What is Screen Mirroring? All Basic Info

If you have been in the digital industry for a while, you may have likely heard the term screen mirroring. It refers to you mirroring the screen of your one device on another. For example, viewing the screen of your iPhone on your Mac is called screen mirroring. If you happen to be someone who often does presentations, you may have even used the feature on your devices.

The following guide takes an in-depth look at it and tells you how you can use screen mirroring on your compatible devices. At the end of the guide, you will have learned to fully use the feature on your devices.

What is Screen Mirroring

First of all, let us understand exactly what screen mirroring is. Screen mirroring is when you mirror the screen of one device to another. It is basically seeing the contents of the screen of one device on another device. Users usually use it to view the contents of their small smartphones on a large screen such as the screen of your computer or your TV.

The screen mirroring connection is usually established over a WiFi network. You need to connect both your devices to the same network and you are ready to go. You can then view your small smartphone screen on your large TV screen or computer screen. Anything that is performed on the smartphone is instantly displayed on the large screen.

How to Use Screen Mirroring on Android or iOS Devices

Now that you are informed of what screen mirroring is, you may want to learn how you can use it on your devices. Most devices that support this feature usually have an easy to use procedure to start and use the function.

The feature is available on most Android phones and all iOS-based devices. It is supported on a few other TVs as well such as the ones from Sony and Samsung.

Since most people use either an iOS or Android phone, we will show you how to do screen mirroring on these phones. Steps should be similar for other phones as well.

How to Set Up Screen Mirroring on iOS

Apple has built a feature called AirPlay in its iOS devices that allows you to mirror your iOS device’s screen on an AirPlay-compatible device in a few easy clicks. Apple TV is one of the popular AirPlay receivers.

Here is how you go about using the feature on your iPhone or iPad. Please ensure both your devices are connected to the same WiFi network.

Step 1. Swipe up from the bottom of your device to open Control Center. On newer iPad models, you will need to swipe down from the top-right corner of your device.

Step 2. When Control Centre opens, find and tap on the AirPlay option to launch the feature. You will then be able to select the device where you want to mirror your phone.

That is all. It is pretty easy to use screen mirroring on your iOS-based devices. Be advised though screen mirroring without WiFi may not be possible on all the devices out there. Only a certain few phones support it.

Perform Screen Mirroring on an Android Device

If you use an Android device, you can grab one of the many apps available out there to do screen mirroring. Many TV manufacturers have their own apps as well to help you do the task.

Here we show you how to mirror your Android device to a Samsung TV. If yours is a different TV, you will be able to find its app using Google.

Step 1. Download and install the SmartThings app on your Android phone.

Step 2. Launch the app on your device and tap on Add Device. It will let you add your TV to the list.

Step 3. On the following screen, select your TV from the available devices list. Make sure your TV is connected to the same WiFi network as your phone.

Step 4. Enter the PIN number shown on your TV in the app and tap on Smart View. Your TV should now show the contents of your Android screen.

How Does Screen Mirroring Work

Screen mirroring utilizes some standard protocols between two compatible devices to establish the connection. In screen mirroring, you usually have two devices – one that sends the content of its screen – and second that receives the content from the first device.

If we use the iPhone’s example here. Your iPhone is the sender as it is its screen that will be mirrored. Your TV where you are sending the screen to is called receiver as that is where your iPhone’s screen will be displayed.

Various companies use various protocols for screen mirroring. Apple uses AirPlay whereas Google uses Google Cast. As long as two devices are compatible, you can do the screen mirroring. We hope that tells you how screen mirroring works on various devices.

Bonus Tip: An Alternative of AirPlay to Mirror Screen

While AirPlay works really great on Apple devices to help you mirror your screen, it may not work when you want to mirror your screen to a computer.

Fortunately, you have a great AirPlay alternative available and it is called AnyTrans. It is an app that helps you manage the content on your devices as well as mirror your device’s screen to your computers.

The app runs on both Windows and Mac machines. Once you have installed it, getting your iPhone’s display to show up on your computer is just a matter of a few clicks. For more detailed steps, just refer to How to Screen Mirroring with AnyTrans >

The Bottom Line

Screen mirroring is really useful as it lets you project the small details of your iPhone screen on a really large screen of your smart TV or your computer monitor. We hope the above guide helps you learn what it is, how it works, and how you can use it on your devices.