PlayOn for iPhone brings a wealth of streaming video to iOS, we go hands-on (update)

It's ugly. It's buggy. It requires a Windows PC. But PlayOn for iPhone actually works, slinging Netflix, Hulu, CBS and more to your waiting Apple device over WiFi and (occasionally) 3G. Using the same PlayOn desktop client that presently redirects video-on-demand to your game console or a media streamer attached to your TV, subscribers can download an app on July 15th that transcodes content for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad as well, and is today the only way to get Netflix on your phone.

We spent some quality couch time with the program over the last couple of days, and with a powerful PC, fast internet and WiFi connection, we found video quite watchable on our iPhone 4, and there's no knocking PlayOn's breadth of content available, with loads of TV, a good deal of anime and your entire Netflix streaming queue available on the phone. The interface is barely there, though, just a series of poorly-spaced nesting menus, and it can take quite a few touchscreen presses and a bit of thought to find what you want to watch. There are a few bugs too, like one that kept shooting us back to the main menu randomly upon a button press, and another that locked us into a particular piece of content until both app and desktop server were restarted. Some content could have looked better on the 3.5-inch Retina Display if only we'd had the option to press the HD button, but the only controls Media Mall provides are forward, backward and volume, and even with full bars we're afraid we couldn't get 3G playback to work reliably. Since the company still offers a free 14-day trial of the service, the software's definitely worth a try, but if you want Hulu or Netflix on the go (or even around the house), we imagine you'll eventually end up using their dedicated apps instead.

Update: PlayOn's PR team tells us some of the exact bugs we found have already been fixed for tomorrow's launch, including crashes that return the user to the main menu, and system states that chain the user to a previously selected video. That's an impressive turnaround!

Update 2: The same team just pinged us again, and it looks like they've hit a roadblock. Apparently the app is once more "in review" under Apple's watch, so only Cupertino knows when exactly it'll be released to the world. We'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

PlayOn for iPhone hands-on

[Dickybell Posted Jul 14th 2010 9:33PM]

@grub I absolutely love AirVideo. It converts damn near any format. I stream movies to my 65" TV via my iTouch with the component cables. There's even an option to drop the converted files in iTunes in case I don't want to stream them on my phone while I'm out.
I don't work for them either...

[system22 Posted Jul 14th 2010 4:35PM]

i've been using playOn thru my win7 box, pushing on the x360 and ps3. cool to see in phone form. kinda wish they made an osX version on the host side though. most of my setup is mac and want to drive it off a mac mini in an entertainment center space.

[glamajamma Posted Jul 14th 2010 4:53PM]

playon = shitty software

[MicrosoftOwns Posted Jul 14th 2010 5:02PM]

@MiddleFinger

whats the kin have to do with anything? stop with the red herring argument and answer the question:

how does a defective phone receive a near perfect 9/10 rating and "best phone ever" statement?

[sporkinum Posted Jul 14th 2010 5:19PM]

I paid for playon ages ago, but hardly ever use it as it inevitably screws up and then I can't fast forward to where it crashed.

[4u2nv Posted Jul 14th 2010 5:57PM]

@sporkinum You can fast forward. You just to need to let it buffer first.

[substance90 Posted Jul 14th 2010 6:22PM]

I know it`s offtopic but you`re really not doing Apple a favor by consistently making photos of iPhone 4 with focus slightly off, the resolution looks bad that way.

[JBDragon Posted Jul 14th 2010 7:17PM]

I just got my Iphone4 a couple days ago. I was a little worried about the Antenna problem, especially as I'm left handed, and so far, it really hasn't been a issue. What all this has to do with PLAYON on the Iphone is beyond me as it seems most everyone is talking about other things. I can't wait to try this ou, being both a long time PlayOn user and Netflix. Big Plus. With the add-on Plug-In's getting many other channels, I like the Syfy Plug-In. Watching on my Iphone when I'm someplace, i say GREAT!!!