Use StreamToMe to stream your media from macOS to iOS
- Fariha Khan
- October 17, 2016
- 536
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What is StreamToMe?
StreamToMe is a great app which requires an iOS client as well as a macOS or Windows PC to perform the server-side "ServeToMe." The PC-side of the app carries out most of the heavy lifting, with the iOS version slightly more than a network customer, and a player app with simple controls. On the Mac, you need to open ServeToMe and add a source. Then you have to press start server. A source may include the entire drive. Remember that only the qualifying media files will be seen in the listings of the server.
Customization
You can customize all settings and can also restrict access to certain users on the network only. Additionally, you can also change the networking port number, and configure it to be available outside of a local network as well.
On the iOS app, the name of your computer with ServeToMe will be seen. You need to press that and then tap your way through the sources you have added till you come across the TIFF or Photos image, stored audio from any source, or non-DRM protected movie and pick it. Your chosen content will display almost instantly. You can scrub through the video instantly too.
Under the hood
ServeToMe on the computer carries out conversion or decoding on-the-fly that is required while Stream to Me works as the player. You can AirPlay from Stream to Me to other devices such as your Apple TV of MI Box, or connect the iOS device to a projector with various cabling through VGA, DVI, or HDMI.
Technical Specifications
StreamToMe has full support for PCM, MP3, AC3, AAC, WMA9, MPEG1, MPEG4, H.263, H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), WMV9, DivX, VP6, VP-8, VC-1, MJPEG, Theora, Vorbis and Xvid codecs. Its stream minus transcoding if probable.
Besides, there are other options to playing back personal media on a storage-constrained device, such as the Plex, and several others. Stream to Me makes the best option as it is a one-stop shop for almost all media formats. It is also superfast, very easy to set up.
The ServeToMe server component, to transcode to 720p it needs OS X 10.5 or greater, on Core 2 Duo hardware running at 2.2GHz or faster. Any speed i3, i5, Xeon, or i7 CPU will work too. Windows hardware requirements are also same but Atom-class CPUs do not work.
Price
StreamToMe is available at $3 on the iOS App Store with no in-app purchases. It needs iOS 8 but it is possible to download older versions with purchase.