With the rise of technological advancements, the technical terms that represent them have also increased dramatically. We are going to focus on one such term called ‘casting’ of the phone to devices like laptops, smart television, etc.
To begin with, let us first understand what it means to cast phone to laptop and how is it different from the similar term called ‘mirroring’ of the phone to a laptop or any other smart screened devices.
Related article: Everything You Need To Know About Miracast
In this article, we will focus on the phone casting feature, how to use it, and clearly understand its function.
What is a screen or phone casting?
The term screen or phone casting refers to projecting media like a video or photos from your phone on the screen of a smart device whereas mirroring means that your exact phone is displayed on the screen of a smart device that is available nearby.
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The major difference between phone mirroring and casting is that phone mirroring will display your exact phone screen on a display along with your movements but if you cast phone to a laptop or other devices, you can work on your phone at the same time.
Another term that could create confusion is ‘screen sharing’. Screen sharing functions similar to screen mirroring with the difference that screen sharing is used to share your phone or device screen to other screens remotely.
In short, you can mirror your screen on your laptop whereas you need to share the screen for it to be displayed on a laptop located at another remote place, through the internet.
Now that we have highlighted the differences between the features similar to casting, let us move on to know about the process to cast phone to laptop.
How to cast phone to laptop?
Casting an Android phone on your laptop or smart TV is very easy. Here are the steps involved in casting phone to laptop:
In laptop
- Use the search tab on your laptop or PC to search for the ‘Connect App’.
- This has made your laptop ready to connect with your phone.
- Also, try:
Settings > Projecting to this PC > Click on the ‘Available everywhere’ option for the first setting –“Window PCs and phones can project to this PC when you say it’s OK”.
Note: Do give access to your phone to connect with the laptop by clicking on the ‘Yes’ option on the confirmation dialog box that states “Allow ‘The device’ to project here?”
You can also change the settings like:
- Option to connect or pair with the device based on ‘pin’ each time you connect to a device.
- Permission to ask before connecting for the first time only or each time while connecting,
In phone
- Open the notifications center in your Android phone.
- Click on the ‘Cast’ option under the ‘Quick Actions’ section.
- Click on the ‘More Settings’ option.
- Select the ‘Enable Wireless Display’ option from the drop-down menu on your phone.
- Search for your laptop or another device from the phone from the list for it to connect.
- On a successful connection, your phone media can be displayed on your laptop screen.
The phone would be cast on a separate Connect App screen that can be re-sized or adjusted accordingly.
These are the general steps that apply to all Android phones with an in-built cast option. If you cannot find the option using this method, don’t worry as each manufacturer has its own settings options, so just browse through the options.
You can try searching for the instructions to cast your phone by entering your specific phone details and model to obtain accurate results.
Windows 10 phone
In case you own a mobile phone with Windows 10 then follow these steps to cast your phone on your laptop or another smart device with Windows:
In Windows 10 phone
- Open the ‘Action center panel’.
- From the ‘Quick Actions’ tab click on the ‘Connect’
In laptop
- Open the ‘Settings’ and click on the ‘System setting’ option.
- Select ‘Projecting to this PC’.
- Click on the ‘Available Everywhere’ from the drop-down menu for the first setting – “Window PCs and phones can project to this PC when you say it’s OK”.
Check for the name of your laptop on your phone and click on it to begin casting your phone.
Apart from the methods using the in-built cast feature in the phone, you can also try using third-party applications to get your job done. Some of such applications are listed here:
Screen Cast
The Screencast application is available in the Google Play Store, which can be used to cast phone to laptop, PC, Mac, or Smart TV whenever you want.
The requirements are:
- Stable internet connectivity.
- The smart device should have access to a web browser.
You can download the application on your phone and use it to cast media, conduct presentations, pictures, etc. on your laptop easily.
This application is user-friendly and serves its purpose very well but some of the glitches in this application are:
- The users have found issues related to the resolution and clarity of the media being cast. The variation in the color shade is also experienced.
- However, these problems could be due to poor internet bandwidth or unstable Wi-Fi connectivity.
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Another issue usually faced in casting a phone to another device is that protected files from your phone are stopped from being displayed. This issue can be identified by the error message stating “Unable to display protected application content” or a message with similar meaning.
We have now seen different techniques to cast phone to laptop either by the default settings or by using a third-party application. Apart from the application mentioned here, there are several applications available in the Google play store that you can use for free!
Hope this was useful in understanding the steps in casting phone to laptop and other screens for enhanced media experience.
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