I connected my iPhone and Roku TV to the same Wi-Fi and tried screen mirroring from the phone. The TV never shows up in the list. I’m trying to show photos from my camera roll on the living room TV. The Roku remote still works normally. I also restarted both devices, but nothing changed. Is there a setting on the TV I need to enable before the iPhone can find it?
I’d try AirPlay first if my Roku supports it, and I’d pick HDMI over another app if Wi-Fi’s the problem. DoCast looks worth checking for a Roku without AirPlay, but I’m not sold on calling it the best choice for everyone.
That’s based on the setup requirements and limitations described, not a hands-on comparison I can claim to have done.
A cable has a clear trade-off
For a wired connection, I’d match the adapter to the phone’s port: Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter for Lightning, or a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter or cable for USB-C. Connect it to the TV, then select that HDMI input.
There’s no wireless setup to sort out, but you’re paying for hardware and staying within cable range. I wouldn’t ignore those costs just because the connection’s described as stable.
What I’d check before paying
DoCast’s listed requirements include iOS 15 or later and a shared Wi-Fi network. Its setup is straightforward on paper: select the Roku, tap Screen, adjust settings, and choose Start mirroring. That’s the workflow described for the DoCast iPhone app.
Photo casting is described as free and unlimited; full mirroring and unlimited video and music streaming require Premium. I can’t independently verify the claimed delay of under one second, or compatibility with every advertised device, so I’d check my model before paying for the DoCast app.
Check the built-in option
For AirPlay, put both devices on the same Wi-Fi, enable it under Settings → Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, then select the Roku from the iPhone’s Control Center → Screen Mirroring. Enter the TV’s code if prompted. Support depends on the Roku model.
If the Roku doesn’t appear, I’d recheck the shared network and restart both devices. An iPhone VPN can block local connections; Roku’s update control is under Settings → System → System update.
13 Likes
Check both devices to see if they are connected to the same guest Wi-Fi network. Sometimes, the same Wi-Fi network can prevent communication due to a router feature called client isolation. If you are connecting to a guest Wi-Fi network, try connecting both devices to your home network and see if that resolves the issue. I personally think it’s worth trying out AirPlay before purchasing new equipment, but I would do this test before going through with an adapter or a separate application. What is the model of Roku that you have under Settings > System > About?
I think you can share those pictures without having to even get screen mirroring set up at all. I would wait on purchasing an adapter or a subscription to a mirroring service for this specific task. The free official Roku mobile app has a photo sharing feature called play on roku that will send individual photos on your device to the TV instead of mirroring whatever is on your phone as a whole. This is the method that I would go about doing for a slideshow of pictures from your camera roll.
Connect to your TV in the Roku app and look for its photo-sharing option. Make sure you allow Local Network access when the iPhone asks. If the app can’t find the TV either, it offers a manual connection under Devices → Get help? → Connect manually. Enter the TV’s IP address from Settings → Network → About. That won’t bypass the network isolation @0xbadger4 described, but it gives you another way to attempt the connection without relying on automatic discovery.
Don’t change Roku’s “Screen mirroring” setting to “Always allow” hoping it will fix the iPhone connection. That menu handles Android and Windows mirroring, not AirPlay. The naming is confusing because your iPhone calls its own button “Screen Mirroring,” but the two devices are referring to different systems. @0xbadger4’s model check matters here: having a screen-mirroring menu on the TV doesn’t establish that it supports AirPlay.
For photos, I would avoid mirroring the entire phone once AirPlay is streaming. Instead, go to any picture within Photos, click on share, and then click on AirPlay and TV. This will stream the photos instead of everything you are doing on the phone. It will still require an AirPlay-enabled Roku and a network connection, so it will not get around the missing TV issue, but it will be the more direct way of showing what you are doing.
A Roku TV can lose its connection to Wi-Fi whilst it’s powered off, so having them both set for the same network doesn’t necessarily mean the TV is active for AirPlay at the time. That’s a slight caveat to the network checks here, should you expect your phone to wake up the living room TV,
I’d divorce the possibility from the rest before power cycling, switch on the TV with its remote and leave it on the Roku home screen, and then re-open and close Screen Mirroring on the iPhone. For this test I’d be keeping it awake throughout, if it was already being done then skip this particular troubleshooting branch instead of changing a power setting.
Should the Roku appear on-screen while awake, but vanish when powered off, look in Settings → System → Power → Fast TV start. On supported Roku TVs this setting keeps the network connection live in standby to allow AirPlay to take hold while the TV is seemingly off. The downside is that it uses more electricity than normal standby and over-rides the default power settings. I wouldn’t want to enable it automatically just to show a few photos.
I personally would be happy toggling the TV on myself each time you want to share pictures. Fast TV start would be a convenience thing, and not the first attempt at fixing things. A useful reference would be if the TV appeared with the setting disabled and the screen on, compared to after putting it into standby.
If it never appears even while awake, I’d leave the power settings alone and follow @0xbadger4’s request for the model information. Fast TV start doesn’t add AirPlay support to an incompatible model. The distinction worth reporting back is “missing all the time” versus “missing only when the TV is off.” That would help narrow down the next step without buying anything or resetting the whole setup.
Connecting through the Roku app won’t necessarily make the TV appear in your iPhone’s Screen Mirroring list. Those are separate connection methods. @solarpanda_1’s suggestion is a workaround for showing the pictures, not a fix for the missing AirPlay device.
Begin with the task which you actually need: open the Roku application, choose your TV, and attempt to share one photo via its photo-sharing option. If it works, proceed to your pictures there. You do not have to complete the full-screen mirroring process before being able to use that route.
If you still want to use AirPlay in the future, make sure that your TV has the option in Settings → Apple AirPlay and HomeKit. If it does, proceed to the next step and see if AirPlay is enabled. If you cannot find this option, make sure to obtain the model information from Settings → System → About before attempting to change additional settings.
Make sure to keep the results separated in your responses: “the app sends photos, but Screen Mirroring still does not list the TV” is much better than “the phone connects now.” This way, we will understand what has been resolved and what still needs help.
No one has yet noted the fact that the iPhone’s Private Wi-Fi Address feature can stealthily disrupt local discovery in the same way as a VPN. Make sure to disable it for that network in the Wi-Fi settings before heading off to explore Roku power options or application workarounds.
Turning off Private Wi-Fi Address sacrifices a privacy feature without establishing that it’s causing this problem. @smartlynx8012, Apple says it doesn’t affect normal use on most networks, so I wouldn’t make disabling it a prerequisite here. If you test that toggle and the Roku still doesn’t appear, turn it back on rather than leaving another setting changed.