Compared to apps that support Chromecast natively—letting you hit the Cast button and have just the video appear on the screen moments later—mirroring your entire display is an inferior process. Because the video is streaming to Chromecast from your device instead of the Internet, it puts a major drain on battery life, and is prone to stuttering or choppiness.
Still, there are times when screen mirroring is your best option. It’s the only way, for instance, to watch Amazon Prime videos on Chromecast , and it’s the simplest method for viewing photos on the big screen from social networks such as Facebook. Screen mirroring is supported on phones running Android 4.4.2 or higher, and web-page mirroring works with any computer running Google’s Chrome browser.
Here’s how to do it:
To mirror the display from a laptop or desktop, you must use the Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, or Chrome OS. Because tab mirroring can drain battery life, however, you may want to plug your laptop into a power source first.
With the browser open, follow these instructions:
Technically, Android screen mirroring should work with any phone or tablet running Android 4.4.2 or higher, though some devices are better optimized than others. (Here’s a full list of optimized devices.) Also, the process is a bit easier if your phone or tablet runs Android 5.0 or higher.
Again, it’s a good idea to keep your device plugged into a charger while watching a movie or TV show.
For devices running Android 5.0 or higher:
On all Android devices running Android 4.4.2 or higher:
In both cases, you’ll want to rotate your phone into landscape mode while watching a video. Otherwise, it’ll occupy only a small vertical slice of the television screen.
For more on how Chromecast works, check out our FAQ or read the latest Chromecast review.