DJing off a Smartphone: Everything You Need to Know

DJing with your smartphone is a lot of fun, it’s an obvious method if you don’t want to spend too much money on fancy DJ equipment.

Can you DJ with your smartphone?

It’s possible to DJ using a smartphone that has DJ software installed onto it. DJ and mix music using the smartphone itself, or connect a DJ controller to have greater control using functions, faders and buttons available on a DJ controller e.g. Pioneer DDJ-200.

In this article you’ll gain the knowledge to get DJing quickly using a DJ App on your smartphone or connected to a DJ controller. This is a great article for your beginner DJs looking for software to start DJing with.

Smartphone DJ Apps

There are a lot of Apps to DJ with and mix music on your phone. Whether it be Android or iOS that you’re using, there are a lot popular DJ Apps available on both versions.

The below table highlights some of the top DJ apps that I’ve personally used or stumbled across which I thought had any quality.

The great thing about DJ apps is that they’re easy and affordable to use on your phone. Which means if you end up not liking DJing, you’ve not wasted a load of money on DJ equipment.

Music streaming services are integrated into quite a few of the newer versions now, meaning for those SoundCloud users you can access their music database and start mixing music within minutes.

DJ equipment compatibility is big part to consider when downloading some of these DJ apps. Using them can give you confidence that if you like DJing and want to migrate to using a DJ controller, e.g. DDJ-200 with DJAY, then you can without having to re-learn a new DJ software.

Click the links below to get downloading a DJ app and start mixing it up on your phone.

App Name	OS Compatibility	Streaming Service
Algoriddim DJAY	iOS / Android	TIDAL, SoundCloud GO+
WEDJ	iOS / Android	Beatport LINK, SoundCloud Go+
Cross DJ	iOS / Android	SoundCloud GO+
DJ Player Pro	iOS	N/A
Mixxx	iOS / Windows	N/A

Connecting smartphones to DJ controllers

For you guys out there that have DJ Controllers, sometimes you can use it with a smartphone.

Let’s use the DJ Controller by Pioneer, the DDJ-200, in this example.

What you’ll need:

DJ Software (e.g. WEDJ)
Smartphone (e.g. iPhone)
Lightning bolt to mini-jack adaptor (e.g. if you’ve got a iPhone) OR USB C to mini-jack adaptor (e.g. Samsung phone)
DJ Controller (e.g. Pioneer DDJ-200)
Splitter Cable
USB power cable
Speaker(s)
Headphones

Click here for Beatmatch Guru’s recommended DJ Equipment, mostly TRIED & TESTED, FYI.

Step 1) WEDJ comes with the Pioneer DDJ-200, and in this instance is FREE. Great! Install that onto your mobile phone and then you’re ready to go.

Step 2) Remember, WEDJ connects to music streaming streaming platforms Beatport & Soundcloud GO+ (Check here on the Pioneer website, as music platform compatibility does change overtime as software and user demands change).

Step 3) Connecting the cables. You’ll now need to first connect an adaptor to the output of your smartphone. Say for example you have an iPhone, then connect a Lightning Bolt to Mini-Jack (3.5mm).

At the end of the adaptor connect a splitter cable. You need to have a splitter cable in order to connect to both speaker and headphones.

TIP: When buying a Pioneer DDJ-200 for example, the cable is included. – See here USA / UK for more info on the DDJ-200.

Step 4) Connect headphones & speaker to the splitter cable. You’ll be able to hear music from the speaker and also be able to listen in your headphones.

TIP: Listening in your headphones enables you to CUE up a music track, ready to beat match tempo of two tracks and then transition from one track to another using the crossfader or channel faders.

Step 5) Connect power supply, using the USB cable. The other end of the cable connects to 240 power supply which powers the Pioneer DDJ-200. You can use a USB compatible plug that has a USB port, for example UK USB Plug or USA USB Plug.

Step 6) Click ‘CONNECT’ on the WEDJ app to allow for your phone to properly connect to your DDJ-200. If the phone and the controller aren’t linked then the MIDI light will be flashing, if you’ve connected the phone via WEDJ correctly the MIDI light is ON consistently. Meaning you’re able to DJ now. Load some music and start DJing.

Smartphone Apps that DJ for you

There are Apps out there that do all the mixing for you. So if you want to host a party and still mingle with your guests and not just be the DJ for the night, then this is a good solution or at least good consideration for you.

One of the ones that sticks out to me is DJAY by Algoriddim. It has a cool feature called Automix AI, which uses AI to figure out the rhythm and tempo of two tracks, and also seeks to transition between the two songs. Check out the website below.

https://www.algoriddim.com/djay-android

Here are a couple more DJ Apps that you can consider testing out on your phone to auto mix music.

Virtual DJ
Cross DJ

Using a phone as a music source (connect to a DJ mixer / controller)

It’s easy and actually quite an obvious thing to do, but I don’t know many DJs that use their phone to connect to the DJ equipment.

The way to connect

Step 1) Connect an adaptor to your phone. Make sure it’s compatible with the output of your particular model of phone. And make sure the phone adaptor converts to mini-jack 3.5mm.

Step 2) Connect a cable to the phone adaptor. The cable needs to be mini-jack to a compatible INPUT into your mixer or DJ controller.

Step 3) Connect other end of cable from phone to your DJ mixer or controller. Usually a mixer is RCA (Phono), but you might have a 1/4″inch Jack (for example to a microphone input, such as the Pioneer DDJ-400). Amazon is great for finding cables and even adaptors too, if you can’t find the correct cable.

Step 4) Load music on a DJ software App on your phone, or load a music streaming platform to play music. Ideally music via a DJ App from your phone to give you that control of tempo for example.

Step 5) Switch phone to Airplane mode. Otherwise you’re going to get a tonne of updates popping up on your phone making noises through your DJ equipment.

The benefits

Source of music if you need to fix technical issues with your proper DJ equipment.
Requests! Yes, the dreaded requests from people. You can search for tracks on your DJ software, music streaming platform or Spotify and keep everyone happy at the gig you’re playing.
DJ mixes. You could even consider playing a DJ mix from your phone via your DJ equipment (e.g. DJ mixer or controller) and have a break at the party your playing e.g. a house party.

Phone DJ App as a Sampler

Have you ever heard a DJ mix by DJ Khaled? Well if you haven’t then his mixes are stomped on with with sound bites of his name, “DJ Khaled”.

These are called DJ Drops or samples. They help to add a certain something extra to your DJ mixes, it’s almost a sort of branding to your mixes to promote you DJ name.

Connecting a phone to your DJ equipment also allows you to use a DJ App to become a DJ sampler.

This allows you to trigger sound samples throughout your DJ set. You can do this in either a live setting or when recording a DJ set at home.