www.makeuseof.com How to Live Stream Mobile Games via Your PC

Game streaming is now hitting its stride, with many popular streamers making a good living out of it. Even those who casually game on consoles or PC can now share their experience with free tools like OBS Studio.

But how can you stream your game if you're playing on a smartphone? What tools can you use so that you can play on your phone and capture your screen simultaneously to share your gameplay with the world?

Here, we'll discuss how you can stream your smartphone's screen and sound to OBS Studio within a matter of minutes.

Stream Your Phone Screen to Your PC

The first thing you need to do is send your smartphone's display to your streaming computer. While Windows' built-in Your Phone app can wirelessly stream your phone's screen, this particular method is too slow for streaming fast-paced games. For this very reason, it's better to have a wired connection between your phone and your PC.

This is where a third-party solution called Vysor comes in—you can use this free app to stream your Android device's screen. You can also use it on iPhones, but it's currently still in beta testing, so the app may not be as stable as you'd like it to be.

You can download and install Vysor on your computer. It's compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. And if you're using an Android device, you can even run Vysor directly off the browser.

If you're an Android user, you also need to install universal ADB Drivers from ClockworkMod. You also need to activate USB debugging on your phone. Once done, plug your phone into your computer, and the Vysor app on your PC should detect it.

You will see your phone's model number appear with three buttons beside it. Click on the red Play button called View Device, and you should see a new window featuring your phone's screen appear on your computer. You can also control your device from that new window, allowing you to use your mouse and keyboard to manipulate your smartphone.

If you have an iOS device, you will have to take a couple of extra steps to run Vysor. First, you have to install the TestFlight app and join the Vysor Beta program from your iPhone or iPad. If you're running Vysor from a Windows PC, you'll also have to install Apple Mobile Device Support drivers from GitHub.

After installing everything necessary, open the Vysor app on your iOS device, and go to the main screen. From there, tap on the Camera icon, then choose OK to allow the app access to your phone's camera.

Connect your Apple device to your computer, tap on the Record button and choose Start Broadcast. Look at the Vysor app on your computer, and you should see your iOS device listed in it. Click on the red Play button, and a new window showing your device's screen will appear.

You can control your iOS device if you're using a Mac, but, unfortunately, Windows doesn't support controlling your Apple device from your PC at the moment.

Streaming Phone Audio

The free version of the Vysor app doesn't support streaming audio within the app. Fortunately, there are a couple of workarounds for that. As long as you have the gear on hand, this system will not cost a single penny.

If you have an extra microphone, you can use that as a dedicated microphone pointed at your device's speaker to capture its audio. That way, your voice doesn't have to compete with the phone's audio output. Nevertheless, this isn't an ideal setup, as your phone's location is most probably only within arm's reach of your primary microphone.

Read More: The Best Microphones for YouTube

If your phone still has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, you can use line-in audio to pump sound from it to the computer. All you need is a male-to-male 3.5 mm cable, attach it to your phone's headphone jack, and then connect it to your computer's microphone plug.

Unfortunately, typical flagship phones these days don't have headphone jacks, and therefore, your only option is likely to subscribe to Vysor Pro. If you decide to do that, click on the headphone-shaped Toggle Audio icon on the streamed window on your PC to send your phone's sound to your computer.

Setting Up OBS Studio for Streaming

Once your phone's audio and screen stream to your computer, it's time to set up your streaming software. To do so, you'll first need to download and install OBS Studio on your computer. Then, follow these simple instructions:

You will now see your device's screen being streamed on OBS Studio. If you're subscribed to Visor Pro, you can even click on the Full-Screen icon to remove the unsightly borders of the screen.

You can also install the camera plugin from the Vysor app on your PC. This would allow you to add Vysor as a Video Capture Device for OBS Studio, thus allowing you to stream your screen directly to the app. However, it often runs into issues, like being unable to detect your phone. If that happens, the Window Capture method is a more stable option.

Related: What Are the Best OBS Settings for Single PC Streaming?

Stream On, Game On

Using Vysor to stream your phone's screen to your PC allows you to add effects, overlays, and even a camera view to show your face to your followers while streaming. Furthermore, you can stream multiple devices simultaneously, allowing you and a friend to stream your phone screens together while you're playing.

With Vysor, you can start streaming mobile gaming content and more on your channel. You don't need a capture card or other hardware; all you need is your phone's data cable to connect to your PC. Now, go ahead and share your awesome kill streaks on your mobile games with the world.

Jowi is a writer, a career coach, and a pilot. He developed a love for anything PC ever since his father bought a desktop computer when he was 5 years old. From then on, he has been using and maximizing technology in every aspect of his life.

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