[Q] DLNA needs apps or by default

[Phat Phreddy]

I am trying to tinker around with some DLNA playback.. And not having it work..

I installed uPnP inspector, on my desktop.. Both my devices are right there.. But youtube has no 'cast to' icon which I thought it was supposed to have if DLNA was activated. I have a few other DLNA comnpatible players who also dont seem to be picking up any of my FireTvs

Do I need to add a DLNA client to (each of) the box or should this work by default ??

 

[porkenhimer]

PlayTo is a good app for sending videos. An alternative that I prefer is Pushbullet. If you have XBMC/Kodi installed, install the Pushbullt addon and authorize it. It uses your Gmail account to send all files to your devices. You use your Gmail to log in also. After installing the addon, go to your program addons and edit the setting of the Pushbullet addon. You will want to set it to interrupt or media will not play til other media has stopped, and you will want to set it to play everything immediatly. I prefer Pushbullet over DLNA, cause you do not have to be worried about being connected to the same network. You can send several differnt types of things with Pushbullet, you can even send browser urls, which means if you are watching a video on one of your devices, you send the url to Kodi and the video will play on the Fire TV. Does not work for all video site, but it works for a lot of sites. BTW, you can find the pushbullet addon in services on Kodi, and it creates a UI in the program addons. So go to Setting, Addons, Get addons, All, Services and you will find it there.

 

[Phat Phreddy]

PlayTo is a good app for sending videos. An alternative that I prefer is Pushbullet. If you have XBMC/Kodi installed, install the Pushbullt addon and authorize it. It uses your Gmail account to send all files to your devices. You use your Gmail to log in also. After installing the addon, go to your program addons and edit the setting of the Pushbullet addon. You will want to set it to interrupt or media will not play til other media has stopped, and you will want to set it to play everything immediatly. I prefer Pushbullet over DLNA, cause you do not have to be worried about being connected to the same network. You can send several differnt types of things with Pushbullet, you can even send browser urls, which means if you are watching a video on one of your devices, you send the url to Kodi and the video will play on the Fire TV. Does not work for all video site, but it works for a lot of sites. BTW, you can find the pushbullet addon in services on Kodi, and it creates a UI in the program addons. So go to Setting, Addons, Get addons, All, Services and you will find it there.

I will give it a look but I am specifically trying to get DNLA working for a few video apps that should 'see' my boxes easily.. Popcorn time should give me a watch to button from my phone tablet or ipad..

Theres a spread of these.. iPlayer.. Etc.. Not all being inside kodi..

Really I just want a chromecast app.. but filing that DLNA should be the same.. Just it says DNLA is already built in, but my boxes while visible on the network, are not generating a watch to output location on any dlna enabled apps.

 

[porkenhimer]

I told you that you need an app to send from your phone and I also told you that XBMC/Kodi was a good reciever app to recieve media. Also, Popcorn Time has a setting to use external players to send media to other devices. Just look in the list of players and install one. I recommend installing Playto and Wondershare player on you Android device to use as a sender, and simply using XBMC/Kodi on your Fire TV as the reciever. There is a setting in Kodi to turn on UPNP, turn it on and when you play videos in Wondershare or Playto on your Android device it will let you send the media to Kodi on your Fire TV. Playto is good for sending media, cause any app that has a share button can be shared with Playto and used to send videos etc. Say you are using the youtube app and wanna send a video to your Fire TV, click the share button, pick Playto, and when the video starts playing click the yellow play button and it will start playing on your Fire TV through Kodi. Of course you need an app to communicate with other devices, cause the device cannot do it on its own. Example, you have wifi, but how are you supposed to connect if there isn't a settings app to show you connections? Your device has DLNA/UPNP, but how can you use it without an app telling you where to send and recieve content? There has to be software to run the hardware. Think of it like a car, if you put it in drive where is it gonna go without the driver? The driver is the software the car is the hardware.