Using Your Phone to Watch TV
It enhances our camping experience to have the ability to use our phone to watch TV. While we love camping and the freedom of being outdoors and visiting new areas, we really like to watch a little television before going to sleep at night. Unfortunately, there are little or no options in some of the lovely, remote areas we like to visit. That is where having the option of entertainment via our phone is so nice.
The Jensen TV in our camper is not a smart TV and I believe this is true for many campers. However, any television can display content like a smart TV using the process described in this post.
Actually, it is quite easy to use a phone to watch TV and it is particularly useful when there is no cable and poor cell/Internet/air antenna reception. I am specifically addressing the use of the iPhone or iPad with the Jensen TV. I suspect there are similar options with android phones, but I am not familiar with them.
Here is What You Need
It is a very simple process, but a few essential components are needed.
1) Content on Your Phone or Device
The foremost thing needed is access to a streaming source. Netflix is probably the most popular streaming source and many watch Netflix on smart televisions. With a Netflix subscription, one can also download shows and movies to their phone or tablet to watch later when no cable, Internet, or even cell signal is available.
We dropped cable many months ago and now all our viewing is through streaming services. This link covers our conversion, Cable Cutting, A Retirement Cost Savings Strategy. However, we had Netflix and Amazon Prime long before dropping cable, both of which allow downloads to view when there is no cell/Internet service. Just be sure to do a little planning to download a few shows/movies you like before arriving in remote areas.
When Internet or cell service is available, we also use our phone to watch TV through YouTube TV. It provides live television and many channels, including local. So, it essentially gives us as many options as we have at home! The only concerns are the strength of the signal and data plan limits.
2) Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter
The next item needed is this handy little adapter to connect the Apple device (iPhone or iPad) to an HDMI cable. This link takes you to the adapter on Amazon, Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter. The cable currently sells for $49 and also has a receptacle to allow charging of the iPhone or iPad while using the phone to watch TV. It is also available through Apple and other retailers.
We use this cable to listen to music on a stereo at home that does not have Bluetooth as well. It is quite handy!
3) HDMI Cable
The HDMI cable is the same on both ends—one connects to the Apple adapter above and the other connects to the television’s HDMI port.
For the Jensen TV on our camper, I wanted a short cable to keep the area around the television neat. The following link is to a 1 ft HDMI cable that is only $7 and does a great job: HDMI Cable .
Optional Equipment
After we began using our phone to watch downloaded shows and streaming channels, we discovered it was a pain to have to unhook cables between watching with an air antenna and the phone. If we were in an area with good air antenna reception, we liked to use it for local stations. So, it would be very beneficial to have the the ability to use both options without having to access the back of the television. Our air antenna is just a piece of coaxial cable, but it does a remarkable job picking up channels if there is a good signal.
Our solution was a splitter to switch between antenna and phone. The item sells for approximately $10 and a link follows to the item on Amazon: Signal Splitter.
For this option, two short HHMI cables are used. One end goes into the top of the splitter and the other end goes into the back of the television, as in the photo below.
Now for the bottom of the splitter: insert the television cable into one side of the splitter instead of into the back of the television. Next, plug the other short HDMI cable into the other side of the bottom of the splitter. Lastly, attach the other side to the Apple Lightning to AV Adapter, which attaches on the other side to the phone.
With this configuration, the signal can be changed from air antenna to phone by pressing button one or two.
If you are interested in the basic operation of the Jensen TV/ DVD player, check out my post, Jensen TV and DVD Player—Basic Use .
Please let me know if this is helpful. Happy camping!
