OwnMedia
Guides / TV

Watch on your TV

“Play on TV” sends a movie or an episode to a smart TV at home, and your phone becomes the remote. No app on the TV needed.

What you need

  • A smart TV or receiver that accepts video from phones over UPnP/DLNA: most LG, Samsung, Sony, Philips and other models do. Tested on LG webOS.
  • The TV is on and on the same Wi-Fi (or cable network) as your phone.
  • The TV can reach your server at home: it fetches the file from the server itself.

How to start

  1. Tap the Play on TV button (the cast icon) on the movie’s page, in the long-press menu, or in the video player, where the TV continues from the same moment.
  2. Pick your TV from the list. OwnMedia finds TVs on your Wi-Fi by itself.
  3. The phone turns into the remote: pause, ±10 seconds, seeking and stop.

You can leave the remote screen: the movie keeps playing, and a bar “On <your TV>” at the bottom of every screen has pause and stop; tap it to get the remote back. Pressing Play on TV for the same movie opens the remote instead of starting over. Where you stopped goes to your server, as with ordinary playback.

If the TV isn’t found

  • Check that the TV is on and the phone is on the same Wi-Fi (not a guest network, not mobile data).
  • On LG, allow connections from phones: look for LG Connect Apps or a similar setting in the TV’s network or connection settings. Other brands have a similar switch, often called “screen sharing”, “DLNA” or “media renderer”.
  • If the TV stops responding, the remote says so.

Good to know

  • The TV’s own player plays the file. Formats the TV doesn’t know won’t open on it; play them on the phone instead.
  • Heavy 4K over the TV’s Wi-Fi may pause to load. A network cable or 5 GHz Wi-Fi for the TV helps.
  • Downloads and video converted for a slow connection aren’t sent to the TV: it always gets the original file from the server.
  • Added your server by its internet address (https://….ts.net)? At home the app gives the TV the server’s home address, so the video goes over your home network.
  • There is no OwnMedia app for Android TV, LG or Samsung TVs, and none is planned for now.

What the TV receives: see Play on TV in the privacy policy.