Audio And Video Streaming To Android Or iPhone / iPad

Audio and video streaming apps for phones and tablets let you connect your mobile device with the music and/or video libraries on your computer – so you can listen and watch your media from anywhere.

Air Playit is one of the best streaming apps – and it’s free. Air Playit is streaming software designed to stream video and audio to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices.

Note: you must install the free Air Playit Server software on your Windows or Mac computer as well as the app on your mobile device. The computer must be turned on for you to be able to stream live from it.

Features

  • Totally free – free server software and free apps
  • On the fly conversion – play videos in any format on your mobile device. Watch MKV, AVI, WMV and DRM encrypted videos immediately without doing any lengthy converting of these files beforehand
  • No need to synch – download compatible audio and video to your mobile device over air. Media is stored in the Download Library inside Air Playit so you can enjoy videos and music offline later instead of using up precious bandwidth
  • Apple TV-Out Support – stream video and music to TV via iPhone or iPad
  • Stream over local WiFi, remote WiFi, 3G and 4G. You can also add remote server by specifying IP address so you can access your video and music libraries anywhere via the internet
  • Supports playing DRM protected videos downloaded from iTunes Store
  • Option to remotely power off your computer after you have finished streaming
  • Able to stream 320 different video and audio formats:

HD videos – 1080P/1080i HD – MKV, M2TS, AVCHD, TP, MPEG-TS, AVC and MOD etc
Standard videos – MPEG1/2, WMV, ASF, AVI, MOV, RM/RMBV, FLV, MP4, H.264, M4V, WTV, WebM etc
Audio – MP3, AAC, AIFF, WAV audio formats and lossless music formats such as FLAC etc

Download Air Playit

Server software here – Windows and Mac editions available. For a guide to how to stream with Air Playit see their tutorial. iPhone and iPod Touch app from iTunes store here

iPad app from iTunes store here.

air playit

Other Streaming Apps

Plex

Apps available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7. Server editions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Streams video, audio and photo libraries but will not play DRM protected media.

Costs $5 for each app which could add up if you have several mobile devices you wish to stream to.

Air Video – iOS only

App available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch only. Server editions for Mac and Windows (must have iTunes or Bonjour installed).

Streams video libraries (not audio) and will not play DRM protected videos.

Costs $2.99 for each app

Subsonic Media Streamer

Primarily aimed at music streaming rather than video. Apps available for Android (free), iOS (various, up to $4.99), Windows Phone 7 ($3.99) and Blackberry Playbook ($2.99).

Server editions for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Note that the server software costs $15 for a lifetime license – required after the 1 month free trial ends if you want to use the apps to stream. This is mentioned on the Android app page (not on all the other third party apps) and is referred to within a ‘Donate’ section on the Subsonic website.

Personally I find this a little misleading – a donate button is fine for showing your appreciation (there is one here at TechLogon) but it should be completely voluntary. I don’t believe it’s appropriate for buying ‘premium’ features like using apps and streaming videos – the main reasons most people would install this server software in the first place…

Streams video and music libraries (unable to find info on DRM content).

Conclusion

Air Playit is a great free way to stream videos and music to your iOS device wherever you are.

On the fly conversion and file format support are excellent and it is able to play DRM protected content which the others can’t.