How To Get Anything From Your Phone Up on Your TV

Watching picture show and shows on your phone is all well and secure — and would seem incredibly futuristic to anyone from the 1990s — but sometimes you need to see everything much , much bigger . If you involve to get videos , photos or audio up on your TV screen from your phone , these are the best ways to go about it .

Most of the fourth dimension , this is going to require plug an spare gadget into the back of your video lot , such as an Apple TV 4 K loge or a streaming stick from Roku . However , modern TVs are coming with more and more of the necessary functionality ( like support for AirPlay or the Chromecast standard ) built mightily in .

If you own an iPhone

It ’s often the compositor’s case that the best way to expand the capabilities of your Apple hardware is to … buy more Apple computer hardware . It ’s lawful with the iPhone too : For a unseamed , versatile , stress - gratuitous experience in set out substance from your iPhone up on your television screen , you might call for to get yourself anApple TV 4 K boxful .

When plug into your goggle box , powered on , and connect to the same wireless fidelity meshwork as your iPhone , the Apple TV 4 K will appear as a butt destination whenever you tap the AirPlay release in an audio or TV app ( that ’s the pointer pointing up into the rectangle ) . In some apps , the AirPlay button is on the part carte ( the pointer breaking up out of a square toes ) .

you’re able to also mirror what ’s on your iPhone screen door to an Apple TV 4 1000 through the magic of AirPlay . drag out down from the top right on iOS to afford the Control Center , then tap the Screen Mirroring button ( that ’s two rectangle next to each other ) . pick out your Apple TV 4 special K from the list to establish the connection .

You can get your phone and TV connected.

You can get your phone and TV connected.Photo:Glenn Carstens-Peters/Unsplash

In late years , Apple has let TV manufacturer to ramp up AirPlay right into their set , so you do n’t necessarily need an Apple TV 4 K box any more . The same connection method acting applies : The goggle box needs to be on the same wifi internet as the iPhone , and it ’ll show up whenever you hit the AirPlay or Screen Mirroring buttons . To see a list of TV with AirPlay support , click here .

The mostrecent Roku devicessupport AirPlay as well , so you could use them in the same way — if your video does n’t have the functionality , plug in a Roku instead . As for Google ’s Chromecast twist , there ’s no built - in casting support from iOS or Apple ’s own apps , but most third - party apps on the iPhone ( including YouTube , Netflix , and Spotify ) will exhibit a dramatis personae release : spigot on this to see Chromecasts ( and Chromecast - enable television ) touch base to the same WLAN internet , and to start beaming sound or video across them .

A couple of hearty third - party apps can help you out in your endeavors , too . Fire TV Stick Screen Mirroringis $ 5 a month after a trial period , and does precisely what its name suggests , let you mirror your iPhone screen or cast pic and TV to an Amazon dongle . Then there’sReplica , $ 30 a year with a spare test , which lets you mirror your iPhone screen on devices ( like Chromecasts ) that might only support audio frequency and video cyclosis out of the box .

An Apple TV 4K box works well with an iPhone.

An Apple TV 4K box works well with an iPhone.Image: Apple

If you own an Android phone

Figuring out the best way to go with Android is always more complicated , because there are of course of instruction variations between manufacturers and variant of Android . The Chromecast criterion is put up just about everywhere , though , and this is one of the easiest way to get content from your phone up on a idiot box projection screen .

Plug a Chromecast gadget into the back of your telecasting , check that your Android phone is on the same wifi web , and the gimmick will appear when you rap the cast button ( it search like a rectangle with a little wireless local area web wave in the corner , if you ’re not familiar with it ) . Most Android apps that can play sound or video will expose this push button somewhere .

you may also use a Chromecast to mirror whatever ’s on your Android filmdom to your TV show . You take to haveGoogle Home for Androidinstalled , which you presumably have after setting up a Chromecast : Find and choose the Chromecast from the main CRT screen in the Home app , then choose regurgitate my cover .

You can mirror your iPhone screen using AirPlay.

You can mirror your iPhone screen using AirPlay.Screenshot: Apple

If you do n’t have access to a Chromecast , everything is a minuscule more difficult . Some Android devices support sieve mirroring to Roku sticks , so that ’s one alternative , but it depart by manufacturer and is often yell something unlike from handset to handset . It ’s not available on Google Pixel phones , for object lesson , but it is usable on Samsung Galaxy handsets , where it ’s called Smart View .

It ’s a similar story with the Amazon Fire boob tube stick and box : push and hold the home clitoris on the Fire tv set remote for a few minute , then choose mirror from the screen that appears . Once you ’ve configure this , you may go into mount on your Android gimmick and choose Connected gadget to see the Amazon twist , if mirroring is corroborate — again the actual name of the feature will vary depend on the earpiece .

You may find some use forAllCast , an Android app that cost $ 5 if you need to unlock all of its features . It lets you beam audio recording , television and images over from your Android telephone set to a extensive range of machine that might be plug into your television set , admit the Apple TV 4 K , Roku dongles , and Amazon Fire boob tube contrivance .

The Cast protocol is the sensible choice for Android.