by With AirPlay, you can connect your iOS device to your Apple TV and enjoy what’s happening on your little screen on a much larger HD television. But not all of us have an Apple TV. Some might even be using a Mac mini as a media center, and despite the fact that Apple makes Macs, it isn’t allowing us to display our iOS devices on them.
Thankfully, third-party developers saw an opportunity. X-Mirage is the latest app to offer this feature, and using it couldn’t be easier. Once installed on your Mac, the AirPlay function becomes accessible on your iOS device and you can use it to watch films on your Mac’s screen or let everyone enjoy the game you’re playing. Obviously, this offers great educational opportunities.
Any iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad currently on sale is compatible with AirPlay. Older models may allow you to watch a movie, but mirroring (whereby you can see whatever’s on your iOS device on your Mac), may not be available.
A Mac, having a much beefier central processing unit than an Apple TV, offers features that wouldn’t be available otherwise, like being able to connect multiple iOS devices to a single Mac. The process is incredibly simple: just connect your devices via AirPlay and they’ll all appear in a long row across your Mac’s screen. The more are displayed, the beefier your Mac will need to be in order to see them all in real time.
Since any iOS device can connect to any AirPlay-enabled Mac on the same network, it’s good that X-Mirage has the option to password-protect itself. That way, only the devices you allow will be able to connect. Another great feature is the ability to record your iOS screen: a big record button appears over the window as you mouse over it. You can record multiple screens at the same time, but again, this will seriously tax your Mac’s processor and lead to dropped frames if it isn’t powerful enough. But being able to record whatever action you perform on your iOS device is a fantastic addition for anyone wishing to create video tutorials.
The bottom line. If you’ve been looking for a way to display one or more iOS screens on your Mac, and record them all in real time, then X-Mirage will be a vital addition to your workflow. Since you can download a seven-day trial version to see if it meets your needs, you haven’t got anything to lose by taking it for a spin.
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