Tag Archives: stream

fixed : Google Chromecast-ing option not showing up

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I have some Chromecast devices (a Google Chromecast, a Google Nest Hub, a Google Home Mini, etc.) that I want to stream to from my iPhone. But even though te Apple AirPlay streaming option shows up, the Google Chromecast option only shows up in some of my iPhone apps and not in the other ones : in my case I can stream to Google Chromecast devices from the Spotify and Netflix iOS-apps, and not from Disney+, AmazonPrime and ZiggoGo…

What is wrong ? How can I solve this ?

Answer :

Even though AirPlay is always available on iOS/iPadOS and Apple AirPlay devices are automatically detected by default, the Google Chromecast option is turned off by default.

Since you can stream to some Chromecast-able devices and not to others, you seem to have turned on the option to do so per app individually. Yes, you need to switch on the Chromecast-ing option for each individual iOS/iPadOS-app…

To do so, do this :

  • make sure that your iPhone/iPad is connected to the the same WiFi network that the Chromecast-device(s) that you want to cast to is/are on
  • open the Settings.app in iOS/iPadOS
  • in the Settings page that opens, scroll down to Privacy (the blue icon with the white hand) and click on it
  • in the Privacy page that opens, click on Local Network (the blue icon with the white globe outline)
  • in the Local Network page that opens, scroll down to the app(s) that you need and set it’s slider to ON (slide to right will make the slider green and turn the option ON)
    • your apps are now able to discover the Chromecast devices that are on the same WiFi network
  • now, turn on the app that you want to stream from and the Chromecast-icon should appear (note that in most cases the AirPlay-icon will immediately appear and the Chromecast-icon will be added with a slight delay)
  • then start the video (or audio) you want to play and click on the Chromecast-icon to select the Chromecast-able device you want to stream to

…that’s it !

enjoy 😉

Advertisement

info : streaming just one DVD to 2 iPads at the same time

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I would like to watch a DVD on my iPad (without having to convert the DVD), but… as I have 2 children, I would even prefer to enable them to both have their own iPad/iPhone and watch the same DVD.

Is there any solution to do so ?

Answer :

This can be done by steaming a DVD to your iPhone/iPad. There are several options to do so, but one of the most interesting ones I’ve found requires a WiFi DVD player.

The smallest WiFi DVD player I’ve found is the Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW :

Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW

(The SE-208BW has several intended uses, it can be a WiFi-router, or a DVD-burner for netbooks, or a wireless DVD streamer, media streamer or 1-click back-up for iOS or Android devices, for instance…)

To use it with an iOS (or Android) device like an iPhone or iPad, you will also need the FREE SmartHub app :

https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/mobile-smarthub/id483986474?mt=8

– plug the SE-208BW into the wall power

– open the DVD-tray by pressing the small button on the front

– put in a movie-DVD

– close the DVD-tray

– on your iPhone/iPad, go to Settings, then in Wi-Fi, find the SE-208BW’s WiFi-network and connect to it (note : the name and password of the WiFi-network are indicated on the bottom of the SE-208BW, the name of the WiFi-network will be something like “208BWxxxx”)

– open the SmartHub-app (*)

– if you get a “Turn on WiFi first” connection error (or if the two rings in the WiFi-icon top-right are not chained), just exit the app, go to Settings and reconnect to the SmartHub’s WiFi-network

– then click on the green rectangle marked “DVD Player”

– now the “DVD Server List” opens ; the screen will be mainly black at first and then show the “Smart Hub Server”

– then open the SmartHub-app on your second iPhone/iPad also, click the green “DVD Player” rectangle, and wait for the “Smart Hub Server” to appear in the “DVD Server List”

– then click “OK” on both the first and the second iPhone/iPad, and the DVD will start on both iDevices

…that’s it : you are now watching the DVD movie on both iPhones/iPads

Donate Button (MacManusNL)

note : even though you are watching one-and-the-same DVD on two ‘screens’ at the same time, they are NOT synchronous, so it’s best these things in mind :

– use headphones on both iPhones/iPads

– you have to pause the movie on each ‘screen’ (iPhone/iPad) separately

– using the FastForward and/or Reverse options during playback of a movie on both ‘screens’ will usually cause interference (like frame-scipping, unexpected halts or viewing quality decrease) on the other ‘screen’

(*) if you need to do any additional set-up on the SE-208BW you can do so from within the iOS-app

NOTE :

streaming only one DVD to 2 iPhones/iPads at the same time using the Samsung SmartHub tends to work okay, but chances you’ll see ‘halts to cache’ are rather high… so do not expect as flawless movie-viewing as you can get with a ‘regular’ (non-streaming, but wired) DVD-player

FYI :

I have found only one car adapter for the Optical SmartHub. More info can be found here :

5V 4A car adapter for Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW