iPad Air and Chromecasting

TidBITS Talk
1

What do I use to Chromecast from an iPad Air 4 with iPad OS 16.3.1 to an Epson projector with a Chromecast dongle?

2

PS. I am sure there must be an app for that.

3

Check whatever movie/TV-playing app you want to project. Some apps have Chromecast function built in for “casting” their content.
For instance, the Paramount+ app can cast its content to my smart TV because it has built in Chromecast support. We use it around this time every week to watch the longer online version of the “moment of nature” segment from CBS Sunday Morning.

4

Thank you for that tip. I would also like to be able to chromecast like pdf-dokuments. Are there screensharing options or similar for the iPad?

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Apple’s bundled screen-sharing is only via their AirPlay protocol. This will let you share screens to an Apple TV. Maybe other devices, but it’s been my experience that third-party AirPlay receivers only support audio streaming.

Chromecast uses a different protocol, so you will need an app that supports it. As has been mentioned, many video streaming apps include this support.

For those that don’t, you can get third-party software to mirror your screen to a Chromecast device. Google’s Home app (assuming you’re willing to install a Google app) should provide this support. I also found the following article which mentions two others: Best Ways on How to Mirror iPad to Chromecast

6

Some manufacturers have incorporated video and audio Airplay into their network capability. I purchased a 2022 LG TV and it works directly with Airplay.

1 Like
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Thank you all for your resonses and tips.
In the end I bought a Chromecast dongle for my regular TV so I could sit at home and test relevant apps. After som appstore searching I found theTV Mirror+ from ‎TV Mirror for Chromecast i App Store. It works very well and for a one time fee only. I really only wanted to mirror documents from the iPad to the projector, not video, streaming or otherwise.

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Glad to hear that you were able to find a solution. I’ll make a few additional notes in case they might be helpful to others:

  • Many recent networkable projectors include support for AirPlay, Windows Screen Mirroring, and other sharing/“casting” functions out of the box. It’s also possible that some older networkable projectors that didn’t originally support some of those technologies may have firmware updates that add them.
  • Some non-networked projectors support USB network adapters that include screen mirroring and audio streaming technologies.
  • While “smart” TVs can be problematic from a privacy perspective, and firmware updates are not always welcome, it is worth checking if there are TV firmware updates that add/improve support for AirPlay, etc. For example, an organization I’ve been involved with was on the verge of buying new smart TVs for its conference rooms because its five-year-old TVs didn’t support AirPlay. The firmware on the TVs had not been updated in a very long time. After updating the firmware to the current version, the TVs now have AirPlay support and much more reliable Windows Screen Mirroring, eliminating the need to purchase new devices.