airplay

A few weeks ago I wrote about an Airplay addin for Windows Media Center that made it possible to send video to Windows Media Center from an iOS device, the addin was a little rough around the edges but it worked.

Now there is a new addin from another developer Thomas Pleasanc. This addin enables Airplay in Windows Media Center and is completely seamless. All you have to do is install the Windows Media Center addin (and Apple’s Bonjour service) and then you get Airplay support in Windows Media Center

So from an iOS device you can send a video directly to Windows Media Center and it will play full screen without shelling out of Media Center. I gave it a try today and found it worked really well, once you have the Windows Media Center addin you can use Airplay with pictures and videos. It also worked with the iPad’s Youtube app.

It’s great way of being able to share videos and pictures from an iOS device to the TV using Media Center. Especially useful if you have some photos on your iPhone and you want to show them off on the TV. I was impressed how quickly video playback started, within seconds of selecting Windows Media Center Airplay option my Media Center PC was playing the video and without leaving Media Center at all.  Music features and not included in this build, that may be coming soon

The addin for Media Center is free and available from the Media Center app store, you can find out more info at thomaspleasance.com

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31 thoughts on “Review: Airplay for Windows Media Center”
  1. Works a treat and is very easy to install with Made For Media Center addin!

    I did some testing yesterday and had videos from the iPad video, pictures and YouTube streaming to my TV via 7MC in seconds!

    Great work!

  2. Does this support extenders? Do you get native control in WMC or do you have to control FFW and skip on the iphone?

  3. Just tried it, so far its working good with Music Videos and the Photos app. But TV Shows and Movies I’ve purchased on iTunes give me an error and don’t stream. Other then that, its really neat and simple to install.

  4. Do you guys see an airplay app inside of media center. I don’t see anything, and on my iPad I don’t see an airplay option. I installed bonjuer and open the ports on my router. What gives

        1. I actually have Bonjour installed, but I have the same problem. My iPad nor iPhone show any airplay listings.

      1. I just tried with my iphone 4 and its working with videos and pictures in the “Photos” app only, hopefully it will be updated to suite the ipod app soon.

        In the meantime you can try this
        http://sourceforge.net/projects/shairport4w/
        it works perfectly with the ipod app on my iPhone 4, still no luck with the JB iPhone 3G running 4.2.1 though :/

        If anyone with iPhone 3x can get this running please let us know!

  5. Works perfectly for pictures but instantly crashes the addin when I try to run any video. “The AirPlayClient has stopped responding…” pops up immediately.

    1. Guys , the videos its crashing on are probably DRMed , if you buy them from Itunes or off a digital copy ( blu ray ) , it wont work.

  6. hello everyone, can you tell me if is there a way to do the opposite? I mean, I’ve tons of photos at my 7MC and would like to see it at my iPad using wifi. Thanks!

  7. wish the airplay button was available when wmc isnt open, and wish that would launch wmc on the computer.

    my music doesnt get the airplay button on the ipad…i dont know whats wrong on that end

  8. Now , I love the airplay feature , DRM issue or not. But what would be cool is if someone made Media center WORK with PlayTO !

    C’mon guys , someone have a go..

  9. I also have x64 bit Win 7 and doesn’t seem to be working. Any news for us that have 64 bit?

    1. I had to reboot my Netgear DG834G router before this started working on my 32bit Windows 7 ultimate wireless laptop from my iPhone 3GS jailbroken phone running ios 4.3.2, but have had no luck getting this to work on my 64bit wired HTPC. Am inclined to think its the 64bit getting in the way and not the wireless part.

      1. Funny thing is that my Linksys DMA extenders are now showing up as available to Airplay to but of course it fails when I select them. I hope that there is an update to support 64bit soon. This is a great add-in.

  10. It didnt work at first on Windows 7 x64 but now it seems to be working! All I did is wait 5 minutes and tried again. (boom “Windows Media Center – shuttle”) Since all I use is Media Center this app is fantastic thanks so much! This is way better than what i used in the past. (AirStream) http://code.google.com/p/airstream-media-player/
    You guys that can’t get this media center version to work are welcome to try airstream

  11. i can connect to my computer window , but no show on screen , it seam slow …
    anybody help me pls ? (iphone4 4.2.1 , window7 ultimate

  12. Can anyone tell me how to make windows media centre work. I have Basic knowledge only & this feature is on windows 7, it says you can watch live TV. record films & tv & use for photos & videos etc. I would be grateful for guidance, do I need to purchase or download any thing else to use this

  13. Any luck with this tip anymore? Just came across it, followed the instructions but can’t get airplay to work. It won’t show up as an option on my iphone or ipad. I’ve tried windows media center on my pc and via the xbox extender. My iDevices are running iOS 5.0.1

    Would love to get this going since I use WMC as my primary TV and DVR.

  14. Right now with iOS 5.1 and x64 win 7 only photo app streams photos. And does it very laggy. Couldn’t make video/youtube do it.

    2 anyone googled here: XBMC now have AirPlay supports and works great.

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