Stream Media From Desktop To iPhone Over WiFi or 3G with Plex [Giveaway]

There are many media servers available for PC and Mac. We have reviewed a few media servers in our tech blog too.

My favorite way to stream movies to my iPhone and iPad so far has been to use AirPlayer app to stream from PS3 Media Server installed on our iMac.

I have also tried another elegant solution named Air Video and will be reviewing in the next few days. Before that I wanted to share a fantastic multi-platform media server and beautiful iPhone and iPad combo – Plex. We have a few promo codes to share with our readers too, more on that soon.

Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server is the core of this media server setup. You can read all about the free Plex Media Center for Windows and Mac here in our tech blog. Installing Plex Media Center freeware on your computer is the first step.

Once you install it and configure the media you want to share and access via your iOS devices, you are ready to move to your iPhone.

Plex iPhone app

On launching the Plex iPhone app (universal) you are greeted with the screen to add a media server in your network. If you have the Plex Media Server running and you are in the same local network, you should automatically see your computer’s name in this first screen.

No other configuration is necessary (if Find nearby servers is enabled in Settings). Now, look at the bottom panel and go to Library to see options for Movies, Music and Photos. Just tap an option to go in there and see the list of movies or your shared albums.

One thing that sets this media server setup aisde is that if you are on a Mac, you can also stream content from iTunes, iPhoto or Aperture to your iPhone.

You can configure online channels in the server like TED talks, Vimeo, Sixty One. You can choose from a huge list of channels supported to stream online content.

Browsing the movies and media is by thumbnails and a short blurb about the media. Tapping the small i icon gives you more information. Tap the search tab to search for a title. The search results are grouped by title, music, people and video clips.

When you are watching movies on your computer with the media server, your iPhone becomes a media server remote control. This is a fantastic way to control your computer.The remote control can be used in buttons or gestures mode.

While watching a movie, you can quit the app and come back to the movie. It nicely gives you an option to start where you stopped or from the beginning. You can also choose to use subtitles if your media has one.

You can also enable AirPlay in Advanced settings and if you have an AppleTV, use it to stream content to your big screen TV. However, this is experimental in this version and has issues resuming from paused play.

Another one of the coolest features is that you set up your home media server to stream content through your firewall. This puts all your home content on your iPhone or iPad anywhere via 3G or WiFi.

Plex iPad app

The Plex iPad app is laid out in a similar fashion except browsing through your media content is such a pleasant eexperience with this app thanks to the nice layout as well as iPad’s larger screen real estate.

You can check out some screenshots and details here in our Plex iPad app post in our sister iPad blog.

If you have a lot of content on your computer that you would like to stream watch with your iPhone and iPad, Plex offers the most elegant solution. With the media server being free, $4.99 for the universal app that doubles as a remote for your server as well as giving your remote access is way less than even a single movie ticket.

Once configured, editing the media in the media server like renaming files, setting up options seems a little hard (like mouse doesn’t work). Of course I haven’t RTFM yet so it could be a simple task but I was hoping it would be just intuitive.

Another thing I would like to see in the app is the ability to view things in a compact list view – an option other than the grid view.

In my testing over the last week, the app never crashed once.

Plex is also available for the Android platform so you are covered if you have an Android device in your home in addition to iOS devices.

Two thumbs up for the server and app from our team here!

Any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iPhone OS 3.1 or higher.

Availability:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $4.99 (universal app)

Reviewed at version: 1.1

Developed by: Plex Inc.

Plex Universal App Giveaway

1. Facebook
‘Like‘ our Top iPhone Resource Facebook page and leave a comment in the Facebook wall saying you want this app. if you already a fan, just leave a comment there to be entered. – 1 entry

[like]

2. Twitter
Retweet this post or post with something like below. Make sure to include @topiphone in the tweet. – 1 entry

Retweet this for a chance to win 1 of 4 Plex Universal app promo codes ($4.99) from @TopiPhone http://bit.ly/plexios

(You can also use the tweet box in the site.)

3. Leave a comment in this post – 1 entry

You gain 3 entries if you do all 3. Just make sure you leave a comment that you did so, so we can crosscheck.

We’ll randomly select and announce the winners by April 17 5pm EST here, TiR Facebook page and on Twitter.

We also recommend adding our TiR RSS feed so you get notified about the winners. Good luck!

If this giveaway is expired, you can also buy the Plex universal app from the App Store for $4.99.