Okay, so I’ve been messing around with getting AirPlay to work without regular Wi-Fi, you know, just device-to-device. It’s called peer-to-peer AirPlay, and it’s pretty cool when you get it working. I wanted to share how I did it, ’cause it took some trial and error.
My Experiment
First, I made sure both my devices, an iPhone and an Apple TV, were not connected to any Wi-Fi network. I mean, I completely turned off the Wi-Fi on the iPhone and made sure the Apple TV wasn’t hooked up to my home network.
Then, I turned on Bluetooth on both devices. This is important, ’cause they kinda “find” each other using Bluetooth first.
Next up, I went to the Control Center on my iPhone and tapped the AirPlay icon. You know, that little rectangle with a triangle at the bottom.
At first, nothing showed up. It was just searching and searching. I was like, “Come on, work!”
I waited for a while, I tried re-enabling the bluetooth on both devices, and Airplay again
It finally worked! The Apple TV showed up in the AirPlay list, even though I had no Wi-Fi! I tapped it, and boom, my iPhone screen was mirrored on the TV.
My Notes
- Patience is Key: It took a little bit for the devices to find each other. Don’t give up too quickly.
- Bluetooth is a Must: Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on both your sending device (like your iPhone) and your receiving device (like your Apple TV).
- Forget Wi-Fi: Seriously, disconnect from your regular Wi-Fi network. This forces the devices to use the peer-to-peer connection.
- Restarting Helps:Sometimes restarting all of devices and try it again,it works!
It’s pretty awesome to be able to stream stuff without needing a Wi-Fi router. Great for presentations or when you’re traveling and the Wi-Fi is spotty or non-existent. Give it a shot and see if it works for you!