This post will walk you through mirroring an iPhone screen to a big TV screen. Here’s a quick guide to connect an iPhone to a smart TV wirelessly and using a wired connection.
iPhone Screen Mirroring
Screen mirroring refers to a technology that enables you to share media content from your smartphone or tablet to a television for better viewing.
With this technology, you can directly send the media that you play on your smart device to a larger screen like a media projector or television via wireless connection.
Among the contents that you can mirror are videos, photos, music, games, as well as online content from popular streaming platforms like YouTube and Netflix.
Screen mirroring is by far deemed as the quickest screen casting method. It uses the same protocol to that of Miracast technology, which mirrors one screen to another wirelessly.
In order to utilize this feature, there are specific system requirements that your devices should meet.
For example, your mobile device and the TV or projector must have screen mirroring support, able to send out, capture and play data over a wireless connection.
Depicted below are different methods to mirror an iPhone screen to a smart television. If you have a new iPhone and are wondering how to view its content on a bigger screen like a television, you can refer to the given instructions.
Different Ways to Connect iPhone to a Smart TV
As the name suggests, screen mirroring allows you to view your iPhone screen to a big TV screen. The concept is similar to that of the typical projector, which projects the display on a clear, white background wall.
There are different ways to connect an iPhone to a smart television. Just be sure to pick the method that best suits your needs and viewing preferences. Also ensure that your smart TV is AirPlay 2-compatible. You can confirm this information with your TV manufacturer if you aren’t sure.
Once you’ve got everything set, you may go ahead and proceed with any of these outlined procedures.
A. Screen Mirroring Feature in iOS
To mirror your iPhone screen to your smart TV, just follow these steps:
Step 1: First, launch the Control Center by swiping down from the top of your Home screen.
Step 2: While on the Control Center, locate and then tap on the Screen Mirroring icon located beneath the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth menu. Just look for the Screen Mirroring logo that’s represented with two overlapping rectangles.
Step 3: After activating Screen Mirroring on the Control Center, check the connection on your smart TV and make sure that it’s connected to the same Wi-Fi network that your iPhone is connected to. Also ensure that Screen Mirroring is ready on your television.
If prompted, enter the passcode that appears on your TV screen on your iPhone to complete the connection process.
Step 4: When the connection is successful, you should see the name of your smart TV displayed on the list of devices under the Screen Mirroring section. Simply tap on it to start viewing content from your iPhone straight on your TV screen.
At this point, you should be all set to watch whatever content you would want to view from your iPhone to your smart TV.
Once you’re done, just repeat the above steps to launch the Control Center and then tap the Stop Mirroring icon to disconnect your devices and end casting your iPhone screen to your television.
B. Stream iPhone Screen via AirPlay
Another way to stream video and other content from your iPhone to a television is through Airplay. To make this happen, your devices must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Just follow these steps whenever you’re all set to use AirPlay on your iPhone:
Step 1: First, connect your devices to the same Wi-Fi network (if you haven’t already).
Step 2: Once your devices are online, find and select the video or content that you’d like to stream from your iPhone to your television.
Step 3: After selecting the video/content to stream, tap the AirPlay icon. In some iOS apps, AirPlay is listed among other Sharing apps. Should this be the case, you will need to tap the Share icon and then tap AirPlay.
Step 4: On the next screen, select your Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart television and start streaming video or any content from your iPhone.
To end streaming, simply tap AirPlay on your iPhone or in the app that you’re streaming from and then select your iPhone from the list.
It’s also worth noting that AirPlay is not supported in all video apps. That said, you may not be able to use AirPlay with some apps. This likewise denotes the need for you to check the app description to see if AirPlay is supported.
C. Wired (HDMI) Connection
If you don’t have an Apple TV, you can mirror your iPhone to your TV using a wired connection. To make this happen, you will need to secure a compatible cable or adapter (HDMI connection) to go from your iPhone to your television.
In order to connect your iPhone to a smart TV using wired connection, you will need to have an HDMI cable and a Digital AV adapter.
Once you secured the cable and adapter, you can start connecting your phone and TV with these steps:
Step 1: Connect one end of the HDMI cable to any vacant HDMI port on your television. Just locate the HDMI port on the side or behind your TV. If you’re not comfortable doing this with your TV on, you can turn it off first.
Step 2: After plugging one end of the HDMI cable to the port, connect the other end to the Lightning Digital AV adapter.
Step 3: Next, connect the Lightning connector from the Digital AV Adapter to your iPhone.
Step 4: Make sure that all connections are secured. Then, turn on your television.
Step 5: Switch to the correct HDMI port using your remote control or TV controls.
Step 6: Finally, wait for your devices to establish a secure connection. By then, you should be able to see your iPhone screen and hear its sound on your television.
Should you wish to resort to this method, you may have to manually adjust the TV input so it will be able to detect your iOS device. Once your iPhone is recognized, you should see your iPhone’s screen on your television. That denotes that screen mirroring via HDMI connection is successful.
Cannot mirror your iPhone screen to your TV?
Most problems encountered by many iPhone users when attempting to use screen mirroring are tied to system/device incompatibility issues. This means that the iPhone and the television aren’t compatible as the latter does not support the same screen mirroring technology like that of the iPhone.
In cases like this, using a third-party app to somehow connect your iPhone to the television might help. Among the screen mirroring apps that you can download from the App Store are Mirroring360, TeamViewer, AnyDesk and SecondScreen, to name a few. Just pick the one that’s compatible with your iPhone and your smart television.
Otherwise, you will need to find and use another television that has the same screen mirroring technology with that of the iOS device.
For seamless and hassle-free screen mirroring, connecting the iPhone to an Apple TV is recommended as both devices are made by Apple and therefore compatible with each other.
However, the Apple TV cannot be used or paired with other phones like Android or Windows devices so streaming content from these devices won’t be possible.
And that’s all about connecting an iPhone to a Smart TV.
Please keep posted for more comprehensive iOS tutorials and troubleshooting guides on this site. Or you can check out this YouTube channel to view more comprehensive tutorial and troubleshooting videos including recent iOS devices.