In this tutorial, I will walk you through the detailed yet straightforward process of how to cast to FireStick or Fire TV from Android, iPhone, PC, and Mac. The instructions in this tutorial work the same for all FireStick devices, such as FireStick 4K/Max, FireStick Lite, and Fire TV Cube.
Are you tired of consuming content on a 6-inch phone or a 13-inch laptop? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, you can mirror your phone or laptop’s screen to your TV.
Casting gives you a bigger image of your portable device, relieving your eyes and neck from strain. In this article, I’ll show you how to cast your Android, iPhone, Windows, and macOS display on your Fire TV. So, let’s get going.
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Read: How to Install and Use Best VPN for FireStick
What’s Casting?
Casting refers to a device ‘casting’ its content onto a bigger screen via a wireless connection. Generally, a smartphone casts content onto a smart TV, projector, or PC. You can cast videos, photos, audio, music, and more from one device to another.
You can cast the content you are streaming or videos saved on your device.
Casting requires both devices to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
Casting is an excellent feature for watching content on a larger screen. For instance, if you’re watching a video on YouTube on your phone, you can cast it on the TV to enjoy a bigger and better streaming experience.
Check Your Network on FireStick
Your Amazon FireStick and casting device (smartphone or laptop) must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Here’s how you can check your connection on your FireStick:
1. From the home screen, go to Settings.
2. Select My Fire TV.
3. Click About.
4. Scroll to Network. Check your Wi-Fi connection name or the SSID to ensure it matches your phone or laptop connection.
How to Cast to FireStick from Android
Casting an Android smartphone to a FireStick is a simple process. You need to do two things:
- Put FireStick in mirroring mode.
- Connect to your Fire TV from your Android device.
1. Press and hold the Home button on your FireStick TV remote for two seconds until a menu appears.
Select Mirroring. You will enter Mirroring mode, and your Android smartphone should be able to detect your FireStick in the network.
2. Take your Android smartphone and go to Settings.
The name of the setting we want to select depends on the brand of your smartphone. Here’s what to do for some popular brands:
- Samsung: Smart View under Wireless Display Application
- LG: Select Screen sharing under Connected devices
- OnePlus: Select Cast under Bluetooth & Device Connection
- Xiaomi: Select Cast under Connection & Sharing
- OPPO or Realme: Select Screencast under Wireless Transport inside Connection & Sharing
- Vivo: Select Smart Mirroring under Bluetooth and device connection
- Google: Select Cast under Connected devices > Connection preferences
After selecting the cast setting on your device, select the name of your Fire TV device.
Now, your phone screen will be mirrored to the FireStick. In my experience, it worked very well, from changing the screen orientation to tweaking the volume. It’s worth noting that you can’t mirror content from your phone if your screen is locked or off.
How to Cast to FireStick from Windows PC
The concept of casting any device to a FireStick remains the same, but the steps depend upon the device. These days, most laptops powered by Windows 10 support Miracast. The technology lets you share content from one screen to another wirelessly.
Before starting, put your FireStick in Mirroring mode if you haven’t already.
1. Press and hold the Home button on your FireStick TV remote for two seconds until a menu appears.
Select Mirroring. Now, you can move on to your Windows PC or laptop.
2. On your PC or laptop, click the Notification Icon in the bottom-right corner, as highlighted in the image.
3. If you see a collapsed notification panel with few options, click Expand.
4. Click Connect.
5. If you see your Fire TV name, select it to start casting. If you don’t see your Fire TV name, click on Find other types of devices at the bottom of the panel and locate your Fire TV in that menu.
6. You can change the projection mode according to your preferences.
7. As you can see from the screenshot below, you get three options:
- Duplicate – replicates the PC or laptop screen
- Extend – acts as a second monitor beside your PC or laptop screen
- Second screen only – turns off your PC or laptop screen-
If you want to disconnect from casting, choose the Disconnect option in the same PROJECT panel or click Disconnect in the small overlay at the top of your screen.
How to Cast iPhone/Mac to FireStick
Casting content from Apple devices, be it a MacBook or iPhone, is not straightforward like for Windows. It requires you to download an app called AirScreen on FireStick. Apple devices (OS X and iOS) support AirScreen’s AirPlay technology for screen mirroring.
How to Install & Setup AirScreen on FireStick
Since the AirScreen app is available in the Amazon App Store, you do not need to go through the sideloading process. Follow these steps to install the AirScreen app on FireStick.
1. On the home screen, scroll to Magnifying Glass in the menu bar. Then scroll down and click Search.
2. Type in AirScreen, then select it from the suggestions list.
3. Choose AirScreen in the APPS AND GAMES category.
4. Click Get or Download.
5. Click Open on the same screen once installation has finished. When AirScreen launches, Click Continue.
6. Click Confirm to confirm your Wi-Fi.
7. Click the Cross button.
How to Cast Mac to FireStick
Follow the steps below to cast your Mac to your FireStick. Remember that your Mac and FireStick must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network to cast successfully.
1. AirScreen is all set on your FireStick. You don’t need to do any other thing.
2. On your Mac, click the Control Center icon in the menu at the top. Then select Screen Mirroring.
3. Click on AS-AFTMM[AirPlay] or the name on your AirScreen app’s home to mirror your MacBook screen to your FireStick.
How to Cast iPhone to FireStick
1. Ensure you are on the home screen of AirScreen.
2. On your iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open the Control Center. Then, select Screen Mirroring.
Click on AS-AFTMM[AirPlay] to mirror your iPhone screen to your FireStick.
FAQ’s
Here are some popular FAQs regarding how to cast to FireStick.
Why do I have to download an app to cast my Mac/iOS screen to FireStick
Apple devices like iOS and Macs don’t have a built-in mirroring/ casting feature. Instead, they use AirPlay, a feature that lets users share/ mirror content across multiple AirPlay-supported devices. Therefore, you must install an external app to cast a Mac/ iOS screen to FireStick.
What’s AirPlay?
AirPlay is an exclusive feature offered by Apple Inc. It lets users share photos, videos, audio, music, and other content to Apple-enabled TVs. You can share the media on AirPlay-enabled smart TVs and Apple TVs and even connect with Airplay-enabled speakers. It’s an exclusive feature for screen mirroring and streaming content across multiple devices.
Do FireSticks come with casting built-in?
Yes, luckily, mirroring/ casting comes built-in with FireStick devices. You can avail of this feature in all the newer-gen FireStick devices. However, some old FireStick models don’t have the inbuilt casting feature.
Why the casting stream is slow and choppy?
While there are many reasons for slow and choppy casting, it mainly happens due to network issues or the video quality. For reference, if you’re casting a video in 4K or UHD from the internet, there is additional data to download and route to the device. So, a slow and jerky quality is expected. This can be minimized by lowering the video quality.
I can’t see my FireStick in the wireless display list.
If you can’t see your FireStick in the wireless display list, it may mean two things. First, your device is an older model and doesn’t come with built-in mirroring/ casting. Second, any software glitch is causing the issue. So, if you have a mirroring/casting-supported device, check whether both devices are on the same network and band.
Wrapping Up
That’s all you need to know about how to cast to FireStick. Use the instructions in this guide to cast your Android phone, Windows PC, Mac, or iPhone to your Fire TV device. If you have any doubts or are facing issues, let us know in the comments below so we can help you. Happy casting!
Related:
- How to Jailbreak a FireStick
- How to Stop Buffering on FireStick
- How to Install Zoom on FireStick
- How to Get Local Channels on FireStick
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