I’ve been looking around for a iPhone application that will allow me to use my iPhone to control WDTV. Basically, I found it much easier choosing movies, songs, etc from the iPhone compared to navigating with the remote control.
Well… I didn’t really find what I was after so me and my friend decided to develop one on our own. For now, it’s just for iPhone as we are both proud owners of iPhone and WDTV…
The application browses your network UPnP devices (not locally attached storage, Samba or NTFS) and allows you to play Videos, Music, Photos, or even SHOUTcasrt Radio!
Feature requests, feedbacks, etc are most welcome!. It is already available on the AppStore.I’ll be uploading more screenshots of the app to the site shortly.
Do you keep your dvd rips as ISOs? Otherwise it works like magic (e.g. VOB files).
I really hope they won’t delete the post. We did spend a lot of time building the app and it’s quite nice to work witih. Certainly much more comfortable compared to using the remote to browse the collection.
Perhaps we should even approach WD to embrace the app themeselves. Really adds value to using the device (at least IMHO).
Where there would be REAL value is if this app actually took care of a problem in the WD interface, rather than just act as a substitute for it (because, as an iPhone user, I certainly wouldn’t want to use it instead of the WD interface unless it did).
For net shares the thumbnail issue makes browsing impossible for large collections – if this app addressed that it would be an asset. However, given that it can’t do it (due to the way the app is constructed and most likely because it’s impossible for ANY app to so do so) it’s worthless.
Browsing issues were exactly what we were aiming at. Browsing large collections is really annoying, and the application really browses the collections fast. Practically speaking, you can make ANY network share available via UPnP by installing one of the very many UPnP media softwares out there (for Windows, Mac or Linux). With the iPhone app - it’s super fast.
We are adding coverflow support in the next release so you’ll be able to see album art for movies while browsing. Additionally we are now adding YouTube support (PM me if you want screenshots of both new features). Using the WD TV on screen keyboard for youtube search is really annoying, and the current version supports playing SHOUTcast radio by choosing stations from the iPhone app.
How about giving it a second thought before declaring “worthless” ?
If you’d like to get preview the next version (with coverflow and youtube) PM Me and I’ll send u a copy.
No, using a media server to serve the Live just creates issues that are very very difficult to deal with (like not playing my files flawlessly the way they play through net shares).
I’ve “been there, done that, bought the t-shirt” – tried all sorts of UPnP ■■■■ on my D-Link NAS that just brought my system to a screeching halt. I’m not about to change that just to fix the browsing issue. And YouTube is a yawn – don’t need a media player for that, to be sure (media players like the Live are all about playing HD movies, plain and simple).
So – sorry, worthless for me and for those folks who don’t use net shares they don’t need a browsing fix, as the Live works perfectly well with its own media library. But the good news for you is it’s unlikely Bill will delete this thread unless he receives a lot of complaints about it and I won’t bother (just like I won’t bother revisiting it – I have folks to help here and no more time to spend with this nonsense).
I like the app. One question I have is the following: I have not been able to access my media on the the harddisk connected to the WD TV Live media player. Is this possible? So far I only see media on the PC’s connected to the network. However I just want to use the media player and the connected HD drive and control it via this app.
This is a great idea. Kudos to you, and don’t let the “old farts” bother you. Anyone who steps up to the challenge is ok in my book. Android next hopefully???
May I ask how this app works? Is it a pure DLNA control point or does it stream content from the server to the phone and then to the renderer? Can I turn off the phone while viewing videos/listening to music?
Also, is it a UPNP/DLNA app or does it use some proprietary WDTV protocols/hacks? Can I use it with other renderers?
Hello everyone,
I recently purchased the WD Live TV Hub, and therefore I downloaded “WD TV Live Remote”, as it did on the box of the product advertising.
This app does not work with this model: there is also an update to run even the “WD Live TV Hub”? This seems like an ingenious application …
Thank you all.
I downloaded the remote app some time ago and it was useless for me until I purchased the WD Live Plus NAS. Within 10 minutes, the app had total control over my entire system and I couldn’t be happier about it!
As a projector owner and music lover, my biggest complaint against my WD system was that I needed to have the projector running (wasted bulb hours) to navigate while listening to music. Now that all my music is on the NAS, I can use this app for all my music listening without the need for wasted bulb life (well worth the $2.99 investment right there).
For movies, it has one flaw which I’m sure is fixable. I created sub folders for all my movies and included cover art and the video file under that sub. Well, the remote app doesn’t seem to recognize video files that are in a sub folder…which means no more cover art (until I can find a way to figure out this problem).
For the developers of this app - with the relatively new release of the My Book Live, this app should see a lot more play in the future. Keep working on it!!!
