QuikIO improves its media-streaming services in version 3.0
We looked at QuikIO earlier this year, and the file-sharing and media-streaming service has really evolved in the past few months. The company is placing an emphasis on media and is beefing up its streaming features by slimming them down.
QuikIO lets you connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac so you can browse through your documents and stream media on the go. The latest version of QuikIO, version 3.0, now uses a live media conversion technology to serve up music in a format that minimizes the data sent to your iOS device. The company claims you can save up to 80 percent of your data consumption with this technology. QuikIO also added a robust music buffer that allows you to drop your cellular connection for up to 20 minutes and still keep your music streaming. This is a huge benefit for someone like me who lives in a mountainous rural area and is always driving through pockets with no cellular coverage.
Other new features in this latest version of QuikIO include support for subtitles in movies, which can be streamed to your phone and to your Apple TV via AirPlay. Music playback is significantly more convenient now that you can create, import and save playlists. A shuffle option will also keep your track list fresh by picking songs randomly. Passcode support, expanded audio codecs and photo zoom round out the new features.
QuikIO does a good job of walking the tightrope between feature-rich complex app and easy-to-use app. Even with all these new features, the service has still managed to be an easy-to-use file-sharing and media-streaming app. Setup and configuration is simple -- install the desktop and mobile apps, log in to your QuikIO account on all your devices and you are ready to go.
You can stream your media files, download your music files to your device or share your files, photos or videos with other QuikIO users using QuickSend. The QuikIO service supports a variety of file formats outside of music and movies, making it easy to view text documents, PDF files and more without leaving the app. You can also set up connections to multiple computers, though you can only browse files on one computer at a time. It's a whole lotta goodness packed into one small package.
Those concerned about privacy should know that the app indexes the files in the folders that you select on your Mac. It only indexes the files and does not upload them to QuikIO's servers. QuikIO confirmed to me that, saying, "Everything stays on your computer. We have cloud-based connection service which connects your computer with your iPhone / iPad in a peer-to-peer manner."
QuikIO for iOS is available in the App Store. There is an iPhone app and an iPad app; both are free. The OS X app can be downloaded for free from QuikIO's website.
