Printing from Mobile Devices

GEEK FREE
By Joe Callison
11 May 2019
(Archived)

Most people now use an Ethernet capable printer that is connected to their home network either by wire or wirelessly. There are several easy methods available to also print from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet to a printer when both are connected to the same home network. Even if you are using a USB only printer connected to a computer on the home network, your mobile device can still be set up to print to it as long as the computer and printer are on and available when you want to print. I just set up my Android phone to print to a USB printer connected to a desktop computer by using Google Cloud Print.

Laptops are typically configured to print wired or wirelessly through the home network. In the past, if phones and tablets were configured to print it was by using Wi-Fi Direct to printers that supported it, which is a separate wireless network directly between the mobile device and the printer without using the home network. Now there are also many apps available from mobile device and printer suppliers and other app developers that can provide printing capability. Some use wireless communication techniques and some make use of cloud storage access over the internet. Some printers even support having an email address that you can email documents to for printing. The following links provide information on some of the more common options available for various devices and printers.

Printing from Android and iOS Devices (Phones and Tablets)

~~https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6060-how-to-print-smartphone-tablet.html~~

https://www.ldproducts.com/blog/how-to-print-from-mobile-and-the-best-printers-for-mobile-printing/

Google Cloud Print for Android

~~https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.cloudprint&hl=en~~

https://www.howtogeek.com/165160/how-and-why-to-get-started-with-google-cloud-print/

Cloud-ready Printers

https://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/printers/

About Apple AirPrint and AirPrint-Enabled Printers

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311

Print from iOS

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201387