Stream media from android to google tv

11 of the Best DLNA Streaming Apps for Android

DLNA is a convenient moniker for something altogether more scary sounding – Digital Living Network Alliance. What it does, however, is anything but scary, allowing you to connect DLNA-compatible devices to each other and seamlessly stream data between them over the air: photos, videos, your Android homescreen, you name it.

It’s a pretty old format, but it’s still going strong, proven by the fact that both Microsoft and Sony tried omitting it from their Xbox One and PS4 respectively, but both ended up adding it back in due to popular demand. Long live DLNA!

We’ve sifted through the good and the bad of DLNA streaming apps, and whittled it down to the best. So scroll on down and take your pick.

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1. VLC

The ubiquitous media player has a tendency of showing up in areas we wouldn’t naturally associate with it.

For example, VLC is not only an excellent video player but a great DLNA receiver too, letting you easily snoop around the files held on your local media server and play them. From there, you can use VLC’s streaming functionality to beam your content straight to Chromecast or other streaming gizmos.

The app has a simple, easy-on-the-eyes interface, and has evolved immeasurably since it came out of beta a few years ago. Even though VLC isn’t as renowned on Android as it is on PC, it remains a top option.

2. Plex

Plex is one of the best media-streaming apps around today. Its interfaces are elegant, it downloads all kinds of metadata for your media to make it look sleek and professional, it rocks all-around. On top of that, Plex can also be activated to work as a DLNA server (Settings -> Server -> DLNA), so you can wirelessly connect it with all your DLNA-certified home devices and give them the frontend they deserve – whether it’s on your Android tablet or Android TV.

Plex comes with all the best media streaming features, such as shared playlists between devices, resuming videos on different Plex devices, using your Android device as a Plex TV remote, and plenty more. We can’t recommend it enough.

3. Cast Videos: Castify

Castify is another popular choice of users willing to cast videos from a web browser or their Android phones to DLNA-compatible devices. You can also make use of the Castify app to cast videos to Chromecast, Fire TV, etc. For Roku devices, the app features a remote control option.

It supports streaming videos from Android phones to all DLNA-compatible TVs from brands such as TCL, Phillips, Sony Bravia, Sharp, Samsung, LG, and more. However, you will have to tolerate the ads on the free version of Castify.

4. LocalCast

One of the more established in-home streaming apps in our list, LocalCast communicates with DLNA, UPnP, and even Samba devices to stream content from your phone throughout your home. If you have a Chromecast, LocalCast lets you rotate and zoom pictures on the fly, and it’s also integrated with Opensubtitles.org, letting you quickly download subtitles for movies and so on as you’re watching them.

LocalCast works with popular devices like the Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, game consoles, and all the big Smart TV brands. It tends to have a higher-quality video streaming output than even Google’s own apps like Google Photos, has its own web browser that you can cast, and can stream from network storage in your home, making it an excellent and easy-to-use package.

Also read: 10 of the Best Kodi Add-ons to Stream Your Favorite Sports

5. Kodi

No article about streaming apps can ever really avoid mentioning the most famous (or infamous?) one of them all. Kodi is a media center app that isn’t designed exclusively with DLNA streaming in mind (it’s more for DLNA’s parent tech, UPnP), but you can set it up that way if you so wish.

Kodi’s biggest perk for Android users is that it’s heaving with add-ons, from official ones like YouTube and the major sports channels to repositories that give you access to channels all around the world. Naturally, it’s fantastic for streaming locally-stored media, too.

Kodi’s specialty is video, and its UI is tailored towards that, but you can also use it to view pictures and listen to the radio. If you’re looking to stream music, then there are better options available.

6. Hi-Fi Cast + DLNA

Hi-Fi Cast + DLNA is dedicated to music and supports playing most common music file formats – MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV – to Google Home devices, as well as other devices that support DLNA streaming.

You can set up all kinds of shuffling for your music, whether it’s individual tracks, artists, or albums, and you can play music from either your Android device or other DLNA devices containing the music. If it’s just music you want to stream, then this is your best choice.

7. XCast

XCast is a free Android app that can help you with DLNA streaming. You can select photos, videos, and other media files from your internal memory or external SD card over Wi-Fi. All you have to do is download the DLNA/UPnP app to your Android phone to send media directly to the DLNAsupported devices. Further, you can control your TV with your phone, play media in shuffle, loop, and repeat. The connection is also easy to establish. Moreover, it supports multiple wireless transmission protocols other than DLNA.

8. MediaMonkey

MediaMonkey does a whole lot more than DLNA, allowing you to sync and stream media across multiple devices via WiFi, UPnP, Bluetooth, and of course DLNA. What makes it stand out is the neat interface and plethora of media management tools to keep your library organized: playlist management, multiple file editing, and bookmarks, just to name a few.

You’ll need to pay for extra features like unlimited DLNA usage, but coughing up a few bucks for one of the most complete streaming apps is worth it in our eyes.

9. BubbleUPnP

BubbleUPnP UPnP/DLNA lets you broadcast your content right from your device to your compatible DLNA device. It supports Chromecast, any DLNA-enabled TV, and the latest generation of gaming consoles. Other than basic streaming, it also comes with features like playback queue, editable playlists, scrobbling, sleep timer, and various shuffle modes. It has a full-screen image viewer and a remote-control function.

Best of all, it costs nothing!

10. iMediaShare Personal

If you want a DLNA app with an awesome interface, give iMediaShare Personal a try. The app lets you stream your digital media right from your Android device to your large TV without needing any cables. While your media is being played on your TV, the app acts as a remote for you to control the play, such as pause, next, and so on using your hand gestures.

11. AllCast

While all the apps listed up to this point stream content to any device, AllCast offers the most compatibility. It can stream media to Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, PS4, and other DLNA-enabled devices. It also lets you stream from your Dropbox, letting you directly stream content without having to download it first.

Why use shoddy old hard drives when you can do so many wonderful things wirelessly and share content using DLNA streaming apps? Setting yourself up for DLNA streaming may sound kind of complicated because it involves an acronym for a long and complicated tech term, but it’s really quite easy. For more Android-based tinkering, see our guide on how to turn your Android flashlight on and off as well as our list of the best Android hacking apps.

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My work has been published on Android Authority, Android Police, Android Central, BGR, Gadgets360, GSMArena, and more. A Six Sigma and Google Certified Digital Marketer who is covering tech-related content for the past 2 years.

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20 Android TV Apps to Supercharge Your Smart TV

Android TV has been slowly but steadily maturing as a platform since it was first introduced several years ago. While the battle for supremacy between Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, and other smart TV platforms gets hotter by the day, the Android TV platform still has a commanding voice, owing to its integration with the latest Google technologies and a myriad of applications.

If you own an Android TV or have purchased an Android TV box, these are the best Android TV apps that will show you what having a smart TV is all about.

Also read: Amazon Fire Stick Not Working? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

1. Peacock TV (NBC)

Peacock TV is a relatively new streaming service from one of the giants of broadcasting, NBC. The great thing is that you can use it to watch hundreds of shows and movies for free, and it even has its own collection of original programming like the serial killer TV show Dr. Death and Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem. You can also get your hands on past seasons of hit shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation.

The free tier offers plenty of content, though this will be ad-supported. You’ll need a $5 Premium membership if want with extra content that gives you access to all the shows, as well as live sports like the Olympics, Ryder Cup and Premier League soccer. You can even watch PPV events from the WWE. The $10 Premium Plus membership removes ads and lets you download shows to watch online.

But start with free, and see how it all goes from there. It’s quite possibly the best free streaming offering out there.

2. Aptoide

If one of the reasons you bought an Android TV is to treat it like an Android phone and dabble in alternative stores, sideloading, and generally breaking beyond the bounds of Google’s proprietary Play Store, then Aptoide is a great place to start.

Aptoide is an alternative app store that lets you download apps that you won’t find in the Play Store. There are many Android games, for example, that aren’t technically optimized for Android TV so don’t appear in the Play Store, but work perfectly well. You’ll find those on Aptoide.

Beyond that, Aptoide has a lot of alternative apps and games that don’t appear on Play Store, as well as plenty of apps that do appear on the Play Store. Naturally, you can’t download Aptoide TV from the Play Store, and need to grab it from the official Aptoide TV site.

3. Blokada

Ads are annoying, I think we can all agree, and Blokada doesn’t ask questions – it just blanket-blocks them across just about all your apps.

YouTube, Chrome, Facebook, in-game ads – you name it, Blokada will block it. It does this by filtering ad trackers using a VPN. It’s an essential app if you want to watch TV in peace without the targeted ad nonsense that comes with the territory.

Blokada isn’t available on the Play Store, so you’ll need to enable unknown sources on your Android TV, then download the APK from the official site.

4. TV Bro

The default browser on your Android TV is probably bad enough to put you off ever trying to use your TV as a browser again. TV Bro, on the other hand, is arguably the very best Android TV browser out there.

What does it do so well where others fail? It has the usual tab, bookmark and voice search support, as well as browsing history and other nice touches, but the great thing about it is just how smoothly it works with your TV remote.

It lets you switch user agents, too, and is entirely open source, which means there’s a great dev community working behind the scenes on it.

5. Games for Android TV

We’ll get round to creating a dedicated list of Android TV games one day, but for this list, we figured it was worth pointing out that you can actually play Play Store games directly on your Android TV. Pretty neat!

Now, not every game can be played, of course, given that most are designed for touchscreens, but if you have a controller, then head over to the Play Store’s list of games for Android TV for a veritable treasure trove of them.

From Oddworld to GTA games and Play Store classics like Asphalt, Crossy Road and Dead Trigger 2, there are hundreds for you to choose from. You’ll be amazed how good they look on the big screen.

Also read: Jailbreak an Amazon Fire TV Stick: Everything You Need to Know

6. TVUsage

Many people are spending much more time at home currently, and by extension, a lot more time in front of the TV. Whether you want to keep your own TV-viewing habits in check or want to make sure your kids don’t overdo it in front of the big screen, TVUsage can help.

TVUsage lets you lock certain apps with a PIN and set limits on the amount of time that’s allowed to be spent on a single app before it’s locked behind a PIN code. You can also watch your usage stats over the last three days to get an idea of how good (or bad) you and your household are in front of the TV.

TV is great – we all love it – but this app helps you make sure that a casual pastime of yours doesn’t become a bad habit.

Also read: Why Does My TV Say No Signal? A Quick Troubleshooting Guide

7. Wake on LAN

Some of the apps included in this list take advantage of in-home or DLNA streaming in one way or another. By default, you’ll need to have the media server, app, or wherever you store your data for streaming turned on, but thanks to Wake On LAN, you won’t need to worry about that any more.

That’s because this app lets you wake up remote devices on your network, creating a list of the devices, then waking them up with a click of your TV remote. (You’ll need to make sure the device in question supports Wake on LAN, which most modern devices do.)

8. Spotify

The benefits and reputation of some apps on this list are more obvious than others, and it’s probably fair for us to assume that Spotify needs no introduction. The hugely popular music-streaming app is available across all devices, making it super-easy to line up music on phones or laptops and then play it through your TV.

You can use the Android TV Spotify app directly through the TV, too, using your remote or even voice activation to play your tunes. It’s also worth adding that Spotify has made a big push in podcasting lately, procuring tons of great podcasts for exclusive licensing agreements (most recently the Joe Rogan Experience for $100 million).

9. ExpressVPN (or Other Good VPN)

This list isn’t going to go into detail about the best VPN apps for Android. Whether you choose to use ExpressVPN or another one like PrivateInternetAccess or NordVPN, a VPN app is a great idea to have on your Android TV because you can use it to watch regionally-blocked content.

You can watch HBO Now or ESPN from the UK, BBC iPlayer, all three from outside the UK, or any number of regionally-restricted apps from all around the world. Just open your VPN, select a country through which you want to route your Internet connection (the same one where the regionally-restricted app is based), and you’re away.

For a limited time only, get an extra 3 months when you sign up with ExpressVPN for only $6.67/mo. Get this special VPN deal.

10. Retroarch

The super-popular all-in-one emulation frontend works on most Android TVs just as well as it does on PCs and mobile devices. For the uninitiated, Retroarch gathers many of the best game console emulators under one roof, letting you download the emulator files as “cores” within it.

It takes a little getting used to, but once you learn the ropes of Retroarch, you’ll have the best available emulation experience for NES, SNES, PS1, N64, and many other games consoles. It has tons of features that let you boost in-game resolutions and graphics far beyond what their original consoles could do. Just take a look at our N64 Retroarch guide and PS1 Retroarch guide to get an idea.

Seeing as many of these older games don’t use much hard drive space, you can install them right into your TV or alternatively run them from an external hard drive. Of course, you need to own the actual games you want to run through an emulator for legal reasons.

11. X-plore File Manager

With ES File Explorer disappearing from the Play Store earlier this year due to dodgy associations with Chinese spyware, the title of “best file manager software for Android TV” was vacated. Up stepped X-plore File Manager to steal the show.

This file manager lets you explore all the files and folders on your Android TV in a granular manner like you may find on a desktop OS like Windows or macOS. Delete, move and copy files as you please, sync your files across cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox, and share files over Wi-Fi. It’s a no-nonsense app for those who want to dig deeper into their Android TV.

Also read: How to Transfer Files from Android Phone to Smart TV

12. Puffin TV

Internet browsing has always been a weakpoint of Smart TVs, with TV remotes and on-screen keypads never coming close to the smoothness of doing it on a computer. The Puffin TV browser goes a long way in addressing that, doing away with the traditional PC-optimized browser interface with an address bar and all those other dull bits in favor of a bold tile-based interface that feels just right on the TV.

It syncs with your phone, lets you create bookmarks using QR codes, and renders websites unthinkably fast. It’s to Puffin’s credit that it really doesn’t feel like a web browser but more like a media center based around surfing the Internet. It gives us a little glimpse of the future of TV-based web browsing.

13. Kodi

The mega media platform that doesn’t need much introduction, Kodi, is one of the best means of streaming from various home devices on your home network – from Wi-Fi media centers to PCs. But for many people, the real selling point here is the endless wealth of add-ons that give you access to streaming services from all over the world. Some of these are legit sites like Fox Sports and BBC iPlayer.

Other add-ons for Kodi are a little more underhanded, offering streams set up by Kodi users all over the world that let you watch international TV, cable, and movies for free. It’s up to you to judge what’s legal and what’s not, but the point stands that there’s a huge amount of stuff that Kodi can be used for.

Want to see what add-ons Kodi has to offer? Check out our lists of the best Kodi add-ons and best Kodi sports add-ons.

14. Steam Link

In May 2018, the Steam Link app came to the Google Play Store, enabling streaming from your PC to all Android devices – from smartphones to your Android TV. Yes, that means that with a good Internet connection, you can now stream your Steam games directly to your TV – at up to 4K resolutions at 60 fps, no less. (You’ll need to go into advanced settings to change from the default 1080p.)

We strongly recommend connecting both your TV and Steam PC to your home network via Ethernet for this to work properly. Beyond that, happy gaming!

For more advice on how to set up the Steam Link app, read our guide here.

Also read: Is a 4K TV Worth Buying in 2021?

15. HayStack TV

HayStack TV is a smart news app whose popularity has risen on an unprecedented scale in the past few years. Its greatest adulation came in 2017 when HayStack TV was nominated by Google as the best TV experience at “The 2017 Google Play Awards.” But all the admiration is not without reason. HayStack TV takes a different approach when it comes to keeping you updated with the latest news.

HayStack gets you started by allowing you to choose your interests and your most trusted sources from a list of topics. It learns about you and your interests from the topics, categories, and sources you’ve selected. It will then use this information to match your daily newscast with your interests. HayStack collects news information from over 100 local and international news stations.

Also read: The Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up A Smart Home (For Under $1,000)

16. AirScreen

Android TVs come with support for Google Cast. They allow you to cast any video, audio, or images from your Android device to an Android HDTV. What if you are an iPhone user and also happen to buy an Android TV? Technically, you’d face serious compatibility issues. This is because iPhones don’t support Google Cast. They come with Airplay, a feature that allows iOS users to stream media from an iPhone to an Apple TV.

However, Google has made life easier for iOS users by introducing AirScreen: an app that allows iPhone users to stream media content from an iPhone to an Android TV. AirScreen creates an AirPlay server on your Android TV, allowing you to mirror your iPhone screen on an Android TV.

Also read: How to Stream from Android to Airplay

17. Twitch

If you love watching a live stream of players showcasing their gameplay skills, then Twitch is the place to be. Twitch is a live-streaming video platform where gamers post live video game streams. Watching live video streams may sound like a boring thing to ordinary folks, but for gaming fans, it’s not only fun but extremely important.

Watching gameplay on Twitch allows gamers to learn new gaming tactics and new ways to play different games and also gives them a new understanding of the different levels and difficulties a game offers. It can greatly help players who are stuck at a particular level learn how to proceed to the next level. If you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ll appreciate what Google has done in making Twitch feature in the list of Android TV apps.

18. Google Drive

If you’d love to access all your files on your Android TV, you may want to try the Google Drive app. Installing the Google Drive app on your TV can give you unlimited access to all your cloud data while allowing you to view everything on the big display.

The only problem is that currently the Google Drive app is not available on the Android TV Play Store. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have it installed! You can always sideload it or install it easily using apps like ES File Explorer. Alternatively, you can place a copy of the APK in an SD card and install it from there.

19. VLC Media Player

If you want a breathtaking video playback experience on your Android TV, the VLC Media Player is the app you need. This impressive media player supports nearly all video codecs. It also supports network streams, most types of audio files, and DVD ISOs. It’s probably the best all-around multimedia player of the Android TV apps.

What’s more, the VLC player will automatically categorize your library into audio, video, and others. Plus, by using the settings in the player, you can control playback in every way you wish as well as control other things, such as hardware acceleration. The VLC Media Player is available for download on the Android TV Play Store.

20. Plex

Plex is also one of the best Android TV apps for organizing and managing media. If you have a media library on your Android TV, you will find Plex very useful in organizing, managing, casting and controlling the playback on every screen in your house. Plex has put in a lot of effort into making the Plex app on Android TV a success. The app is clean, fast and easy to navigate.

Also read: How to Fix Overscan and Underscan Between a TV and Computer

Which Android TV apps do you recommend? To beam movies and TV from your Android phone to your Smart TV, read our list of the best DLNA streaming apps for Android.

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Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.

2 comments

I’m a huge fan of VLC, but for uhd I get frequent frame skips/drops (not really sure what it’s called, but it’s like it freezes for a fraction of a second).
This does on the other hand never happen with MX Player which is now my primary content player in our 55″ Xiaomi P1

You forgot to mention Stremio 😏

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