Over a year ago in this forum, I started a thread about the Twonky Beam app and why I liked using it with my mobile devices to “beam” media from and to my DLNA devices, e.g. WDTV, Roku, and to my tablet. Other people chimed in who liked it too, and we had a nice conversation going. (To familarize yourself with the app or for a refresher, see this link: http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Live-Plus/Twonky-Beam-app-is-awesome-for-WDTV-Roku-etc/m-p/549080
Unfortunately, Twonky came out with an entirely different version of it after a while, they completely hosed it; it didn’t work well at all, (and the company had recently been bought) so a few months later they completely removed it from the Apple and Google and Kindle app stores.
Nevertheless, Twonky left a wonderful remnant: a custom version of Twonky Beam they created for the Belkin Company called MediaPlay. MediaPlay ( v3.4.4-39) was exactly like one of the last well-working versions of Twonky Beam with one exception: it has a built-in link to the Belkin website, which could easily be ignored. (The last “good” version of Twonky Beam was v3.4.6-48. I know, because I stll have this version on my iPad – I never upgraded to the bad ones!)
So, here we are today, with MediaPlay, and it still survives in the app stores. I accidentally ran across it the other day at the Apple app store. I never had looked for it there (since I had the old Twonky Beam) But, a few months ago I got an iPhone, and so I immediately installed MediaPlay on it when I “re-discovered it” and it works just like the old Twonky Beam. So, I also installed it on my iPad. The fact that MediaPlay is a Twonky Beam clone is not “news” since some of us had know this last year, but to be reminded that I could install it on my iPhone was good news for me.
So, if you miss the old Twonky Beam app and want it again, install the MediaPlay app. There is a version for the Android platform, too. Unfortunately, the Android MediaPlay app does not work correctly on a Kindle; I tried it way back when.
If you install it, be sure to go into it’s Settings and configure it for how you want it. Important. I noticed MediaPlay got some negative comments at the app store; obviously by folks who don’t quite understand how it all works and that the Settings are important.
What I particularly like about these two apps is that they can read and play playlists, and I have a lot of them for my music files on my network, and the app makes using playlists so-o-o-o convenient.
