How to Screen Mirror an iPhone or iPad to an LG TV (AirPlay, ThinQ and HDMI)

The quick answer

• Your LG TV has AirPlay 2? LG lists every OLED and QNED model from 2021 through 2024, plus selected models back to 2018. Turn AirPlay on from the Home Dashboard, then open Control Center on the iPhone or iPad, tap Screen Mirroring and choose the TV.
• No AirPlay, or an older LG? Use a USB-C to HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable. That works on any LG TV with an HDMI port, needs no Wi-Fi and has the least delay.
• The LG ThinQ app is a remote, not the mirroring route. On iPhone it controls the TV, opens its apps and shows your photos and videos. LG's own mirroring steps use AirPlay.
• Netflix goes black when you mirror. That's copy protection, not a fault. Use the app on the LG TV itself, or a cable.

Four ways to get an iPhone or iPad onto an LG TV

From LG's AirPlay help pages and Apple Support, checked October 2026. ScreenCommand is supported over a cable and over AirPlay to an Apple TV plugged into the LG TV; we haven't verified it with the AirPlay built into LG TVs, so the table doesn't claim it.

Which LG TVs have AirPlay 2

LG publishes its AirPlay 2 list by model year. The series letters in it are part of the model number, which is on a label on the back of the TV and in its settings.

From LG's AirPlay 2 help page (US), dated September 2026. LG says AirPlay on these TVs needs iOS 12.4 or later on the iPhone or iPad.

LG's list stops at 2024. The 2025 models we checked on LG's own product pages, the OLED evo C5 and the UHD UA75, both on webOS 25, list AirPlay too. For a 2025 or newer set, check your model's spec sheet on LG's site, or look for AirPlay on the TV's Home Dashboard.

Not on the list? Plan on a cable (below), or plug an Apple TV into a free HDMI port: it adds AirPlay to any TV, and it can also put a full web browser on the TV.

Turn on AirPlay on the LG TV

If AirPlay is switched off in the TV's settings, the TV never shows up on your iPhone or iPad. LG's steps to turn it on:

1. Turn on the TV, press the Input button on the remote and select Home Dashboard.
2. Select AirPlay.
3. Select AirPlay and HomeKit settings.
4. Set AirPlay to On.

Menu names can differ a little by model and webOS version. If you find AirPlay and HomeKit settings, the TV has AirPlay.

Mirror an iPhone or iPad to the LG TV

Screen Mirroring sends everything on your screen to the TV. The steps are the same on iPhone and iPad:

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to the same Wi-Fi network as the LG TV.
2. Open Control Center. On an iPad, or an iPhone without a Home button, swipe down from the top-right corner. On an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom edge.
3. Tap Screen Mirroring and choose your LG TV from the list.
4. If an AirPlay code appears on the TV, type it on the iPhone or iPad. Your screen now shows on the TV.

To stop, open Control Center, tap Screen Mirroring, then tap Stop Mirroring.

The TV shows an exact copy of your screen, in your device's shape. An iPad leaves black bars at the sides of a widescreen LG TV, and an iPhone held upright is a narrow strip in the middle; in apps that turn sideways, rotating the iPhone fills more of the TV. Notifications and anything you type show up on the TV too.

Why mirroring can't fill the TV, and what can: screen mirroring vs ScreenCommand.

AirPlay inside an app vs mirroring your screen

There's a second way to use AirPlay. Instead of copying your whole screen, the AirPlay button in a video app's player sends just that video, and the LG TV plays it itself, in the video's own shape, while your notifications stay on your device. The steps:

1. Open the video you want to play on the iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the AirPlay button in the player. In some apps you tap another button first.
3. Choose your LG TV, and type the code if the TV shows one.

For photos and videos in the Photos app, tap the Share button, then AirPlay.

Not every app has the button, and Netflix removed it from its app in 2019. Where a streaming app does have one, whether its shows play on an LG TV is up to the service. To stop, tap the AirPlay button again and choose your iPhone or iPad.

What the LG ThinQ app does on an iPhone

LG ThinQ is LG's own app for its TVs and appliances, and it took over from the older LG TV Plus remote app. With an LG TV, LG describes it as:

• A remote. Change the input, volume and channel, move the pointer, scroll, and use the arrow and OK buttons, much like LG's Magic Remote.
• A launcher. Open apps on the TV from your phone.
• A way to show photos and videos from your phone on the TV.
• A power button. It turns the TV off, and on webOS 3.5 or later turns it on too. From an iPhone, turning it on works over Wi-Fi only, and may need TV On With Mobile switched on in the TV's settings.

To set it up, sign in to the app with an LG account, tap the button to add a device, choose TV and pick yours. LG's setup page asks for the phone and the TV on the same network, and on Wi-Fi, the same 2.4 GHz network.

In the App Store, LG ThinQ is listed by LG Electronics. Several other LG remote and mirroring apps there come from other developers, not LG, so check the developer name before you download one.

The HDMI cable route: works on any LG TV

A cable works on every LG TV with an HDMI port, AirPlay or not, and needs no Wi-Fi. It also has less delay than AirPlay.

1. Plug a USB-C to HDMI adapter into the iPhone or iPad, or use a single cable with USB-C on one end and HDMI on the other.
2. Run an HDMI cable from the adapter to a free HDMI port on the LG TV.
3. Switch the TV to that HDMI input with the Input button on the remote.
4. Your screen appears on the TV. If the adapter has a USB-C charging port, plug the charger into it to keep the battery up.

• iPad: every iPad with USB-C sends its picture this way. Through an HDMI 2.0 adapter, the iPad (A16), iPad mini (A17 Pro), every M-series iPad Air and every USB-C iPad Pro send up to 4K at 60Hz; the iPad (10th generation), iPad mini (6th generation) and iPad Air (4th generation) top out at 4K at 30Hz.
• iPhone: iPhone 15 and later send up to 4K at 60Hz over USB-C, through an HDMI 2.0 adapter. The exceptions are the iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e and iPhone Air, which send no video over USB-C: use AirPlay on those.
• Lightning iPhone or iPad: use Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter and an HDMI cable, at up to 1080p.

A cable still mirrors, with the same black bars, unless an app draws its own picture for the TV, like a video app. An iPad with an M-series chip can extend instead, using the TV as a second display: see which iPads support extended display.

Which adapter to buy, and charging while you're connected: the USB-C to HDMI adapter guide. Every iPhone model, cable by cable: how to connect an iPhone to a TV.

Why Netflix goes black when you mirror to an LG TV

Mirror an iPhone or iPad to an LG TV, open Netflix, and the picture turns black, often with the sound still playing. Nothing is broken. That's copy protection (DRM): AirPlay screen mirroring never carries the protected video of Netflix, Prime Video and similar services, on an LG TV or anywhere else.

What works instead:

• The app on the LG TV. Open the service's own app on the TV and sign in there. You don't need the iPhone or iPad at all.
• A USB-C cable. Over HDMI, protected video is allowed: the Netflix app plays on the TV, and Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and Peacock play in ScreenCommand. Plug a certified adapter straight into the TV, with no splitter or capture card in between.
• The app's own AirPlay button, where it has one, sends the stream itself instead of a copy of your screen. Netflix doesn't have one.

The full story, and what to do if it's black over a cable too: the Netflix black screen, explained.

Where ScreenCommand fits

Mirroring puts a copy of a small screen on a big one. ScreenCommand puts a desktop web browser on the LG TV instead, at the TV's own resolution, edge to edge with no black bars, and turns your iPhone or iPad into the trackpad and keyboard.

• Over a cable, on any LG TV with HDMI, with AirPlay or without. It's the recommended connection, with the lowest cursor lag.
• Or through an Apple TV plugged into the LG TV, over AirPlay to the Apple TV, with a little more cursor lag than a cable. How that works.
• Streaming over a cable: Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and Peacock play in ScreenCommand over a USB-C cable. YouTube and other web video play over a cable or AirPlay to an Apple TV.
• Websites, not apps: it shows web pages. For a game, your photos or another app, mirroring is free, built in and the better fit.
• $4.99 one-time: no subscription, no account to create, zero data collection.

It needs an iPad with USB-C on iPadOS 17 or later, or an iPhone on iOS 17 or later. From an iPhone, a cable needs USB-C video out: iPhone 15 or later, except iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e and iPhone Air.

LG TV AirPlay not working? Try these

• The LG TV isn't in the Screen Mirroring list. Check that AirPlay is on (Home Dashboard, AirPlay, AirPlay and HomeKit settings) and that your model is on LG's AirPlay 2 list above. If it isn't, use a cable.
• Put both on the same network. LG says either the 2.4 GHz or the 5 GHz band works, as long as the TV and the iPhone or iPad are on the same network. If the TV is on a guest network or a different router, move one of them.
• Restart both. Turn the TV off and on again, and restart the iPhone or iPad. Apple also says to keep the two near each other.
• Update the TV and the device. On an LG TV from 2020 or later (webOS 5.0 and up), press Settings on the remote, then All Settings, Support, Software Update, Check for Updates; on 2019 and earlier models it's All Settings, General, About This TV, Check for Updates. On the iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
• The TV asks for a code. That's normal: type the code shown on the TV into the iPhone or iPad. LG says you only need it when the TV shows one. If no code appears or it won't take it, turn AirPlay off and on again in AirPlay and HomeKit settings, then restart both.
• Restrictions on the iPhone or iPad. LG also suggests checking Content & Privacy Restrictions on the device, if they're set up.
• Black bars on both sides. Mirroring keeps your device's shape, so that's expected, and stretching it with the TV's aspect ratio setting distorts the picture. A video sent with an app's AirPlay button fills the screen, and so does an app that draws its own picture over a cable, like ScreenCommand.
• The edges are cut off over HDMI. The TV is zooming in. On a 2021 or later LG TV (webOS 6.0 and up), press Settings, then All Settings, Picture, Aspect Ratio, User Selection, and choose Original or 16:9. On 2020 and earlier models, it's Picture, then Aspect Ratio Settings.
• “No signal” over a cable. Switch the TV to the exact HDMI input you plugged into, reseat both ends and try another HDMI port. Make sure the adapter carries video, not just charging and data. On an iPhone 16e, iPhone 17e or iPhone Air no adapter will work: use AirPlay.

Frequently asked questions

More product questions (pricing, gestures, privacy) are covered in the main FAQ.

Keep reading

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• Which USB-C HDMI adapter to buy
• Netflix black screen, explained
• vs Screen Mirroring