I was recently watching a video on my Xbox One YouTube app when I was interrupted by a phone call. I moved away from the console and the television whilst on the call and after I was done, I found myself sitting miles away from the console 😛
Also, the Xbox One Controller was well out of my reach. Now, this was a lazy Sunday morning and I did not have any intention to walk all the way up to the controller and resume the paused video on the Xbox One YouTube app. Since, I only had my Android phone with me, I suddenly realized that after the Lollipop update on Nexus 4, I have the option to ‘Cast Screen’ using Miracast. Now, this feature can be used with a Chromecast device or a Miracast adapter but I thought to check out the YouTube app on my Android phone to see if I can find something interesting. And you know what ? I did find an awesome feature to make the lazy Sunday morning even more lazier !
You do have the option to cast videos on to your TV screen using the YouTube app on your Android device. To achieve this, you will be using the ‘Cast Screen’ feature to connect the Android device to the Xbox One YouTube app
Prerequisites
1) Connect to a Wifi network – The Xbox One console and the Android device should be connected to a Wifi network with internet access. A good idea is to set up a Wifi network with internet access and have the Android device and the Xbox One console connected to the same network.
2) Xbox One YouTube App – You need to install the YouTube app on your Xbox One Console.
How to cast screen from Android to Xbox One YouTube app
1) Launch the YouTube app from your Android device. You will notice the ‘Cast Screen’ icon on the top right of your screen. Once you tap this icon, a pop-up will show you the available device name that you can connect to. In this case we want to connect to ‘XboxOne’.
2) Once you have connected your Android device to the Xbox One Console, you will notice that the Xbox One YouTube app will launch automatically on your TV screen. Now, select any video that you would like to play. After hitting the ‘Play’ icon, the video will start playing on Xbox One and you will be able to watch the video on your TV screen! Also, once the ‘Cast Screen’ is activated, you can see the change in the icon as shown in the image below.
3) The image below shows the video playing on the Xbox One YouTube app. You can also cycle the video between your Android device and the Xbox One console. You can play the video simultaneously on both the devices as well and can control everything from your Android device which will have the same effect on the Xbox One YouTube app.
4) You can easily add a number of videos to the ‘TV Queue’ and enjoy your favourite songs. Awesome right!
By the way Linkin Park is offering a free copy of ‘The Hunting Party’ at the Google Play U.S. store. Get your free copy now!
I hope that you will definitely like this new feature of screencasting from your Android device to the Xbox One YouTube app. I will be waiting to read your thoughts in the comment section below.