Mobile means access on the go. Be it data, files or media. But this ‘on the go’ part works well for things like documents and spreadsheets. Even Dropbox will soon let you create and manage office documents. That’s fine, but when it comes to music and video, the story is a bit different, especially when you’re trying to stream content to your mobile device.
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These typical services offer smartphone apps that make it easy for users to access documents on the go. However, media files are not handled smoothly by these apps, so transferring music, videos and pictures to the phone is not ideal. Let’s say you don’t even have a good player for media management.
AirStream is a brand new app on the Play Store that fills the void and allows users to stream music and media from both cloud services and personal computers. Let me show you how you can use this simple app and stream media to your mobile device like never before.
AirStream for cloud service
To get started, download and install the AirStream app on your Android. While you configure the application, it will ask you to choose the cloud storage account that you use. The three services currently supported are Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. You can select all of them and continue. You’ll only be asked to authenticate yourself to any of these cloud drives when accessing them for the first time.
Let’s look at the cloud features first, when you sign in to any of them, you’ll be able to browse through all the files you’ve stored in your cloud account. Now to play files just tap on any file and the app will turn into a full-fledged music player. For videos and images, you’ll see their respective viewers so you can stream seamlessly on your Android device. Just make sure you’re connected to an unlimited internet, Wi-Fi or 3G connection when streaming media.
Stream from local computer
Cloud streaming is cool, but what interests me most is the local media streaming server it creates on your computer. An additional application, available for Windows, Mac and Linux systems, needs to be installed on the computer to create the server. After installing the app, you can choose to create an account and sign in for secure file sharing.
After you set up the program, you will see an IP address in the tray icon. This is the one you should connect to using the AirStream app for Android. Your phone will be able to scan your computer if you are connected to the same account and will prompt you to enter the computer name as one of the available servers. Now just tap on it and establish a connection.
Unlike other file streaming tricks and apps, AirStream gives access to all the drives and files you have on your PC, so you don’t have to manually select every folder and share. But if you want to blacklist some files and apps, you can add it to the block using the calculator app. A helpful idea is to mark your frequently accessed folders as favorites so you don’t have to navigate back when you connect next time.
Note: If you don’t see a server during the automatic scan, get your computer’s IP and connect to it manually using the option from the three-dot menu.
This app is supported by ads, but no limitations are imposed, nor does it require you to purchase the paid version. However, if you want to support the developers, you can buy the pro version for $1.99 and without ads.
Conclusion
The application is extremely easy to use and requires minimal configuration on the part of the user. I see this as a potential app to turn your old Android devices into a media streamer, one of the cool things you can use your old Android smartphone with. Feel free to comment if you need any help with the app or if you just want to connect with me.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
