smartphones – Technology

Amazon Fire TV Stick is a streaming video player device that resembles a USB flash drive. When plugged into your television's HDMI video input, it turns it into a smart television. When using an Amazon Fire Stick, you can mirror or cast your phone to your television if it supports it; therefore, if you want to use this product, you might be wondering if it is possible to mirror or cast with Google Pixel on your TV. So, can you mirror or cast Google Pixel to an Amazon Firestick? You cannot mirror or cast with Google Pixel to Amazon Fire TV Stick because it does not have the necessary software to support mirroring and casting. Google Pixel is a stock Android device meaning the manufacturer installed it as is; hence, has less support on software developed by third parties. Amazon uses the Miracast technology, but Google dropped Miracast support for all its stock Android devices. Phones supporting Miracast technology android devices are from other manufacturers such as OnePlus and Samsung because they usually tweak their Android version to support third-party software. Mirroring and casting help you view content on your phone on a bigger display. If you have a movie or document that you need to read, and you have difficulties with your phone's screen, mirroring or casting will help you see clearly. Mirroring is copying the exact content on your phone's screen to television; whatever you do on your smartphone will appear on the TV, such as texting. Casting means you can only project a video, image or audio file from your smartphone to television. If you have a Google Pixel and an Amazon Firestick, you might wonder if you can mirror or cast Pixel on your TV. You cannot mirror or cast your Google Pixel to your Amazon Fire TV because of the restrictions put in place by Google, the manufacturer of Google Pixel. Google Pixel is a stock Android, and Google does not allow users to cast to or mirror any device using the Miracast technology. You can only mirror or cast to a television that is using Google's Chromecast. When the Miracast technology was introduced in 2012, most companies like Microsoft added its support to most of their operating systems. Google added support for it with Android 4 but later dropped the support with the introduction of Android 6. All stock Android devices do not support Miracast technology; therefore, if you wish to mirror or cast to Amazon Firestick using an Android smartphone, ensure it is not a stock Android. Most companies developing and marketing electronic devices prefer to compete rather than cooperate with each other. Most companies prefer to keep their devices and software within their ecosystem. The rivalry between Amazon and Google began when both companies would fail or refuse to sell or display services on their platform. Amazon refuses to sell Google devices on its platform, while Google refuses to bring Amazon Prime Video support to Chromecast. The disagreement between the two companies makes it difficult for Google to support Miracast technology on its stock devices. Google Chromecast includes a line of digital media players designed by Google that, among other things, support Google Cast. You can use the Google Chrome device to cast or mirror your phone's content on your television. All Google Pixel phones are designed with Chromecast in-built; therefore, you do not need the dongle to mirror or cast on your television. Some applications support Chromecast in-built, including YouTube and Netflix. Therefore, you do not need to connect your Google Pixel phone to television to cast a video or audio playing on YouTube or Netflix. To cast a video or audio from an app with Chromecast support, click on the cast button on the top right corner of the video, and you will see all the devices you can use. However, in the case of Netflix, you have to sign in first on your television with the same account before you can cast movies with your Google Pixel phone. How To Mirror and Cast with Google Pixel? Google Pixel is one of the stock android devices developed and distributed by Google. You can use your Google Pixel to carry out many activities, including mirroring and casting. If you wish to know how to mirror or cast with Google Pixel, here is how you do it. The Google Pixel can mirror and cast to selected devices wireless or with a wired dock. To cast wirelessly, open "Settings" on your Pixel phone and tap "Connected Devices," tap "Connected Preferences", and select "Cast." A list of available devices will appear on the screen, tap the device you want to cast and content on your screen will appear on your television. To use a wired dock to cast with Google Pixel, first, download and install the DisplayLink Presenter App. Connect your Google Pixel to a compatible dock using a USB- C cable. Then, connect your compatible dock to your television, and the contents on your phone's screen will appear on your TV. Ensure that you plug in the dock to a power source. If your Google Pixel phone does not cast or mirror on your television, you can also use a third party receiver app to enhance mirroring and casting performance. Some of the best mirroring and casting apps you can use with your Google Pixel phone include chrome remote desktop, Microsoft remote desktop, team viewer, and reflector. Download and install the app on your computer or smart tv and open cast settings on your Google Pixel phone. When you open "Cast" on your Google Pixel phone and cannot see any devices on the list, first check the Wi-Fi connection. Mirroring and casting work well if both devices are connected to the same working Wi-Fi network. Ensure that the Wi-Fi network is strong enough and reduce the number of devices connected to the Wi-Fi network. If your Google Pixel phone still does not mirror or cast on your television, try restarting your Wi-Fi router. It is also important to confirm that your device supports screen mirroring and casting. Not every smart television or computer has software that supports mirroring and casting. To check if your television supports mirroring and casting, press the "Input" button on the remote. You will see "Screen Mirroring" for televisions that support mirroring, while those that do not have mirroring support will not show anything. Some televisions support mirroring and casting; however, they are limited to their ecosystem. For example, you can stream on Apple TV using an android phone; however, since the Google Pixel phone is a stock Android phone, it cannot mirror or cast on Apple TV. You should also ensure that no other devices are casting or mirroring on your television before you try using your Google Pixel phone. If you live in a house with several people, while at home, one of your family members might leave their phone casting or mirroring on the television. Since you cannot cast or mirror more than one phone on your television, you will have to disconnect the connected phone before you can start casting or mirroring with your Google Pixel phone. To stop a phone casting on your television, swipe down from the top of your phone's screen and on the cast notification, tap disconnect. If you decide to use a mirror or cast with a wired dock, ensure that you correctly connected all the cables. Replace the HDMI cable or the USB C cable if you have connected the dock correctly, but you still cannot mirror or cast your phone's screen. If you are using the MediaGear USB C Hub Docking Station, ensure that you have connected it to a power source. You can plug it into your television, laptop or wall outlet. How To Mirror from Android To Amazon Fire TV Stick? For a long time, an HDMI cable was a requirement to mirror either a phone, laptop or tablet to a television or monitor. Wireless technology came into play with the introduction of Wi-Fi technology like Miracast. If you have an Amazon Stick, you might be wondering how you can mirror your android phone on it. First, you need a compatible Android phone and a Fire TV stick. The Amazon TV Stick uses Miracast technology to mirror contents to a television; therefore, you need android devices manufactured by other companies such as Samsung and Huawei. Ensure your Fire TV Stick and android phone are connected to a working Wi-Fi network. Enable mirroring on your amazon stick by going to "Settings," select "Display & Sounds", and click on "Enable Display Mirroring." Your TV will search nearby devices; press and hold the Fire stick remote home button until you see the available options. Go with the mirroring option and then proceed to connect your Android phone to Fire TV. Mirroring settings on android phones differ slightly depending on the manufacturer. For example, For a smartphone like the OnePlus Android, to connect to a Fire TV, you should search for the following options in your phone's settings. Tap "Bluetooth & Preferences", tap "Connection Preferences" and select "Cast." Click on the three-dots and choose to Enable Wireless display, and your Fire TV will appear on the screen. Select "Fire TV" to connect your OnePlus android phone to the Fire TV. If you are using a Samsung android phone, go to "Settings," tap "Device connectivity", and select "Wireless projection" to connect it to the Fire TV. If you have trouble mirroring content from your android phone to a Fire TV, try using the Cast to the TV app. Download and install the Cast to the TV app on your android phone, and when you want to mirror your phone's screen on a Fire TV, just open the app. Your Fire TV will automatically appear on the list of devices on your phone as long as they are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Tap on "Fire TV Stick" to connect your android phone to the TV. One advantage of using the Cast to TV app is you can cast both local and online content without any difficulties. Sometimes, it can be difficult to mirror content to your Fire TV even though all devices involved are compatible. If all your devices are compatible but you cannot see your android phone's screen on your Fire TV, try changing the Wi-Fi frequency band to either 2.4 or 5 GHz. Go to your phone's "Settings," tap "Wi-Fi", tap "Advanced", select "Wi-Fi frequency band", and switch it to 2.4 or 5 GHz. If you cannot change your Wi-Fi's frequency band through your android phone's settings, change it from your router's settings. There are certain limitations when you mirror your phone to the Fire TV; for example, the screen needs to be on the entire time. If you have set your phone to go to sleep after a few minutes, you will have to change the settings or touch the screen as often as possible. When you leave your phone on for a long time, it will drain the battery. Therefore, after mirroring for a few hours, you will have to charge your phone before leaving the house. When you are screen mirroring using a third-party app, you cannot do anything else with your phone. You have to wait for the content you watch on the screen to end or close the app. For example, if you are watching a movie and you need to reply to an email when you close the screen mirroring app, the movie ends, and you will have to reconnect the devices again before you can continue to watch your movie. Therefore, if you decide to watch a movie or do something that requires mirroring, ensure that you have cleared your schedule, and nothing will interrupt your connection. Wrap Up Google has placed restrictions on stock android devices, preventing them from mirroring any other device that does not use Google's Chromecast technology. If you want to use a stock android phone, you will not be able to mirror or cast it on your Fire TV. Google, just like Apple Inc, is trying to ensure all its devices remain in its ecosystem. For a long time, Google and Amazon did not collaborate until 2019, when Amazon added Chromecast support on their Amazon Prime Video app. It might be a step in the right direction, and Google might allow people to use stock Android devices to cast or mirror the Amazon Fire TV. In the meantime, if you have a Google Pixel smartphone and you would love to cast or mirror its contents, get a television or monitor with compatible software.