I’ll start off by explaining what DLNA actually is and what do you need to know about it. DLNA stands for “Digital Living Network Alliance” which is a group of organisations, including many consumer electronic manufacturers, that has created the standard enabling all DLNA devices to share media over a home network. From its creation, in 2003, DLNA has grown in popularity and now has more than 250 members that work constantly to insure interconnectability between products. Their goal is to unite all of your multimedia gadgets and to make them work together regardless of the restrictions they have (like manufacturer for example). To understand how DLNA works, you have to imagine that your computer running Windows 7 is a server that streams a video to your TV, which is a client, or recipient. The TV can be from any manufacturer and can play any type of media file, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab streaming to a DLNA compatible TV, or the Apple iPad streaming to any Apple system.
Top 10 DLNA Streaming Apps For iPhone
This is a system working with DLNA. Although Apple has, to some degree, DLNA enabled products, they are limited. Apple products stream to other products. This is the limitation we are trying to bypass. To do this, we result to a host of apps that allow you to stream from your iDevice (iPod, iPad, iPhone) to any other DLNA compatible device.
10. SmartStor Fusion
Stream audio files, videos and music. All the media files you have on your iPhone with this DLNA streaming app. The app’s interface is easy to use and it streams really nice. The only problem I could find was that it sometimes crashes. But apart from that, you will be pleased with it.
9. Media:connect
A host of file types you can stream, including SHOUTcast radio, High Definition video and FLAC audio. All with Media:Connect, a free app available in the iTunes Store for anyone who wants to stream to any DLNA enabled device. It has basic settings and is user-friendly, can be used by anyone from n00bs to geeks.
8. AirPlayer
This DLNA streaming app for iPhone can run just about any file type you can think of. And it does it pretty good. The only drawback is the fact that it does it in standard definition (not in HD). But if you can live with that, then you’ve got yourself a great DLNA streaming app. A HD version could be in works, so stay tuned.
7. MLPlayer
MLPlayer is better off as an audio DLNA because it can stream a host of audio formats. As for video, it does have support for H264 HQ video, but that’s about it. It streams with fairly good quality, both video and audio. It can also stream still images. Pitty, if they had support for more formats, it would have been a more complete app.
6. BUZZ Player
Reading about this DLNA streaming app bored me to hell. Really, it can play so many file formats on just about any type of network that was bored to death just seeing how cool it is. It plays with high fidelity HD video and great audio. I highly recommend this app if you are interested in a good DLNA streaming app.
5. 8player
Just take a look at this impressive list of supported types:
Video: mp4, mov, m4v, 3gp, avi, mkv, mpg, wmv, asf, flv, ogg, vob Audio: mp3, aac, wav, aif, alac, flac, wma Images: jpeg, png, gif, bmp, ico, tiff
4. DiXiM DMC
If you want to stream MPEG-4 format with high quality and great stability, then DiXim DMC is the player for you. It does the job great and it can also stream audio and still images. All you could ever need from a DLNA streaming app!
3. ConnectR
An aspect missed by many DLNA streaming apps is radio. And if you are a fan of radio, than ConnectR is a dream come true. It has a host of features and cam stream to any DLNA enabled device over 10000 internet radio stations.
2. Onkyo Remote
Music streaming and remote control for your A/V station, all in one. The best way to make more use of your iPhone if you are the lazy type. The app contains lots of features that let you control your A/V station from the coziness of your couch.
1. PlugPlayer
This app is all about streaming to anything with DLNA. It can even stream to another iDevice directly from the iCloud. If you are interested in getting a stable DLNA streaming app, I highly recommend PlugPlayer. These apps will let you stream media files from your Apple products pretty good. My only hope is that Apple will consider making their products more compatible with other devices from different manufacturers. After all, the last time they tried something like that, and here I’m talking about the decision to let Apple products run on Windows computers and not just Macs, it really worked out for them. Maybe in the future they will try doing that again.
