I spend a lot of time on my laptop, but do not consider myself especially technically skilled. And I use an Iphone a great deal, including sometimes doing screen mirroring where what is showing on the little screen of my phone is transferred via WiFI to my large screen TV. Its a great way to share videos or slide shows rather than trying to watch them on a tiny phone screen. Until the Apple TV app was available from my cable provider, I used mirroring to watch Apple TV material that I could get through the Apple TV app on my phone. I was pretty surprised that several of my adult kids had never heard of this feature on the Iphone until I showed it to them, and some of my grandkids as well (almost all of whom have an Iphone). Made me wonder if this is a feature that many are unaware of so I thought I would share it here.
Do you use "screen mirroring"?
- Thread starter vito
- Start date
I do it with my laptop but use a HDMI connection. I think what you are doing uses the wifi and needs a smart TV.
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Now wait a minute................are y'all saying you are watching a TV program on your telephone then projecting that on your TV screen?
Seems to me a little round-a-bout. Why not just turn o the TV and watch your program on that and bypass the telephone? And, doesn't it cost you minutes while using your telephone?
Bob Wright
Seems to me a little round-a-bout. Why not just turn o the TV and watch your program on that and bypass the telephone? And, doesn't it cost you minutes while using your telephone?
Bob Wright
Makes sense to me Bob; not to mention that I THINK the TV was made to watch movies and shows, while the 'phone' was made to call someone and have a conversation. But what do I know (?)
J.
Bob: first, on most smart phone plans there is unlimited data. Most not all. I know lots of people here don’t have unlimited data.
Then, you need a smart tv also. One of those that connects to your Wi-Fi in the house and can stream non cable channels, like YouTube for example.
But then, for me, it’s easier to find something on my phone than on the television.
I don’t do this, but my wife does from time to time. Actually I guess I do, if I’m watching something on Yiutube, like one of Hickok 45’s reviews, I can go into the living room and turn on the tv, and wham, bam, there is the same video. But bigger.
I've done it with something on youtube I wanted to watch, like a concert or old movie, and yes, Hickok45 or the Miculek channel. My 14 year old grandson showed me how. But I didn't know that was what you called it. 
Phones are no longer phones... they are small super computers. My first really good work computer was one of the first Macintoshes (1987) and it came with an external 20 megabit hard drive that was 2" tall and about 12"x12" square.... now I have micro SD cards the size of my little finger nail that have by my calculations 6,000 times the memory as that first hard drive.
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Call me a dinosaur.
Bob Wright
Bob Wright
Bob, you are not missing a thing... believe me.. I many days wish I had never dove into this computer mess... and I'm now pretty much a dinosaur with it. I realized the other day I'm still using an appointment book in my work as well as actually writing down the information of the folks that call me.... and I do this on paper. I even give customers a paper receipt....
I tried to do the mirror thing on our living room TV, which is not that smart and actually figured out a way to do it through the Roku streaming device... did it once I think and then never did it again.
I tried to do the mirror thing on our living room TV, which is not that smart and actually figured out a way to do it through the Roku streaming device... did it once I think and then never did it again.
Huskerguy72
Single-Sixer
We do this regularly at our home. Not all smart TVs can access everything on the internet, that is by design in each smart TV. The browsers are limited.
So we just find what we want to watch, good example was the series "The Chosen" which was available on an app that we couldn't download on our TV.
We both have Android phones so it is not just for an iPhone. The phone is connected to the data source via our home internet so it doesn't use our data plan, the phone connects to the TV via blue tooth.
It works great. You just tie up your phone while you are projecting for an hour or two. You can stop, pause, etc as well.
So we just find what we want to watch, good example was the series "The Chosen" which was available on an app that we couldn't download on our TV.
We both have Android phones so it is not just for an iPhone. The phone is connected to the data source via our home internet so it doesn't use our data plan, the phone connects to the TV via blue tooth.
It works great. You just tie up your phone while you are projecting for an hour or two. You can stop, pause, etc as well.
Captain America
Hunter
I follow tech pretty closely and use an iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Apple TV every day, I also am the person at the dealership that helps customers with iPhone pairing. It's been my experience that most younger people have absolutely no idea(nor do they care) about the vast majority of the features in their device.
DeletedMember275
Hunter
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2002
- Messages
- 2,759
Your smart phone has more computing power than the Apollo capsules that took our astronauts to the moon and back.
OP
I had a free year of Apple TV given to me for buying something (I can't recall what right now) but Apple TV was not available through my cable TV system. I was able to load it on my phone, then use mirroring to show the material on the big screen TV. I've also used mirroring to share video with the family rather than have everyone huddled around a phone watching the tiny screen. Its just a neat feature that costs me nothing. And yes, it does take a TV that is reachable via WiFi.
I have a flatscreen in the living room for the young'ns, but my den has an old style CRT TV with terrific side speakers. I prefer it over digital for another reason. Where a digital may blank out during a reception problem ( they are either on or of- no in between) , the old TV just gets a static burst and keeps moving..
I walk a lot, swim, kayak, hike, and practice martial arts & shooting, and read a whole bunch. I do spend a little time on line for business, and in forums like this, but that's about it. I also use a flip phone.
If you think I am uncomfortable with the tech, you would be incorrect. I am an electronics design engineer as well as an electronics technician. My brother owns an international software company. I am just more aware of the many downfalls of over-using. Smart phones are easy to hack and easy to track, for instance. But the real reason is simply that I just like real life a lot better.
I walk a lot, swim, kayak, hike, and practice martial arts & shooting, and read a whole bunch. I do spend a little time on line for business, and in forums like this, but that's about it. I also use a flip phone.
If you think I am uncomfortable with the tech, you would be incorrect. I am an electronics design engineer as well as an electronics technician. My brother owns an international software company. I am just more aware of the many downfalls of over-using. Smart phones are easy to hack and easy to track, for instance. But the real reason is simply that I just like real life a lot better.
