The projection mapping app for iPhone and iPad

No. A projector pushes very bright light through a lens that focuses a picture on a wall meters away. A phone screen is only bright enough to read at arm's length, and software can't add a lamp or a lens. The "projector apps" in the App Store either draw a fake beam on your screen or mirror your screen to a projector or TV you already own.

So the setup is always the same: a projector, even a small one, plus a cable or a wireless connection from your iPhone or iPad. Lazy Lighting decides what goes on the wall and where. Disclosure: we make Lazy Lighting.

Projection mapping fits a projector's image to real surfaces: you outline a window, a door or a box on your screen, and the visuals land only there. Your iPhone keeps the controls while the projector shows only the projection.

• Shapes: Square, circle, text and freehand outline. Drag corners, bend edges into curves, add points and snap corners together.
• 3D objects: Cube fits the visible faces of a box in one go. Box maps a box or room seen from the inside, five faces at once.
• Masks: Show a visual only inside a shape, or cut a shape out of it. Turn on Enable Mask Mode in Play Settings first.
• Your own media: Import videos and photos from your library.
• Shows: Build scenes and switch between them live, or line them up on a timeline with fades and an audio track.
• iPad: Everything works the same on iPad, with more room to drag corners.

There are three ways. A cable gives the best picture and the least delay; AirPlay and Lazy Lighting Link are wireless. In the app, tap Connect Your Projector on Home, then Wired or Wireless. Lazy Lighting drives one projector at a time.

1. 1

   Check your port. iPhone 15 and later and USB-C iPads have USB-C. iPhone 14 and earlier, every iPhone SE and older iPads have Lightning. Not every USB-C iPhone sends video over its port, so check your model's tech specs if nothing appears.

2. 2

   Get the right adapter. A USB-C to HDMI adapter or cable for USB-C models, or Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter for Lightning models. Plain charging cables carry no video.

3. 3

   Plug in. Connect the adapter to your iPhone, run an HDMI cable to the projector and switch the projector to that HDMI input.

4. 4

   Open Lazy Lighting. It connects on its own: Home shows Projector Connected with the detected resolution, and the projector shows the Lazy Lighting logo on black.

AirPlay works with an Apple TV plugged into the projector, or with a projector or TV that has AirPlay built in.

1. 1

   Join the same Wi-Fi. Put your iPhone and the Apple TV or projector on the same Wi-Fi network.

2. 2

   Open Control Center. Swipe down from the top-right corner and tap Screen Mirroring.

3. 3

   Pick the receiver. Choose your Apple TV or projector, and type the code if one appears on the wall.

4. 4

   Open Lazy Lighting. It detects the screen by itself and sends the projection to it.

Lazy Lighting Link is our receiver app for projectors and TVs that run Google TV or Android TV. If your projector has neither, plug a Chromecast with Google TV into its HDMI port and install Link on that.

1. 1

   Install Link on the projector. Open Google Play on the projector or Chromecast, search for Lazy Lighting Link and install it.

2. 2

   Join the same Wi-Fi. Put the projector and your iPhone on the same Wi-Fi network, then open Link and go to its Live Cast tab.

3. 3

   Find the projector. In Lazy Lighting, tap Connect Your Projector, then Wireless, and pick it under Available Projectors. Allow local network access when your iPhone asks, or the app can't find the TV.

4. 4

   Enter the PIN. Type the four-digit PIN the projector shows and tap Pair.

• An iPhone or iPad with iOS 17 or later.
• A projector with an HDMI input. To go wireless, it also needs AirPlay (or an Apple TV), or Google TV for Lazy Lighting Link.
• USB-C to HDMI adapter ↗ for iPhone 15 and later and USB-C iPads (affiliate link). It's the one we use.
• Apple Lightning Digital AV Adapter ↗ for Lightning iPhones and iPads (affiliate link).
• A tripod or a steady shelf. If the projector moves after mapping, every shape needs lining up again.

Brightness decides where a projector works. These are ANSI lumens, after dark. Projector links are affiliate links.

• Indoor objects or a window: 300+
• Wall in a dim room: 500–1,000
• Indoors with the lights on: 2,000+
• Garage door: 3,000+
• House front: 4,000+
• Nebula Capsule 3 Laser ↗ is our indoor pick for objects and windows. It runs Google TV, so it also works wirelessly with Lazy Lighting Link.
• XGIMI Horizon 20 Pro ↗ is our outdoor pick. It fills about 6.6 m (22 ft) wide, so on a large house, map the street-facing section.

Lazy Lighting comes with about 195 visuals: 66 generative shaders you can tweak, 119 video loops, and Draw and Shape Aware visuals that react to the shapes you've mapped.

• Halloween: → 45 scenes: jack-o'-lantern faces, ghosts, bats, a witch, dancing skeletons and window silhouettes. 3 are on the free plan.
• Christmas: → 30 scenes, from knitted-sweater patterns and snowfall to Santa's sleigh and a gingerbread parade. 4 are on the free plan.
• All year: Abstract, neon, synthwave and psychedelic shaders, VJ loops, 3D loops like smoke, lava and jellyfish, window scenes and eyes.
• Fake windows: → 4 window views, each with its own frame and sill, that turn a blank wall into a window: a snowy castle, an alpine valley, a beach sunset and a rainy city. The snowy castle is on the free plan.

Lazy Lighting is free to download. Pro is for shows you want to keep, export, leave running on a TV or set to music.

• Free plan: The mapping tools, masks and cutouts, scenes and timeline, video and photo imports, wireless Live Cast to Lazy Lighting Link, and about 20 visuals, including 3 Halloween and 4 Christmas scenes. The projector output carries a watermark.
• Pro: Every visual and effect, no watermark, project saving, audio-reactive visuals, BPM sync, MIDI controllers, LFOs, live camera input, photo-based shapes such as Shape Cutout and transparent PNGs, Send to TV, and video export in 720p, 1080p or 4K.
• Plans: Monthly, annual or lifetime. The monthly and annual plans start with a free trial, and the App Store shows the current price for your country.