I’ll often stream a movie or show from a streaming app on my phone and cast it to my tv. But sometimes I’ll leave to go run an errand and take my phone while my family is still watching. How does it keep streaming when I’m gone?
In: Technology
It would be very inefficient for a streaming app to send the data through your phone. The video data would need to go from your router to your phone (wifi), then from the phone back to the router (wifi), then from the router to your TV (either wifi or wired, depending on TV). You are possibly sending the video data *three times* across your wifi.
What most “casting” apps actually do is just send an instruction to the smart TV or streaming device to start playing. From that point on, your TV gets the video directly from the internet/router.
Your phone is playing the same role as your remote control. It sends an instruction, but the TV does the rest of the work.
The TV doesn’t care where your phone is any more than it cares where the remote control is. If you were watching regular cable TV used the remote control to pick a channel, then took the remote with you to the grocery store, everyone at home would still be able to watch that TV. They wouldn’t be able to change the channel easily, but the TV wouldn’t care at all where the remote went.
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