Mirroring Your iPad Wirelessly Without an Apple TV

[Sam Gliksman]

When iOS 5 was released many of us were thrilled with its ability to allow projection (mirroring) of your iPad to a projector using Airplay and Apple TV. Of course, this required that you spend $100 on an Apple TV and install it in your classroom. No longer.

 

A wonderful new app called Reflection has just been released. Reflection allows you to mirror your iPad directly on to your MacBook screen. Just install the $15 app from the Reflection website and it makes your MacBook an Airplay compatible device. As long as you have iOS 5 on your iPad you can now mirror your screen directly to your MacBook. 

 

Run the Reflection app on your MacBook and then switch to your iPad. Double click the Home button, sliding to the left and selecting your MacBook from the list of Airplay enabled devices. If you have an Apple TV that will also display on the list.

 

 

Once you select your MacBook, you can now display your iPad on the laptop screen (as seen below ... and please don't remind me how many emails I still need to open...). 

 

 

Reflection is a wonderful solution for any situation where you need to project your iPad screen and don't have an Apple TV. It's wonderful for creating tutorials - just display your iPad on your MacBook screen and use Quicktime to record the screencast. I do a lot of webinars and it's a wonderful way to display your iPad to people in remote locations.

 

When to use Reflection rather than an Apple TV:

• Can be used to project your iPad in any room. No Apple TV is required.
• Requires that have a MacBook connected to your projector.
• When you need to display your iPad to a remote location. Use any screen sharing software on your MacBook and display your iPad on the MacBook screen.
• When you want to take a video of something displayed on your iPad eg. creating a tutorial showing how to use an app. Display the iPad on your MacBook and use Quicktime to record the screencast.

 

 

Sam Gliksman

[e-mail]

Twitter: @samgliksman

 

[James Holis]

I review lots of websites, apps, tools, etc. and I rarely say "wow!" This app works great. I'm actually mirroring both my iPad 2 (hopefully the new iPad in a few days) and my iPhone 4s. I like having the actual image of the iPad/iPhone when mirroring. This will be beneficial in the classroom to help focus attention to what's being displayed.

I think the $15 price tag may be a little high. Although, compared to a $99 Apple TV what can you say! I would speculate that other apps in the $5 price range will come along that do the same thing. That's generally how things work...it's very competitive out there!

Thanks for sharing this wonderful tool. I get more and more excited about iPads in education every day!

Jim

[Kristina]

Do you know if this app will work in an Enterprise Wireless environment? I know the Apple TV will not work for mirroring in an Enterprise Wireless environment. I hope it does- it looks amazing. I tried it out at home today, but the big test will be if it will work in my classroom tomorrow. Thanks

[Sam Gliksman]

Depends on the wireless configuration Kristina - it utilizes the same Airplay connection as an Apple TV but just connects to your laptop instead. Try both Reflection and AirServer. 

[Jennifer Smith]

Is this possible with the ipad 1?  I know it works on the 2 and 3, but I heard the only way to mirror on the 1 is by jailbreaking it.  Obviously, I don't want to do this and I'd rather not buy a new ipad since I already have one.

[lucascittadino]

Will this app allow me to control my iPad with my laptop, or a smartboard that is connected to my laptop?

 

[Sam Gliksman]

No. It just mirrors your iPad ... but why would you want to control an iPad with a laptop?

[Sam Gliksman]

It requires a 2 or higher.

Jennifer Smith said:

Is this possible with the ipad 1?  I know it works on the 2 and 3, but I heard the only way to mirror on the 1 is by jailbreaking it.  Obviously, I don't want to do this and I'd rather not buy a new ipad since I already have one.

[James Holis]

Sam, I like Reflection and was excited to see new screen recording feature. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten it to work. Have you successfully recorded using the latest update of Reflection?

[Sam Gliksman]

I haven't used the latest update. You really don't need the screen recording - I just use QuickTime on the Mac. If you're having problems, try using AirServer. It's also a very nice solution.

[lucascittadino]

I'm tring to find a way to project apps on the smartboard and have students interact with it on the board.  Jailbreaking the iPad is not an option.

Sam Gliksman said:

No. It just mirrors your iPad ... but why would you want to control an iPad with a laptop?

[Sam Gliksman]

You can only interact on the iPad itself.

lucascittadino said:

I'm tring to find a way to project apps on the smartboard and have students interact with it on the board.  Jailbreaking the iPad is not an option.

Sam Gliksman said:

No. It just mirrors your iPad ... but why would you want to control an iPad with a laptop?

[Michael ortman]

Thanks for the tips Sam.  I don't know if this is a common problem or not but I had some trouble getting airplay onto my IPAD 2 until I first installed airserver onto my macbook. This works beautifully! I am now able to mirror my IPAD at home and in the classroom.

I also installed the Splashtop Streamer software on my macbook and the splashtop app on the IPAD allowing me to control my macbook from my ipad.