Casting

Your question intrigued me. Hmmm, I might like to do the same thing. So I fiddled for an hour or so to see if I could get it working at home. After a few attempts, and researching why it wasn't working ….changing a developer setting on my phone and updating the OS on my TV ... I got my Samsung Galaxy S8 connected to my Samsung TV using SmartView.

So, now I feel a tiny bit more equipped to ask you a few questions....

If you don't mind, let me start with the most basic. You say your phone does not have separate casting. My research tells me that "all devices running Android 4.4.2 or higher support the Cast Screen feature." Android 4.4.2 came out in 2013. Is your phone running Android 4.4.2 or higher?

It all depends on the TV in your hotel room. Some will have the capability to receive a cast from your phone some (many) won't.

I know that most Marriott hotels have installed TV's that allow you to cast from your phone, tablet or a device such as Chromecast which would work with your phone but there's no guarantee that your particular hotel with have such capability.

The short answer is there is no guarantee. If your phone doesn't cast then look into purchasing a Chromecast.

While Android might support casting, the phone manufacturer has to include the software. Not all do. Mine doesn't.

I'm looking for a device I can plug into the TV. Will Chromecast do as I want--basically show what is on my phone screen on the TV? What about the others like Amazon Fire?

Perhaps I should just go into Best Buy and ask.

Had a very detailed answer all typed and ready to post, then I re read and see you are asking about an Android device. I was thinking it was iPhone. Oh well.

For the iPhone, if anyone cares, all it takes is a $14 cable and a TV with an HDMI port. Works every time. :-)

I judge that you already know that for casting to work, both the phone and the TV have to support it. Since your phone doesn't have native casting, you need to "enhance" it. The Chromecast device for the TV side can either work with phones with native casting, or by installing the Chromecast app or similar others:

https://www.androidapps.com/best-android-mirror-cast-apps/

A next step might be to see which of those apps you can use on your phone to connect to your own Smart TV with casting capability. If your TV also doesn't have casting, then you'll need to buy a casting device to plug into it. Chromecast would probably be the most straightforward - and travel-friendly - way to go.

While Android might support casting, the phone manufacturer has to include the software. Not all do. Mine doesn't.

Download Google Home from the Play store. You use that to connect to your Chromecast via the wifi connection.

I was also intrigued by this question! I tested my Samsung S8 phone (which has Android 8.0 Oreo), using the "SmartView" setting on phone. The screen mirroring worked worked with my Amazon Fire TV stick (to activate mirroring on the stick, hold down the home button until the screen changes to mirroring).

I had no idea it could do this, so thanks Frank II! I'll consider whether I might want to take the Fire stick along on my next adventure.

"For the iPhone, if anyone cares, all it takes is a $14 cable and a TV with an HDMI port. Works every time. :-)"

A similar trick should work with Android phones too. But although I bought the cable, I wasn't able to get it to work with my old Samsung Galaxy S5. I haven't tried with my newer Galaxy S9 (either wired or wireless).

I do know that in London, I was staying at a Hub by Premier Inn. The in-room TV made it very easy to show the phone on the TV. It had settings for both Apple and Android, and worked great. I just had to learn that what the Galaxy S5 called "screen mirroring," my Galaxy S9 called "Smart View.

I just found " cast screen" under display in settings on my phone. I guess my next step is Best Buy for a chromecast device.

Terrific! In your original post you mention that the places you stay have TVs with USB ports. Chromecast is intended to be plugged into the TV via HDMI, which newer TVs (circa 2004 and later) will have. If you think the TVs you'll be using also have HDMI, you'll be in luck. You'll most likely want to use the Chromecast app on your phone for casting.

(If the TVs don't have HDMI, it becomes trickier ….you'll have to ask whether the Chromecast device can work through a USB port on the TV, and if so, buy an appropriate HDMI to USB adapter. I haven't found anything that definitively states whether that would work, though.)

Further to CL's post, the Amazon Fire Stick also plugs into the TV via an HDMI port. So that's another option for you - if the TVs where you stay have HDMI ports.

Something else that just occurred to me - the ports on the back of TVs can often be difficult to access, for example if the TV mount blocks the ports. It may not be easy to plug in directly something the size of a Chromecast device or Amazon Fire Stick. (Assuming again that the TVs will have HDMI) you may want to buy a (say) 3' HDMI extender cable.

Of course, that only matters if the TV doesn't support casting (many won't) and therefore requires one of the casting devices. If the TV supports casting, and now knowing that your phone does - the casting gadget isn't necessary.