What is Air PlayIt?
Air PlayIt is a free app for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch which you to stream video and audio libraries to the devices via Wi-Fi and 3G/4G networks. You will be able to stream music & movies right from your PC or Mac to your mobile devices. You are not required to worry about any conversion processes as the application is capable of live converting the files! The app offers access to video and music collections stored on both yours and your friends’ computers on the go, even miles away from where you live!
Setting up of the server (on PC/Mac) as well as the client (on iOS device) is simple and straight-forward. Though the app works on 3G, considering the exorbitant costs, it might be wiser to set it up on Wi-Fi. If both the server and client are on common WiFi connection, the setup is even simpler. Just launch the server application and choose the folders you want to share with the client. On your mobile device, you will be able to see the server automatically listed under Local servers. Just select it to access the shared folders and choose the file you like to stream! Setting up a remote connect is also simple if you are aware of port-forwarding (similar to what you do for torrent clients). Else, there is a detailed guide available to help you out.
Key features of Air PlayIt
Automated server discovery on local network by Bonjour Service. Adds remote server by specifying IP address. Supports streaming all 1080P/1080i HD videos, such as MKV, M2TS, AVCHD, TP, MPEG-TS, AVC and MOD. Supports regular videos including MPEG1/2, WMV, ASF, AVI, MOV, RM/RMBV, FLV, MP4, H.264, M4V, WTV, WebM. Supports multi-audio tracks video and let you choose any language in the video file. Adjusts video/audio quality and resolution for each video individually. Chooses and adjusts default video/audio quality, resolution and FPS for different network connection type including local WiFi, remote WiFi, 3G and 4G to get the highest video viewing effect. Automatically lists the recent played videos and remember the last play point for each video. Downloads all compatible Audios videos to Download Library inside iPhone or iPad. Setup permissions to the shared folders. Three permission levels are available: Admin, Kids and Public. Resumes downloading at breaking-point. If you already started downloading the video, Air Playit can remember and lets you choose whether to download from where you left off, or to start over. Option to remotely power off your home computer after finishing watching.
Air PlayIt vs Air Video
Air PlayIt isn’t the first media streaming app we have seen. Air Video has been one of the most successful apps on the Apple App store, but it is not free. It does have a lite version which hardly has any usable feature. Air PlayIt comes with lots of features very similar to Air Video but also has the missing ones like Offline conversion & Playlist generation. Both the apps do a pretty good job at handling variety of media formats. Both of them rely on live conversion of media files for streaming, but I personally found that Air PlayIt handles live conversion better than Air Video. Air Video though, fares better when you skip a part of the video. One cool feature (other than offline conversion) which Air PlayIt has, is the Built-in HTTP server which can be used to access media files via any web browser! The app is available for free supposedly till August 15th. Android version of the app is coming soon which should be a great news for Fandroids as well! Grab it right now! Download Air PlayIt app for iPad Download Air PlayIt app for iPhone
