. If you don’t think your remote is firing correctly then you can try this simple trick to find out…
Human eyes can’t see the infrared light produced by remote controls. However, your iPhone can. As long as you have an iPhone 4 or newer, your front-facing ‘FaceTime’ camera can see IR light, if you’re still rocking an 3GS or older then you can use your rear facing camera. If you have another smartphone, give it a try. I can’t guarantee that it’ll work with individual models, but it’s worth a shot.