Trying to pinpoint a good iOS video player that I can use to stream videos from My Cloud to iPhone. The WD app doesn’t work for AVI, unfortunately, and “PlayerXtreme” is crashing every time I try to use it…VLC Media Player meanwhile seems to only be capable of connecting to the My Cloud while my laptop is powered on.
Is there a video app that can connect to My Cloud, independent of a laptop, and play multiple file formats? Bonus points if it works remotely, though my understanding is that only the WD My Cloud app can work while away from your home network.
No problem. All I did was download an app called “VLCStreamer”. When I opened it for the first time it seemed to be perpetually scanning for “visible computers” until I downloaded the VLC Streamer app on my computer…I guess this is so the phone and laptop can talk to one another?
It should be noted that there are, in general, three ways to play or stream content from the My Cloud. There are other methods but these three are the main basic methods.
Use the WD apps/software or the iTunes app. Downside is they may not support all media formats. In the case of iTunes it will only stream music from the My Cloud embedded iTunes media server.
Use a DLNA client program, software or app. Using a DLNA client on a mobile device will allow one to stream supported media from the Twonky media server embedded within the My Cloud. In certain cases DLNA client relies on the default media player within the mobile device. For example when using BubbleUPnP on a mobile device it will use a third party app to open video files streamed from the My Cloud via DLNA.
Use a media program or file manager program/app that supports accessing the My Cloud at the file level (via SMB/Samba or the like). For example using ES File Explorer one can access the My Cloud and open files, at which point the program may use a third party program to play the media file.
Great! I just tried that VLC app and it seems to be exactly what I need. When I open it I get a screen that says “empty media library”, after which I click local network, browse my way to the my cloud and then select my videos from there. Plays perfectly.
Is there a way to set up this app so the my cloud/my video folders appear upon startup? If not then no biggie, I can manually dig for them each time, though if there were a way to cut out a few steps that would be great.
Thanks!
PS: Am I to understand this will only work when I’m on my local network at home?
Generally yes, it will only be for local network access. Unless you setup a VPN connection to you local network, or do some form of SSH or WebDAV access or use the insecure FTP access; one is forced to use the WD apps/software or MyCloud.com web portal to access the My Cloud from a remote location.
You can use VLC Player as a video player for your Cloud. Follow the procedure given below set it up.
1 Connect the 3TB MyCloud, WD TV Live and Apple TV 4 via Ethernet to a Modem/Router. If you want wireless streaming to mobility devices(iphones/ipads/MacBooks) then the Modem/Router should also supports 2.4G/5G Wireless.
2 Currently I have a 3TB HDD USB connected to my WD TV Live. The reason is that 80% of viewing is done on TV connected to the WD TV Live. Given the WD TV Live media player supports Windows (SMB/CIFS), Mac (AFP), and Linux (NFS) network shares I am able to stream files from the WD TV USB connected 3TB HDD to Android, iOS, OS X & W7 devices. However there are some issues with SMB on W10 and OS X 10.11.5 (If you don’t update, Download the latest version from Vshare Mac store and update it.).
I don’t have an Apple TV 4, but it should be possible to stream from the MyCloud and WD TV Live to the Apple TV 4.
I would take the view that the WD TV’s strength is playing local content stored on my HDD, but limited third-party app support. While the Apple TV’s strength is the large range of external content and the large range of third-party App support. Hence I would still need both boxes, unless proven otherwise.
