Can you cast Sky Go? – From phone to TV

It’s fair to say that Sky Go is actually one of the better apps released by a major television company in the UK, and across the world. The app is pretty good, and most people never have problems with the actual app itself, with most issues being down to connectivity when live streaming.

But there is one common question about Sky Go. Intended to be solely used for phone, laptop and tablet use, it’s now at the point of popularity that people are asking; how can I watch Sky Go on my TV? Well, the simple answer nowadays would be to connect it to your TV, either via a wired connection or by simply casting it.

But can you actually cast Sky Go, or are there restrictions in place to stop you doing it? Well, that’s what we’re going to be taking a quick look at now.

Can you cast Sky Go?

The truth is that at the present, you can’t actually cast Sky Go. Well, you can if you’re in New Zealand, but that doesn’t help any of us based in the UK. So, you can’t cast Sky Go onto your television directly from the app itself.

Now, there are some other potential methods that you could use to cast from your phone onto your television. They may not be as smooth as simply casting directly with another app like Netflix. You’ll still need your Chromecast device to do this (check out our Chromecast vs Fire stick comparison), or a smart TV with Miracast.

And it would require you to use a different form of casting, as you can’t cast from the Sky Go app directly. Instead, we’ll have to try and screen mirror out phone or tablet screen onto our television.

Can I watch Sky Go with screen mirroring?

The main way that you can watch Sky Go on another device through your phone or laptop is by simply using screen mirroring. It’s the only other way to watch Sky Go on your television, but it can be blocked depending on the device you’re using.

However, in the majority of cases, the connection here won’t be great, and it might not even be worth doing if you’re getting a lot of delays between your device and your television. It can be dependent on your internet quality, but often using screen mirror can be a little bit delayed anyway.

You’ll just want to go ahead and use Chromecast as you would if you were to cast your Chrome or Safari browser onto the TV. Then, open up Sky Go within the browser and watch TV this way. Finally, try and stream the browser onto your television.

Using a Chrome browser should be quite straightforward, and it may allow you to Chromecast Sky Go from your phone onto your television. But like I mentioned, this definitely isn’t the best way for you to do this, and there are some alternative methods that will result in better resolution and less lagging.

Alternative method for Samsung owners

An alternative way to do this in 2021 is available to Android users with a Samsung phone only. You’ll need to have Miracast built into your television, or a Miracast device that you’ve picked up online.

Simply switch your TV over to Miracast and connect to it using Samsung DeX. It works a little differently to mirroring, and it actually provides a much better connection. It’s ideal if you want to watch Sky Sports and catch up on the latest Premier League action, or your favourite movies and TV shows too.

Whilst the screen mirroring option may still work for some, it’s been blocked for many phones. So, let’s recap as to what Sky Go is, and why it doesn’t have a good method of casting.

What is Sky Go?

If you’re not 100% sure on what Sky Go even is, then here’s a quick recap on what it’s used for. Essentially Sky Go is just an app that’s been released by Sky which will allow you to watch TV whilst you’re on the go. Yes, the name couldn’t be any more self explanatory if it tried, I agree.

For us based in the UK, the good news is that if you’re a customer of Sky already, then it’s not going to cost you any extra dosh. It’s one of the best ways to watch TV whilst you’re out and about, and its equivalent version by Virgin (also aptly named the TV Go app) isn’t quite as good as this one.

It is a really easy way to be able to view anything you want to watch on TV. Whilst other providers out there may support casting, Sky doesn’t.

Why doesn’t Sky Go have casting?

The truth is that I’m not quite sure why at the present, but Sky Go doesn’t have a casting feature integrated into the app. It’s probably the one thing that this app is in dire need of, as the rest of it is pretty flawless, with responsive use and smooth playback when you’re watching TV.

The likelihood is that looking into 2021 and beyond, Sky will definitely add this feature into the app, which will make it much more useful.

The only reason why they might not want to add this in is that it might cause people to all use the same account whilst they’re in different households – theoretically you could just cast from the app to a TV when you’re at a mates house, and that stops the need for them getting Sky.

Bear in mind that you can add a pretty generous six different devices into your Sky package and you can easily see how it could be abused by some folks. However, this is definitely something that most people want from Sky, but only time will tell if they deliver it.

Can I use a HDMI cable with my tablet/phone and Sky Go?

Whilst you might expect the answer to this to be yes, as of now you actually can’t use a HDMI cable to connect your phone or tablet to your TV to watch it this way.

This is another indicator that the reason Sky haven’t added casting to their app is that they don’t want people to be streaming their content through the app whilst they’re at other peoples houses, reducing the need for them to get Sky.

Is Sky Go available on a firestick?

Another area where you’ll run into a brick wall in finding a way to get around this streaming problem is with a Fire stick. As the most popular method to get catch up services on your television in the UK, you might think that it would be a given that Sky Go would be pre installed already.

Unfortunately, this isn’t actually the case, and the Sky Go app isn’t available on the Fire stick as of now. Although in other areas Fire sticks are great, there are a few key apps that they’re missing.

This might change in the future, but it’s another area where you’re not going to get any joy here. So, we’ll need to find another way to watch Sky Go on your television.

How else can I watch Sky Go on my TV?

However, there are a few ways that you can get around this issue with different devices. This includes;

Conclusion

Overall, there’s actually no way for you to cast directly from the app if you’re based in the UK. There are ways that you can workaround the problem, but obviously they’re not going to be as smooth as if the app had this feature already installed.

But as casting becomes more and more popular with subscription services nowadays, it might be just around the corner for Sky customers. For now though, the Sky Go app is going to be strictly streamed from your smaller laptop, tablet or phone.