Some devs just don't get it, there's one Windows out there and Microsoft made it easy for you to make apps for one Windows that will run on any device, including the proclaimed dead Windows Phone. Take Webrox for example, the developer of of popular Tubecast, an excellent third party YouTube client for Windows that is one good example of a Windows Universal app. But Webrox did not stop there. Enter Play Playcast.
Playcast is a must-have multimedia player if you want to cast your movies and songs to devices like Google Chromecast, Chromecast Audio, Apple TV, DNLA Smart TV, Miracast or the Xbox One. A Windows Universal app, Playcast is available for $3.99 in the Windows Store with a 7 days full-featured trial. Being a universal app, you buy it once and use it across your Windows devices. Playcast was updated today - and it is regularly updated - with a new feature for streaming multimedia files through a URL. The developer also included a "DLNA drive workaround for large folders and some drives." and some various bug fixes.
Check out Playcast in the store and enjoy casting your media files from a Windows device.
Playcast is a media player developed to allow Windows Phone users to cast movies, songs and pictures not only to Google Cast, but also to Google Cast Audio, Apple TV (AirPlay), DLNA Smart TV, Miracast, Internet Box, Xbox One, Xbox 360 etc. Playcast cost $3.99 and offers a week trial before you make the decision to buy it and I can tell it is a well worth purchase. Plus the app is regularly updated with new features and fixes. Speaking of updates, the developer, Webrox, published one a few days ago with some fixes:
- Background audio volume bug fixed.
- Workaround for Yamaha DLNA devices which won't show duration.
Again, Playcast is an app that I strongly recommend. Get it here in the store.
I first blogged about Playcast back in January of this year shortly after I purchased the app so I can cast my movies to my TV through my Chromecast, which has been renamed to Google cast recently. I believe Playcast is the only app in the store to do that. After the app was released, I ran into issues where I could not play some movies from my library and fortunately, Webrox, the developer, quickly issued a fix and I can now enjoy my movies serenely.
Playcast has been developed to allow users to cast movies, songs and pictures not only to Google Cast, but also to Google Cast Audio, Apple TV (AirPlay), DLNA Smart TV, Miracast, Internet Box, Xbox One, Xbox 360 etc. Playcast cost $3.99 and offers a week trial before you make the decision to buy it and I can tell it is a well worth purchase. Plus the app is regularly updated with new features and fixes.
Today's update does not include any new features, but the developer added the following fixes:
- Chromecast (Google Cast) bug fixes (was due to the new firmware)
- Crash fix (bug in UWP: Crash while going to full screen sometimes)
- DLNA server better handled (MonkeyServer)
- Few minor bug fixes in UI.
Go check out Playcast in the store. Playcast is a Universal Windows App. Buy it once and use on your Windows Phone and Windows PC.
The rumor is more and more persistent about Microsoft releasing a Miracast dongle to compete against Apple and Google. But until we see the actual thing, which according to the same rumors should surface at IFA, there is Tubecast which lets Windows Phone interact with Google's Chromecast. As a side note, it is interesting to see the ingenuity of the Windows Phone developer community who works hard to bring Google apps to Windows Phone. It is just silly that Google still does not grasp the ridicule it put itself in by ignoring Windows Phone.
Tubecast is an excellent YouTube client with great support for Chromecast, Google's proprietary dongle that lets Android and iOS users project media on their phones or tablets to a TV. The Windows Phone app has been getting better and better. When it was first released, all it could do was to play a video at a time. Tubecast has improved a lot since and is getting more mature and interesting if you own a Chromecast dongle.
Tubecast was updated today with a slew of features and bug fixes. The most noteworthy feature is full support for Apple AirPlay including full password handling. See the full change log below:
- Apple AirPlay full support (passwords handled too)
- Chromecast bug fix (video seek) for the new firmware
- DLNA bug fix, have a try if cast didn't work
- Preload MP3 from videos
- Windows Phone 7 video playing bug fix
- New gesture : hold to close the Picture in Picture
- Picture in picture bug position fix
- Bug fix for fullscreen video HD playing (no more drop frames)
- New channel page user interface (more handy)
- Keep playing while switching apps is now disabled by default (change in the settings)
- Youtube URL copy to clipboard : direct access in the application bar
- Newsfeed faster loading & less data downloaded
- Live Tile shows newsfeed subscription when you are logged
- 20 icons improved
Tubecast has a free and paid version available in Windows Phone store.
