Frequently Asked Questions

This can be caused by several factors:

• Server load on your device
• High video bitrate (try SD streams instead of HD)
• Network bottlenecks or weak WiFi signal

For better WiFi signal, consider using an HDMI extender with your casting device and ensure it has proper power supply.

Try these troubleshooting steps:

• Ensure both devices are connected to the same network
• Toggle WiFi off and on
• Restart the LocalCast app
• Reboot your router and casting devices

Xbox 360: Make sure media sharing is enabled in system settings.

Xbox One: Enable "Play To" in the preferences settings.

LocalCast supports over 200 devices including all generations of Chromecast, Roku players, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, NVIDIA Shield, and smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense, and Vizio. It also works with any DLNA/UPnP compatible device, Sonos speakers, Xbox consoles, and more. If a device supports casting or DLNA, LocalCast can likely connect to it.

Most TVs need nothing extra. Three get a small LocalCast receiver from their own store, and every screen with a browser works too:

• Chromecast, Google TV and TVs with Google Cast built in – nothing to install.
• Android TV / Google TV – install LocalCast from the Play Store on the TV itself for the full receiver; Google Cast works without it.
• Amazon Fire TV – install LocalCast TV on Fire from the Amazon Appstore on the stick.
• Roku – the LocalCast Receiver channel from the Roku Channel Store; the app adds it for you the first time you connect.
• Apple TV – via AirPlay, nothing to install.
• Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense, Vizio and other smart TVs – via DLNA, nothing to install.
• Any TV, game console or PC with a browser – open lcast.cc and enter the code shown in the app.
• Sonos, DLNA speakers and Xbox – via DLNA.

Every receiver plays every format. Whatever a device cannot decode itself, LocalCast converts on the phone while it streams (transcoding), so MKV, AVI, HEVC, FLAC or DTS play on all of them. Status: October 2026.

Two directions. Kodi → LocalCast (Android): install the free LocalCast add-on in Kodi (download at localcast.app/kodi, then Settings → Add-ons → Install from zip). Turn on automatic casting so every video Kodi plays opens in LocalCast, or choose "Cast with LocalCast" in the context menu of a single item. To stop, open the add-on and choose Disable. Restart Kodi after turning automatic casting on or off. LocalCast → Kodi (any platform): in Kodi turn on Settings → Services → UPnP/DLNA → "Allow remote control via UPnP"; Kodi then shows up in LocalCast's device list like any other DLNA receiver. The add-on is not in Kodi's official repository yet.

LocalCast can convert the audio on your phone while it casts, so your TV receives a format it understands. Check that transcoding is enabled: open Settings → Transcoding and make sure “Enable video conversion” is on. If the video still plays without sound, turn on “Force Transcode” on the same page.

LocalCast can convert the video on your phone while it casts, so your TV receives a format it can play. Check that transcoding is enabled: open Settings → Transcoding and make sure “Enable video conversion” is on. If the picture still stays black, turn on “Force Transcode” on the same page.

This is usually a Google Play Store synchronization issue. Try these steps:

• Go to Settings → Apps → Google Play Store
• Clear data and cache
• Uninstall and reinstall LocalCast
• The Pro version should activate automatically

LocalCast allows users to choose their preferred price point. All purchases unlock the same Pro features regardless of the price selected.

LocalCast is free to download and completely ad-free. Browsing your files, IPTV playlists and the web is free; casting to your TV is part of LocalCast Pro. Start with a free trial, then pick a weekly or yearly plan — or buy Lifetime once.

This error means the Chromecast cannot connect back to your phone's media server. When you cast local files, your phone runs a small server and the Chromecast fetches the media from it. If the Chromecast can't reach that server, playback fails.

Common causes & fixes:

• AP / Client Isolation is enabled on your router — Many routers (especially mesh systems and guest networks) isolate devices from each other. Log into your router admin panel and disable "AP Isolation", "Client Isolation", or "Wireless Isolation". On mesh systems, look for a setting called "Device Communication" or "Local Access".
• Devices are on different networks or VLANs — Your phone and Chromecast must be on the exact same Wi-Fi network and subnet. If you have a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band with different SSIDs, connect both to the same one. Check that you're not on a VPN or guest network.
• Firewall on your phone is blocking incoming connections — If you have a firewall app (e.g. NetGuard, AFWall+) on your phone, it may be blocking the Chromecast from connecting. Allow LocalCast or allow incoming connections on your local network.
• Router firmware bug — Some router firmware versions have mDNS or multicast issues. Try rebooting your router, or update to the latest firmware.
• Phone's Wi-Fi is in power-saving mode — Some phones throttle Wi-Fi when the screen is off, which can interrupt the media server. Disable Wi-Fi power saving in your phone's advanced Wi-Fi settings, or keep the screen on while casting.

Quick test: Try opening the media URL shown in the error message in a browser on another device on the same network. If it doesn't load, the issue is network-level (AP isolation or firewall).

Read the full troubleshooting guide →

We recommend using DLNA when possible:

• DLNA: Direct connection between server and casting device
• SMB: Routes through your phone/tablet, which may impact performance

Yes! LocalCast's file picker integrates with your device's system file browser, giving you access to cloud storage providers that are installed and configured on your device:

• Google Drive – Full access on Android, limited on iOS
• Dropbox – Available when the app is installed
• OneDrive – Microsoft's cloud storage
• Box – Enterprise cloud storage
• iCloud Drive – iOS/macOS only
• Amazon Drive – When the app is installed
• MEGA – Privacy-focused cloud storage

Simply ensure the cloud storage app is installed and you're signed in. The files will appear in the system file picker when you tap "Files" in LocalCast.

LocalCast has built-in IPTV support. Go to the IPTV section in the app, then add your M3U playlist URL. The app will load all available channels and, if an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) URL is provided, display a full TV guide. You can then browse channels by category, view the program schedule, and cast live TV directly to your Chromecast, Smart TV, or any other supported device.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to stream to the PS3 using LocalCast.

These features only work with Google Cast devices (Chromecast). LocalCast includes built-in OpenSubtitles search for compatible devices. Some DLNA servers also support subtitle functionality.

Make sure your computer's network is set to "Home network" rather than "Public" or "Work" network. This allows media sharing and DLNA discovery.

Yes. A Chromecast is just one of the targets. LocalCast also casts to Roku players and Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and other AirPlay receivers, and to Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense and Vizio smart TVs over DLNA/UPnP — no dongle, no app on the TV. For a TV, console or PC that has none of these, open the web receiver lcast.cc in its browser and enter the pairing code shown in the app.

Yes. LocalCast reads the subtitle track inside the MKV (or an SRT/ASS/SSA/VTT file next to it) and renders it on the TV with adjustable size, colour, position and a sync offset. Full subtitle control is available on Chromecast and the LocalCast receiver; on DLNA TVs it depends on the set. If the MKV's video or audio codec is not supported by your TV, LocalCast converts that part on the phone while streaming, so you get picture, sound and subtitles without converting the file first.

Roku players and most smart TVs cannot decode some audio tracks (AAC 5.1, EAC3/Dolby Digital Plus, DTS) and some video codecs (HEVC/H.265 10-bit, AV1 on older models). The file plays, but one half is missing. LocalCast detects this and transcodes only the unsupported track on the phone while streaming — make sure Settings → Transcoding → Automatically convert incompatible videos is on. No sound usually means the audio codec; sound without picture means the video codec. Converting the file to MP4 on its own does not help, because the container changes and the codec does not.

Yes. LocalCast has been on the App Store since 2015 and needs iOS 15.6 or newer. The iPhone and iPad version casts to Chromecast, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, smart TVs and DLNA devices, browses SMB/NAS shares, cloud storage and IPTV playlists, and has the same built-in browser for web videos as the Android version.

For most TVs, no. Chromecast, Apple TV and DLNA smart TVs are addressed with the protocol the device already has, so nothing is installed on the TV. Three devices get a small LocalCast receiver from their own store: Fire TV (LocalCast TV on Fire from the Amazon Appstore), Roku (the LocalCast Receiver channel, which the app adds for you) and, optionally, Android TV / Google TV (LocalCast from the Play Store on the TV). For a TV, game console or PC without a cast protocol, open lcast.cc in its browser and pair it with the code from the app. Status: October 2026.

lcast.cc is the LocalCast web receiver. Open it in the browser of any TV, console (PlayStation, Xbox) or computer, enter the pairing code shown in the app, and LocalCast casts to that screen without any extra hardware.

Any video that plays in LocalCast's built-in browser without DRM can be cast to the TV — including streams the TV could not fetch or decode on its own. Three mechanisms make that true:

• Stream detection, not screen recording. The browser detects the actual media the page plays — a direct MP4/WebM file, an HLS (.m3u8) or DASH manifest — and casts that stream, so the TV plays it at full quality while the phone can go to sleep.
• A proxy on the phone. When the TV cannot fetch the stream itself (the site requires the browser's session, cookies or headers, or blocks cross-origin access), LocalCast fetches it on the phone with the browser's own session and re-serves it to the TV. HLS and DASH playlists are rewritten so every variant and segment travels through the phone.
• Transcoding on the fly. If the TV cannot decode the codec or container, the phone converts the stream to H.264/AAC while it plays — no waiting for a finished file.

What does not work, by design: DRM-protected services (Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+ and similar) — their streams are encrypted and LocalCast does not circumvent that. A few players deliver video only as in-page blobs or WebRTC; those cannot be cast as a stream. Status: October 2026.

LocalCast converts them on the phone while streaming (on-device transcoding with FFmpeg), so the file never has to be converted or copied first. It checks what the target device can decode; if the container or a track is unsupported — typical cases are MKV on Roku, HEVC/H.265 10-bit video, DTS, EAC3 or AAC 5.1 audio — only the unsupported part is converted to H.264 video and AAC audio and the result is streamed as it is produced. Supported files are passed through untouched. The switch is Settings → Transcoding → Automatically convert incompatible videos. Limits: conversion speed depends on the phone; a 4K HEVC file on an old phone may stutter, 1080p is the normal case. Status: October 2026.

No. LocalCast runs a small media server on the phone. When you cast a file from an SMB/CIFS share, FTP, WebDAV or DLNA server, that server reads the file from the share in chunks (HTTP range requests) and hands them to the TV as the TV asks for them — so playback starts immediately, seeking works, and nothing is stored on the phone. If the file needs transcoding, the same path converts the chunks on the way through. Requirement: the phone, the NAS and the TV on the same network. Status: October 2026.

LocalCast renders subtitles on the TV, not burned into the video. It reads external SRT, ASS, SSA and VTT files, the subtitle tracks embedded in an MKV, or a track found by the built-in OpenSubtitles search. On Chromecast and the LocalCast web receiver, LocalCast's own receiver draws the subtitles, so size, colour, position and a sync offset can be changed while watching. DLNA TVs receive the subtitle file alongside the video and display it with their own renderer, so appearance depends on the TV. Status: October 2026.

Four, chosen automatically per device: Google Cast for Chromecast, Google TV, Android TV, Nest speakers and Cast-enabled TVs; DLNA/UPnP for Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense, Vizio, Panasonic and other smart TVs, Xbox, Sonos and DLNA speakers; AirPlay for Apple TV and AirPlay receivers; and the LocalCast web receiver (lcast.cc) for any TV, console or PC that has a browser — open it on the big screen and enter the pairing code shown in the app. Nothing is installed on the TV in any of these cases. Status: October 2026.

Because the TV fetches the media from the phone. LocalCast serves local files, NAS files, proxied web streams and transcoded video from a small server on the phone, and the TV connects to it over the local network. Anything that separates the two — a guest network, a second SSID or VLAN, AP isolation/client isolation on the router, a VPN on the phone, or a firewall app — breaks that connection and produces the Chromecast error "Cannot reach your phone". Fix: same SSID, isolation off, VPN off while casting. Details: Chromecast says "Cannot reach your phone". Status: October 2026.

LocalCast has no account and no sign-up. It sends pseudonymous crash reports and usage statistics (Firebase Crashlytics and Analytics, keyed by a random per-install ID, no advertising ID, no name or e-mail) so bugs can be found and fixed; it does not sell data and does not show ads. What you cast stays on your network: media goes from the phone to the TV directly and never through a LocalCast server. Full text: Privacy Policy. Status: October 2026.