How to Mirror Hesgoal to Your TV (Casting Does Not Work)
Casting and mirroring are different mechanisms. The current build supports only the second, so the working route is to send the phone's screen to the television.
Cast and mirror are not the same
Casting means the app hands a media address to a receiver on the TV. The TV fetches the stream itself, the phone can lock or leave the room, and the app keeps a session open. It requires the app to integrate a cast SDK and the TV to expose a receiver.
Mirroring means the phone encodes its entire display and sends it to the TV as a video feed. The TV is a monitor, not a player. It works with any app, including this one, because the app never knows the screen is being duplicated.
The current Hesgoal build, version 3.3, has no Google Cast SDK and no cast target. There is no cast icon because there is no session to start. Mirroring is the route that works; the download page has the verified APK if you have not installed it yet.
What each route requires
| Method | What it needs | Works now | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cast from the app | Cast SDK in the app plus a receiver | No | No cast target exists in build 3.3 |
| Android screen mirroring | Cast-enabled TV or Google TV / Chromecast device | Yes | Phone stays awake; adds latency |
| Samsung Smart View / Miracast | A TV with Miracast or Samsung screen mirroring | Yes, TV-dependent | Phone stays awake; control stays on the phone |
| Fire TV display mirroring | A Fire TV model that lists Display Mirroring | Yes, model-dependent | Latency; no TV remote control of the app |
| USB-C to HDMI adapter | Phone with video output over USB-C | Yes, hardware-dependent | Cable; no wireless compression |
| Android TV sideload | A separate Android TV or Fire TV device | Yes | No launcher entry; use a sideload launcher |
Mirror from an Android phone
Both devices need to be on the same network. That is the requirement most failed attempts trip over: a phone on mobile data cannot see a TV on the house Wi-Fi, and a guest network with client isolation can block the connection even when both are online.
- Wake the TV and select the correct input. On a Cast-enabled set, the receiver is built in or attached through a Chromecast or Google TV device.
- Open the Android quick settings panel and find the screen-casting tile. Its name varies: Cast, Screen cast, Smart View or Wireless display.
- Select the TV from the list. Accept the prompt on the television if one appears.
- Open Hesgoal and start playback. Rotate the phone to landscape before or during playback; the mirrored image follows the phone's orientation.
If the tile is missing, use the Google Home app to check that the TV or cast device is on the same account and network. On Samsung phones the control is Smart View; on Xiaomi and several other skins it is under Cast. None of these controls is inside Hesgoal, and no in-app setting will make a cast icon appear.
Fire TV
Many Fire TV models include display mirroring under Settings → Display & Sounds → Enable Display Mirroring. When that option exists, the Fire TV appears in the phone's cast list like any Miracast receiver. Not every model or Fire OS version exposes it, so check the menu before assuming the route is available. If it is not, the alternative is to install the APK on the Fire TV itself; the Android TV and Fire TV guide covers the Downloader and ADB paths.
What mirroring cannot do
Mirroring is a screen copy, not a playback handoff. The phone must stay awake, the battery drains faster than normal playback, and the phone gets warm. Notifications, calls and other apps appear on the television because the television is showing the whole screen. The TV remote does not control the app; you still use the phone.
Expect latency between the phone and the TV. The encoder, the Wi-Fi link and the TV's decoder each add delay, and audio sync can drift. Resolution is capped by the phone's display and the wireless link, not by the source. Protected video may trigger HDCP and show a black frame on the TV while the phone continues to play; that is a content protection decision, not an app setting.
Wired and device-level options
A USB-C to HDMI adapter bypasses the wireless link entirely, if the phone supports video output over its port. Not every Android phone does, and some route only audio or charge over USB-C. When it works, the television sees a direct display signal with no encoder delay, which is the cleanest picture available from a phone.
The other wired route is not mirroring at all: put the app on the television. An Android TV box or Fire TV Stick with the APK installed runs it locally, and an HDMI input is all the television needs to provide. That path is covered in the TV installation guide.
If the TV never appears
Check the network first: both devices on the same subnet, no guest isolation, and no access point that blocks multicast. Then check the input — a Cast-enabled television still needs to be awake on the right input for the receiver to advertise itself. Restart the phone's Wi-Fi if the list is empty, and update the television's firmware if the receiver is present but will not connect. None of these steps involve the app.
When a licensed app is the better route
A licensed broadcaster app casts natively, keeps the phone free, and supports the resolution and audio formats the rights holder provides. Mirroring is a fallback for an app without a cast target, not an equivalent experience. The alternatives page lists services by market, and the legal guide explains why a licensed stream and a third-party link are different propositions.
If you are setting up a television permanently, a dedicated Android TV or Fire TV device is more reliable than a phone mirror. The device guide covers the hardware classes, and the permission audit covers what the app declares before you install it on a shared device. The FAQ handles the questions that are not specific to casting, and the download page is the only source for the file.
