Reflector 2
Get your iOS and Android device displays mirrored on your Mac’s screen
$14.99 (about £10) Developer Squirrels, LLC, airsquirrels.com/reflector Requires OS X 10.7.5 or higher, a supported iOS or Android device, a local network connection for AirPlay or Google Cast mirroring Reflector bills itself as “the last receiver you’ll ever need”, and its developers have a point. Along with enabling real-time mirroring of iPhone and iPad displays, it does the same with Google Cast-compatible Android devices. We quickly got four devices (iPad Air, iPhone 5s, Nexus 4 and Hudl 2) working simultaneously, making our Mac look like it had a serious identity problem.
By default, connected devices are surrounded by a ‘frame’ representing their hardware, which differentiates mirrored content. Reflector rescales virtual devices, so all can be shown at once, but annoyingly overlays other apps. These settings can be adjusted in the app’s preferences, or by using contextual menus.
Otherwise, a single device can be ‘emphasised’, shrinking others, or the menu extra can be used to show/ hide specific items. The full-screen mode is less impressive. It’s accessed in the app’s preferences and displays all devices rather than just one.
Performance was great during review, with little or no lag, even when playing games. Streaming content was problematic. Apple’s apps were fine, but getting content across from certain broadcast media apps seemed impossible.
Reflector can record any device and add a voiceover from a mic input. Output was mostly fine during testing, bar the odd dropped frame, but it’s disappointing that videos are restricted to TV-oriented outputs. Native iPhone or iPad resolution would have been nice, rather than the likes of 1080p in landscape, and ‘portrait’ videos being largely black background. Still, overall ease of use makes this one of our favourite device receivers. Craig Grannell