How Do I Mirror My iPhone to Roku Without Apple TV?
With our pursuit for happiness increasingly being captured by trendsetting smartphones, there are times when you want to share those moments with your family on a big screen. If you have an Apple TV, you can use its built-in Airplay screen mirroring to easily access your iPhone’s content from the TV. But what if you don’t have Apple TV?
Well, it’s still possible to connect your phone to your smart TV by mirroring it with a Roku device or Roku Smart TV.
How Do I Mirror My iPhone to Roku Without Apple TV?
So, how do you mirror your iPhone to TV with Roku? Download a third-party Roku mirroring app from Apple Store and connect it to your Roku device from the app. After installing it on your phone and establishing a connection, you can share the visual contents with the touch of a button, and stop the process when you’re done with a tap of the same button.
As easy as it sounds, the process follows a few steps that I will outline below. You don’t even need a fancy smart TV to get going, just two things; your iPhone and Roku. But first, let’s understand the concept of screen mirroring.
What is Screen Mirroring?
Screen mirroring, also referred to as screen sharing, is a technology that simply replicates a smartphone, a PC, laptop, or a tablet onto a TV screen or any other screen. This tech is quite useful in an office setting for presentations and lectures and at home when you want to share some content on your phone to a bigger screen.
Don’t mistake desktop sharing software or video conferencing software as screen mirroring services. Screen mirroring is more of a ‘localized’ action, which means that both devices, the sending, and the receiving devices need to be on the same network. An internet connection, however, is not required since the connection is point-to-point, and it remains on the local network. The screen data never crosses the internet.
Screen mirroring also isn’t media streaming, and neither is it the use of physical connections such as cables, adapters, and dongles. In fact, these methods are slowly becoming obsolete. Meanwhile, our case in point, discussed in this article, is solely a wireless act.
How Does Screen Mirroring Work?
For screen mirroring to be successful, you need two components; a screen-sending device and a screen-receiving device.
The sending device uses a screen mirroring protocol such as Google Cast on Google devices or Apple Airplay on iPhones. Nevertheless, there are also other third-party apps that can allow you to seamlessly conduct screen sharing wirelessly such as Roku App.
The receiving device, which is the destination for the shared data, often include hardware such as Chromecast, Apple TV, and many others, including Roku devices that can turn your smart TV into a robust receiver.
The connections for these processes can be established in a plethora of ways, but it depends entirely on the devices you are trying to connect. For instance, gadgets that have their own mirroring technology, such as AirPlay and Google Cast, do not share the same compatibility. Also, Windows devices, which come with Miracast, don’t connect with Apple TVs using AirPlay.
Luckily, these barriers can be skipped using third-party mirroring solutions such as Roku, which is extremely helpful if you do not have Apple TV, but own an iPhone.
Screen Mirroring to Roku
Screen mirroring to Roku simply follows the concept discussed above. In a nutshell, it means simply sharing the visual content on your iPhone screen onto a Roku player or Roku TV. And while the network doesn’t need any wires or cables, you need a Wi-Fi connection.
Keep in mind, however, that if you are looking to stream some content from Apple TV+, or Netflix, or even Hulu on your TV, you don’t necessarily need to mirror your phone. Well, you can, but you’d be better off with a Roku Streaming Stick instead and plug it in your TV.
Nevertheless, mirroring is quite handy if you want to replay videos recorded on your iPhone, or if you want to immerse your photo library in a large screen, when doing a presentation, browsing social media, or flaunting your gaming prowess on the TV screen. What you are doing is simply duplicating your iPhone’s screen onto a TV or projector.
Steps to Mirroring Your iPhone to Roku Without Apple TV
Before you proceed, you’re going to first check if the Roku device and your iPhone are on the same network. This will make the process less of a hassle. The network settings can be checked using the Roku receiver by navigating to Settings > System > Screen Mirroring.
1. Under the screen mirroring from your phone to Roku mode, ensure that the Prompt or Always option is checked.
2. Next, download the Roku App from the App Store.
3. Install the app and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
4. Click continue and the pairing window will automatically launch, allowing the Roku App to begin searching for the receiver.
5. If a device is found, tap on it to connect, otherwise, wait until the Roku app finds the device.
NOTE: After the third step, if you do not wish to connect right away, this step can be skipped by clicking on the three horizontal dots and then choosing “Connect Manually” from the window that pops up.
How to Mirror Media Stored on the iPhone and Play It on Roku App
Now that you have established a connection between your iPhone and your Roku device, you can use the following methods:
Stream Your iPhone Content on Roku Using Photo+
You can use the Photos+ app on your iPhone to play or stream the content you like to your Roku by following these simple directions:
• From your phone’s drawer, click on Photos+ to start the mirroring process
• Choose what you want to mirror, be it Music, Photos, Videos, or Screensaver.
• Then tap on the media you want to show on your screen
• Your TV will display Play on Roku before playing or showing the selected media on your iPhone
Mirror iPhone to Roku Using Screensaver
Another handy feature that you can use for screen mirroring your iPhone to Roku is the Screensaver. It allows you to conveniently add some of your photographs to a screensaver slideshow to play on your Smart TV. Here are the steps:
• On the media selection tool, tap on the Screensaver then Screenshots
• Use the drop-down menu to select the source you prefer for your screensaver photos
• Click on each photo you want to display – there will be a checkmark on each of the selected photos
• Click Next once you’ve finished adding photos
• Then choose Style and Speed to modify how the selected photos should appear then tap Set Screensaver and click OK or Cancel to start over.
• Confirm that the screensaver correctly displays on your TV
Problems with Mirroring iPhone to Roku
One important thing to note during this whole process is that if the steps don’t work, there is a chance that your iPhone is blocked on Roku or that the screen mirroring itself has not been turned on. Therefore, to allow the mirroring and unblock your iPhone, go to Settings (on the Roku receiver), select System, and navigate to Screen Mirroring.
On the same window, the “Screen Mirroring Devices” section is featured. Here, you will notice whether your iPhone is blocked. If it is, it will show up under “Always Blocked Devices.” Scroll to your iPhone device and select it, then unblock it from the list. This can be accomplished with the Roku remote, that is if you are using a Roku Smart TV, streaming device, or stick.
Other caveats also apply during these processes. You may experience issues such as videos taking time to play. However, there is no need to panic. There is usually a time lag or delay between the visuals of the video you are playing and the audio. In such a case, wait until the device rectifies the delays by itself.
Sometimes, the mirroring may stop functioning unexpectedly. When this happens, make sure that the screen display on your iPhone is on and not turned off. Another problem may occur when you are streaming from the phone to Roku. This can, however, be rectified by restarting the phone and following the mirroring process once again.
Closing Thoughts
There is no doubt that Roku gives iPhone users a beautiful and unmatched integration with Smart TVs. The screen mirroring service using a Roku device is user-oriented, friendly, highly versatile, and affordable.
And with Roku screen mirroring, you can display anything on your iPhone’s screen directly to your smart TV or projector wirelessly. Even better, you can use the Roku app to stream content from the web and utilize your phone to control your TV – you can increase or lower your television’s volume using the buttons on the side of your phone.
All these features are handy for sharing content with your loved ones, particularly when you are sharing those beautiful memories you made on your trip or vacation.
Meanwhile, if you are looking for a good Bluetooth speaker for a better and immersive experience, perhaps you can try one of these portable speakers.