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I have a xbmc media center set up and wanted to play back movies from my android device. I had used BubbleUPnP before, which seems to work perfectly for music and streams, but it seems that I have to pay to use the video playback functionality. The same goes for the Yatse remote app. Is there a free UPnP android app out there I could use to do video playback?

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  • I have not tried one of the others (I'm using BubbleUPnP, but didn't fiddle with video yet), so I cannot say how well they work. However, what you need is an UPnP server (as you want to stream from your device). Be welcome to take a look at my list of DLNA / uPnP Server and Clients – there are several free candidates available. Though: If you're happy with BubbleUPnP, instead of investing much time to find an alternative, the ~USD 5 / EUR 3.50 for the license might be the "cheaper" and better approach :)
    – Izzy ♦
    Mar 21, 2015 at 14:02
  • @Izzy as i mentioned, bubbleupnp works perfect and is what i needed, but it only lets u play back video three times before you need to buy their licence :( well the cheaper alternative I use now is to move the video to the storage of the media center and play from there. It only takes a few minutes anyway, since i dont use this functionality very often
    – Peter Raeves
    Mar 21, 2015 at 14:09
  • @Izzy I tried ur website, but I get security warnings :(
    – Peter Raeves
    Mar 21, 2015 at 14:13
  • Uh... Self-signed certificate, yes. If that disturbs you, try with "http://" instead of "https://".
    – Izzy ♦
    Mar 21, 2015 at 15:10

2 Answers 2

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AirWire

  • Acts as DLNA server: streams local media (audio + video) to DLNA clients.
  • You can use the "Open With..." feature to stream files from other apps through AirWire.
  • Also streams media from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and Yandex.Disk.
  • Can also act as DLNA client.
    In other words, you can also stream media to your Android device as long as AirWire is running

How to stream to a DLNA client from AirWire

  1. Some preparations:
    • For XBMC/Kodi (henceforth Kodi): make sure that the device is turned on, that it's connected to the same network as your Android device, that Kodi is running, and that the "Allow control of Kodi via UPnP" option in Settings → Services → UPnP is turned on.
    • For other DLNA clients: make sure that the device is turned on, that it's connected to the same network as the Android device, and that it's able to receive DLNA streams
  2. Open AirWire and go to the "My Files" tab.
  3. Select the kind of media you want to stream, browse to the location of the file you want to stream, and tap on the file.
  4. Select an option (one of the first two if there already is a playlist, otherwise one of the latter two):
    • "Add to playlist": adds the file to the end of the current playlist.
    • "Add to playlist and start playing": adds the file to the beginning of the current playlist
    • "Create new playlist": creates new playlist and places file in the playlist
    • "Start playing in new playlist": basically the same as the previous option, not entirely sure what the difference is
  5. Wait until AirWire has finished searching for DLNA clients, then select the client you wish to stream to
  6. Et voilà, the file should start playing now. You can control playback through the app or through the DLNA client

How to stream from another app to a DLNA client through AirWire

The same as the previous section, but instead of step 2 and 3 follow these steps:

  1. Open the app which contains the media you want to stream (a file manager, for example) and browse to the location of the file
  2. Tap on the file you wish to stream, and select AirWire in the list of applications.
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  • 1
    My apologies for adding this answer a lot later than planned. I hope you don't mind, @PeterRaeves
    – nidunc
    Apr 12, 2015 at 19:05
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    Better late than never ;) Seems to be a pretty sweet app. Open with... is working and I can navigate with a navigation bar within the app. So +1! ^^
    – Peter Raeves
    Apr 12, 2015 at 20:48
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LocalCast

  • Streams local media (audio + video) to DLNA (so also XBMC1), AirPlay and Chromecast clients
  • Also has the ability to stream remote media (on Google Drive or Dropbox, for example)

  • , but with advertisements (at least you don't have to pay to stream videos)

    1. Enable the "Allow control of XBMC via UPnP" setting in Settings → Services → UPnP
    2. Start LocalCast on your Android device (after you've installed it)
    3. Tap on the orange "Cast" button in the bottom-right corner to select which device to stream to (in this case your computer with XBMC)
    4. Navigate to the file you want to stream, and select it
    5. Voilà, the file should now start playing in XBMC. You'll be able to control playback through XBMC or the LocalCast app

1: Starting with version 14 - codename "Helix" - XBMC has been renamed to Kodi.

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  • It seems like a promising app. I had really slow buffering and videos stopping early, but this might be the raspberry pi's fault. I'll give that some more time, before judging, but the main feature i'm missing is the open with... feature though. Is there a setting I can set to get this feature, or is it not included in the app?
    – Peter Raeves
    Mar 21, 2015 at 17:23
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    @PeterRaeves It looks like that feature is not included in LocalCast. There is another app which does offer this, however. I'll add an answer for it later today.
    – nidunc
    Mar 23, 2015 at 10:36

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