I though I’d update my iPhone DLNA Players roundup.
I’m a fan of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) because of its promise of using standards-based technology to make it easier for consumers to use, share and enjoy their digital photos, music and videos. When I got my Buffalo Linkstation, I started streaming movies and music from it to the Playstation 3. But I had to stay in front of the TV.
When I got the iPhone 4 and later the iPad, I got media players that I can use anywhere in the house. I was lucky enough to be able to get VLC from the App Store while it was available. However, it meant copying files using iTunes to the iPhone. Somewhat, archaic to say the least and definitely a far cry from what’s possible with DLNA. So I went around searching for a DLNA player. Here is the result of my research.
BUZZ Player – $1.99 (limited time sale); Video: many; Audio: many. Notes: Plays many formats as it apparently has its own codecs. But best playback is still for device-supported formats. Aside from DLNA, has support for SMB, FTP, etc. You can also download files for offline viewing. To me this is the best all around player currently available.
(Pics coming soon)
8player – $4.99; Video: MP4, MOV, M4V, 3GP, AVI, MKV, MPG, WMV, ASF, FLV, OGG, VOB; Audio: AAC, MP3, WAV, AIF, ALAC; Photos: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, ICO, TIFF; Notes: Plays many formats as it apparently has its own codecs. But best playback is still for device-supported formats (SD and 720p HD on either iPhone or iPad). You can also download files for offline viewing. It has a rather unconventional user interface.
AirPlayer – $4.99; no lite/free version; Video: XVID, AVI, RMVB, MKV, MOV, MP4, M4V, etc.; Audio: AAC, MP3, WMA, OGG. etc.; Photos: JPG, PNG; Notes: Plays many formats as it apparently has its own codecs. For better performance, there’s a setting for using Quicktime for playback of device-supported formats.
I eventually bought this because of its large media format support. Standard-definition (SD) is watchable but high-definition (HD) is a disaster using internal codecs. Using Quicktime for playback, you can watch up to 720p HD on the iPad but not on the iPhone.
yxplayer2 – $4.99; Video: MPEG1/2/4, H264, DIVX/XVID, and WMV7/8/9.; Audio: MP3, AAC/AAC+, WMA, AC3 and PCM; Photos: JPG, PNG; Notes: Plays many formats as it apparently has its own codecs. Aside from DLNA, has support for SMB, FTP, etc.
GoodPlayer – $2.99; Video: many; Audio: many. Notes: Plays many formats as it apparently has its own codecs. But best playback is still for device-supported formats. Aside from DLNA, has support for SMB, FTP, etc. As there was no lite/free version. I wasn’t able to try this out.
(Sorry, no pics as I haven’t bought it)
MediaConnect – $7.99 (in-app store); Video: H264; Audio: AAC, MP3, Apple, AIFF, WAV, FLAC; Photos: JPG, PNG; Notes: Plays device-supported formats well but no support for other formats.
PlugPlayer – $4.99; no lite/free version; Video: MP4, MOV, MPV, 3GP; Audio: AIFF, AIFC, WAVE, CAF, NeXT, ADTS, MPEG Audio Layer 3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC; Photos: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF; Notes: As there was no lite/free version. I wasn’t able to try this out.
(Sorry, no pics as I haven’t bought it)