Watching on your TV: Chromecast, WebCast, TV Link or the Android TV app

5 min read

There are several ways to watch what’s on your phone on the TV, and not all of them work with every TV. Whatplay has four: Chromecast, WebCast, Whatplay TV Link and its own app for Android TV. Here’s how each one works under the hood, what you need and which one suits your TV.

What they all need

Your phone and TV on the same Wi-Fi. Not the guest network, which usually isolates devices from each other. If you have two networks at home (for example, your internet provider’s router and a repeater acting as a router), both devices have to be on the same one.
Watch out for VPNs. An active VPN on your phone can stop it from finding the TV, or stop the TV from reaching it. The help explains it in I use a VPN on my phone and nothing loads on the TV.
One TV at a time. If you choose another one, the previous one disconnects and whatever was playing carries on on the new one.

It all starts with the “Cast to TV” button, in the header of the tabs or at the top of the player. It opens “Your TVs”, with the TVs it finds on your Wi-Fi, each with its label (CAST or TV LINK) and its status (“On”, “Off”, “On another network”), plus the WebCast card.

Chromecast: TVs with Cast or Google TV

How it works: your phone doesn’t send the picture, but the video’s address. The TV (a Chromecast, a Google TV or a TV with Chromecast built in) downloads it itself, and your phone becomes the remote. That’s why it uses little battery and the picture is stable.

When it goes through your phone: if the video is stored on the phone, if the server requires access details the TV can’t send, or if the TV doesn’t support the format. In those cases your phone acts as a bridge or converts the video while you watch, and you’ll see it indicated (“Through your phone”, “Converted on phone”). Your phone then has to stay on and connected to the Wi-Fi, and converting uses battery and warms it up: it’s best to keep it plugged in.

The handy part: while you’re casting, the first “Continue watching” card on Home works as a remote, with pause, 10-second skips and “Stop casting”. In the player’s “Options” › “TV” you’ll see which formats your model can open.

WebCast: any TV’s browser, or a computer

How it works: your phone itself serves a website with your lists, your favorites and the guide, and the TV opens it in its browser. You choose what to watch from the TV with the remote, and the video arrives over your Wi-Fi.

In “Your TVs”, tap the WebCast card (“In the browser of any device”).
In the TV’s browser, go to whatplay.es/tv. A 6-digit code will appear.
Type it on your phone. From then on, that browser will connect on its own whenever WebCast is running.

If the TV has no internet, the WebCast sheet gives you another way in: an address like http://192.168.1.50:47800 to type into the TV’s browser, and a PIN.

Keep in mind that here your phone acts as the server: leave Whatplay open and keep the phone near the router. If there’s no Wi-Fi, you can turn on your phone’s hotspot and connect the TV to it, but then everything you watch will be downloaded by your phone using your mobile data.

Whatplay TV Link: LG and Samsung TVs

Many LG (webOS) and Samsung (Tizen) TVs don’t have Chromecast. For them there’s Whatplay TV Link, an app you install once from the TV’s store. After that, your phone finds it on the Wi-Fi, opens it and connects on its own, with no addresses to type. It can even turn the TV on if it has “Turn on via Wi-Fi” enabled.

In “Your TVs”, tap “Add an LG or Samsung TV” and choose yours.
The first time, the TV shows a prompt: accept it with the remote (“Accept” on LG, “Allow” on Samsung). You’re only asked once.
If the app isn’t on the TV, the setup wizard tells you how to install it from its store.

TV Link is on its way to the LG and Samsung stores. If you can’t find it in yours yet, use WebCast, which works in the browser of those same TVs and looks the same.

The Whatplay app for Android TV

If your TV runs Android TV or Google TV, or you have an Android TV box, you can install Whatplay on the TV itself from Google Play. It works without your phone: your lists, the guide and the player, all with the remote. To avoid typing addresses with the remote, you can send it a list from your phone: on the TV, open “Add list” and, on your phone, tap “Share” on the list and then “Send to a TV with Whatplay”. It goes over the Wi-Fi and you confirm it with the same code on both screens. More in Whatplay on Android TV and Google TV.

Which one should I choose?

Chromecast, Google TV or a TV with Chromecast built in: Chromecast. It’s the most stable and the least dependent on your phone.
An Android TV or Google TV set you use every day: the app on the TV. For something occasional from your phone, Chromecast.
LG or Samsung without Chromecast: TV Link once it’s in their store; in the meantime, WebCast.
Another TV with a browser, or a computer: WebCast.
A TV with no smart features: plug in a Chromecast or a Google TV player via HDMI and you’ve got Chromecast.

Without Premium, WebCast and LG TVs work as long as you have ad-free time left, which you earn by watching a video; with Premium, there’s no limit. Chromecast doesn’t have that limit.

If the TV doesn’t show up or won’t load

Turn on the TV and check that it’s on the same Wi-Fi as your phone, and that it isn’t the guest network.
Turn off the VPN on your phone, or turn on Settings › TV › “Everything through the VPN”.
If the notice says “The TV can’t reach your phone”, check that both are on the same network and move your phone closer to the router.
On an LG, check that “LG Connect Apps” is turned on; on a Samsung, “Access Notification”.

If what you want is to watch your computer’s videos on the TV, there’s a separate guide: watching videos from your computer or a NAS.