AirView: iDevice To iDevice Or Computer To iDevice AirPlay Video Streaming

Apple's AirPlay technology has been widely advertised for its innovation of wirelessly streaming content on the fly from your iDevice or computer to a 2G Apple TV. While users have been thrilled with this free addition, some have been disappointed with the limitations. Today, one of those limitations has been removed, thanks to an iOS developer. Clément Vasseur's new app, AirView, allows an iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to receive an AirPlay video stream from either another iDevice or from iTunes 10. Download AirView to any or all of your iDevices to begin. In order to have an iDevice appear as an AirPlay option, AirView must be the active app, it can't simply be running in the background. AirPlay is an automatic discovery system, so your devices will just find each other automatically, just give them a few seconds to do it. Also, the AirPlay option will only be available if you have at least one AirPlay capable receiving device on your local network. Using AirPlay is simple. When watching a video in iTunes or using a compatible iOS app (YouTube, Videos, iPod, etc), tap on the AirPlay icon to select a new device. The AirPlay icon is the same as that used for the AirView app. You can also check out Apple's "Using AirPlay" article for basic instructions and troubleshooting steps.

At this time, AirView does have its own limitations. The app can only receive video AirPlay streams, it doesn't do photos or audio. Will this be added? No mention of audio, but the app description notes that photo streaming isn't available "yet." Whether a bug or just a limitation for third party iOS apps, AirView didn't seem to resume when switching devices but rather just started play from the beginning, at least in my tests. AirView is a universal app compatible with iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, 2G iPod touch, 3G iPod touch, and 4G iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or later. AirPlay from your Mac or Windows PC requires iTunes 10.1 or later. You can download AirView in the App Store now for absolutely free. [gallery link="file"]

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