How To: Stream Video to iPad From Network Drive Without a Computer
Posted in: apps, ipad, Media Players, nas, streaming, Today's Chili, video
The innocuously-named FileBrowser is an iPad app which lets you access files on your computer over the local network or the internet. This is a function shared by roughly one zillion other apps in the store. What makes FileBrowser different is that it can access network-attached storage (NAS), letting you stream video and music to your iPad from a Time Capsule or other network drive without switching on a computer.
The app will connect to Macs, Windows PCs and NAS devices via SMB sharing. There is some setup involved, but the app comes loaded with PDFs which walk you through step-by-step. I grabbed it so I could stream files from a hard-drive hooked up to my Time Capsule, a feature added in the latest version of the app. It was easy.
All you need to do is give FileBrowser the name of the Time Capsule (or Airport Extreme base station), along with your user name and password. That’s it. Over an 802.11n connection you can drill down into the internal and external drives as fast as if they were local storage, and clicking on a compatible video file will play it right there in the app, with the standard media-control buttons.
The trick is that the movie files need to be in the right format. If it would sync to the iPad via iTunes and play in the “Videos” app, then you’re good to go. This means you’ll have to convert movies before using this solution: If you want to stream and convert movies on the fly, you’ll still need a computer running something like the excellent Air Video.
However, if you have a movie-playing app like CineXPlayer installed, you can choose to open AVI and other movie formats with that instead. These don’t stream, though: FileBrowser downloads them first.
FileBrowser will also work with any file that iOS can recognize, and can hand those files off to other apps. It costs $3, which is $3 you’ll save in weeks by keeping your computer switched off.
FileBrowser app page [iTunes]
See Also:
- How To: Watch Any Video on iPad, No Conversion Required
- Free App Plays AVI Movies on iPad
- Hands-On With VLC Movie Player for iPad
- Hands-On with Air Video, Stream Video to iPad, iPhone
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