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Easiest ways to connect your smartphone to your TV
The line between your various gadgets is blurring by the day. You can connect your tablet to your surveillance system and your smart speaker to your refrigerator. You can see who’s at the door from your computer and adjust the thermostat from your phone.
When it comes to your smart TV, it’s more than just a screen for watching your favorite movies and shows. You can control smart home features from your TV, use it as a computer screen, make video calls and more. Tap or click here for five things you can do with your smart TV that you may not know about.
Wouldn’t it be great to bring the content from your smartphone to your big-screen TV? It’s possible. You can livestream video from your phone to your TV, view files and photos and also play games. Virtually anything you can do on your phone can be cast to your TV. Here’s how.
The wired route
Wireless is great for some functions, but you may experience some issues if you do more complicated and data-heavy tasks. If you are live streaming or playing a game, you will probably experience some lag. The same goes for screen mirroring. A poor Wi-Fi connection will also slow things down.
A USB or HDMI connection works best for more complex applications. You have a few options to connect your phone to your TV directly.
RELATED: The best TV trick you’re probably not using (but should be)
Wired iPhone connection
Your iPhone doesn’t have a USB connection, but you have many adapter options for the Lightning port. To connect to your TV’s HDMI port, you’ll need a Lightning cable, a Lightning to HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable.
Connect your iPhone to the HDMI adapter with a Lightning cable, then connect the adapter to your TV with an HDMI cable. Next, switch your TV to the HDMI port your phone is connected to and you should see your phone screen mirrored on your TV.
Wired Android connection
Newer Android phones have a USB-C port, making them easy to connect to a TV. A USB-C to HDMI cable will let you connect your phone directly to the TV. You can also connect your Android to a USB-C to HDMI adapter using a USB-C cable. Then connect an HDMI cable from the adapter to your TV.
Change the TV source to the connected HDMI, and you’re all set.
No wires, no problem
Simple tasks such as displaying photos from your phone to your TV do not require much speed from your phone, TV or internet connection and thus can be done wirelessly. You can also try screen mirroring, but the performance may be affected. There are a few ways to go the wireless route.
Amazon Fire TV screen mirroring
Amazon Fire TV devices do not support iOS for screen mirroring, but you can use your Android phone:
- Hold down the Home button on your Fire TV remote, then select Mirroring and press enter.
- On your Android phone, go to Settings > Connected devices. Depending on the phone you’re using, you may see a different setting such as Bluetooth & device connection.
- Select Smart View or Connection preferences, then Cast. You may also see Quick Connect, SmartShare, Display mirroring.
- Tick the checkbox next to Enable wireless display.
- Select the name of your Fire TV device when you see it on your phone screen.
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Roku screen mirroring
If you have an Android and Roku device, you can easily mirror your phone’s screen to the TV:
- If your Roku device supports screen mirroring and is running Roku OS 7.7 or later, screen mirroring is enabled automatically.
- On your Android phone, go to Settings > Smart View (you may see an equivalent term on your phone such as Quick Connect, SmartShare, Display mirroring).
- Choose your Roku device from the Smart View menu.
- You’ll get a prompt on your TV screen for screen mirroring.
- Using your Roku remote, Choose Allow to accept the request for the current session or Always allow if you want to do this again.
RELATED: Use a Roku? Check out this new Live TV section
Chromecast
You can cast your Android phone to your Chromecast device or smart TV with built-in Chromecast support:
- Make sure your Android phone is on the same Wi-Fi network as your Chromecast device.
- Open the Google Home app and tap the device you want to cast your screen to.
- Tap Cast my screen > Cast screen.
AirPlay/Apple TV (iOS)
AirPlay lets you stream or share content from your Apple devices to your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV:
- Make sure your iPhone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible TV.
- Open Control Center on your iPhone and tap Screen Mirroring.
- Select your TV from the list.
- If an AirPlay passcode appears on your TV screen, enter the passcode on your iPhone.
Tags: Amazon Kindle, Apple, Apple iPhone, computer, games, Livestream, refrigerator, Roku, screen mirroring, smart speaker, smart TV, smartphones, surveillance system, tablet, thermostat, USB-C, video calls
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