How To Connect Your Android Phone To Your TV

While an HDMI adapter is the easiest way to connect an Android phone with a TV, it does require some wires. Sometimes, these wires can be unnecessarily long, and could even present a trip hazard if they stretch across the living room floor. There are plenty of other options for those who do not want to use a wire. A Google Chromecast dongle, for instance, allows for video to be wirelessly “cast” from a mobile device to a television. It is relatively easy to set up and, once it is in place, streaming on-screen content is as easy as tapping an icon on the phone’s screen.

To set up a Chromecast, first you plug it into the TV and then connect the USB cable that comes with the device to a power source. That can be a spare USB port on the TV itself, if it has one, or a separate USB power adapter. After that, you’ll need the free Google Home app, which is available on the Google Play Store. Once the application is downloaded to your smartphone, the “add device” option — shown as + at the top left corner of the interface — allows you to go through the ‘Set up device’ process. Select ‘New device’ from the options on the screen, follow the simple prompts, and you should end up with your phone linked to the Chromecast as long as they’re on the same WiFi network. Compatible apps will show a cast button — it looks like a rectangle with a WiFi logo in the lower left corner — or you can cast direct from Google’s Chrome browser instead.