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Screen Mirroring with Moto X and Sony Bravia TV

I know you are probably thinking that this topic has no connection to what this blog is about, and you would be correct. However, it was such a trial finding any information for me that I decided I needed to document it somewhere.

Here is the problem. I have a Sony Bravia TV (Model KDL-42W829B), and I also have a First Generation Apple TV. Both of there used to provide the ability to show YouTube content, but earlier this year Google changed the YouTube API and consequently both of the aforementioned devices could not longer play the videos (now appears to work again on the TV, see update below).

update 26-Dec-15:
although I swear blind that when I tried the YouTube app on my Bravia TV did not work yesterday, and brief research on the net informed me that it was no longer supported, when I came to try it again today it worked!!!

When I looked at the settings for the Bravia TV, I noticed that it supported Screen Mirroring over WiFi with Miracast and it also seemed that the Moto X also supported this, so I thought I'd  see if I could get them to connect.

This is what I had to do to achieve it. It may be quite different for other TV's and phones, but perhaps this will help someone.

My phone is a Moto X 2nd Generation running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).

I will say that nothing I tried initially seemed to work until I did a couple of crucial things on the phone, so I'm going to suggest doing these things first.

Phone Settings (part 1)

  1. We need to put the phone in Developer mode. To do this, go into the 'Settings > About Phone', then press 'Build number' 7 times.  This will switch you to developer mode. when you go back to Settings, you should have a new option called '{} Developer options'
  2. Now go into 'Settings > Developer options' and under the 'Networking' section, make sure that 'Wireless display certification' is switched on.
  3. Next go into 'Settings > Display > Cast' and make sure 'Enable autonomous GO' is switched on.
  4. Follow the steps I've outlined below.
As I said, without those settings I was unable to get the phone and TV to connect properly, so those settings made the big difference.


(A) Connection of phone and TV (part 1)

  1. TV: From the TV 'Home' screen, install the 'Screen mirroring' app. You will need this later.
  2. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct' and make sure this is set to 'On'
  3. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct Settings', then press 'Options' on the remote and select 'Manual'. Here, select 'Other Methods' and you will see the SSID of the TV (mine says 'DIRECT-JD-BRAVIA') and the WPA Key of the network. 
  4. PHONE: Now connect your phone to the network using the Key shown.
  5. TV: Go into 'Home > Settings > Network > Wi-Fi Direct Settings', press 'Options' on the remote and select 'Show Device List / Delete'. Your phone should now show up in the list (maybe twice after everything is done) possibly with 'Unsupported Dev.' under the Device name, but don't worry about that.
  6. TV: back right out to the 'Home' screen.
(B) Phone settings (part 2)
  1. Go into 'Settings > Wi-Fi' and forget the network of the TV (yes, I know it's weird, but just do it) 

(C) Connection of phone and TV (part 2)

  1. TV: start the 'Screen mirroring app'
  2. PHONE: 'Settings > Wi-Fi', select the menu, then 'Advanced > Wi-Fi Direct', you should see your TV under 'Peer devices'. Select your TV.
Just accept any messages you get on the phone side, I think I got some initially. It takes some time at this point, but eventually it will show your phone content hopefully. Subsequent connections are much faster.

The good news is that in future, only part (c) is required.

BTW please don't try ask me any questions, because what I've written above is the full extent of my knowledge/experience on this subject, and whilst it worked for me, YMMV.

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