How to Connect Your iPhone to TV

Here is a guide on How to Connect your iPhone to your TV

The AppleTV is one of my favorite Apple products in that it is a simple and concise machine that is incredibly versatile in its options for sharing media. Watching shows and movies via Netflix and iTunes and listening to music are great uses of the Apple TV.

There are more possibilities for utilizing the Apple TV with your iPhone once it is connected and there are multiple ways to ensure this is done correctly. There are also ways to just simply connect your iPhone to your TV by itself in case you don’t currently own an Apple TV.

How to Connect Your iPhone to Your TV

Here are the different steps you can take to connect your iPhone to your TV.

Watch the above video to see how to get connect to your TV with your iPhone.

Using Airplay to Connect

The easiest and most convenient way to use the iPhone with the Apple TV is to wirelessly stream content to the the TV using Airplay. Airplay is Apple’s application to stream media over a wi-fi network from one device to the other.

Airplay is used predominantly for streaming music or video to the Apple TV from either a Mac or iOS device. The steps to enable Airplay are straightforward and only require you to be connected to the same wireless network that your Apple TV is connected to.

Swiping up to the Control Center on the iPhone will reveal if your device is connected to Wi-fi or not. Enable it now if you are not currently connected.

Just below the volume controls in Control Center will be two options, one for AirDrop and one for AirPlay. Both of these services are available to you due to Wi-fi connectivity and can be used to share content. Airplay is what we need to use to communicate with the Apple TV.

Tapping Airplay will reveal a list of devices including your iPhone speaker and any Apple TV or Airplay Speakers on the network.

If your Apple TV appears on the list, tapping it should instantly connect your device. You will also see a slider appear for Mirroring. This option will quite literally mirror what is on your iPhone screen on to the Apple TV. This is a perfect tool for presentations or showing large groups of people how to do something on the iPhone where you need to show the actual interface.

Airplay will also be accessible when listening to a song in iTunes or Spotify or when watching a video. Look for the Airplay icon in the controls and you will be presented with the same list you were above to stream your content to your Apple TV.

Connect with Adapter

If you want to go the tried and true way of hardwiring a connection from your iPhone, Apple does manufacture on official Lightning to HDMI adapter. This is the way to go if you do not own an Apple TV and would like to be able to connect your iPhone to any HD TV without a hiccup.

The Apple branded Lightning to HDMI adapter will run you $49 yet some third party options will be cheaper albeit potentially less reliable. Connecting this adapter to your iPhone and then to an open HDMI port will allow you to play content in a similar fashion to the Apple TV with Airplay yet there will be a slight delay in your stream due to the adapter. You will also need your own HDMI cable to complete the connection to the TV, so that also complicates things.

This is definitely not the preferred method to streaming content yet will absolutely work as a last resort especially if an Apple TV is not available or you didn’t bring one with you on a trip. Using the adapter is a great last resort for still being able to enjoy your media on a bigger screen on the go. Just don’t forget an extra HDMI cable!

Media on the go is a testament to our iOS device’s many uses and the ability to broadcast your media to a larger screen so quickly is an added bonus.

Using Airplay to stream to an Apple TV allows everyone connected to the network to easily take turns easily connecting to the device and play their media of choice.