AllCast media streaming finally comes to iOS
The slow road for AllCast to bring its media streaming app to iOS is over, as today marks the app's launch on Apple's mobile OS. I got a chance to spend some time with it, and, even without any experience with its Android counterpart, getting around and tossing photos and videos from Dropbox, iCloud and Instagram to my plasma TV from my iPad Mini 2 was incredibly easy. Simply open the application, grant permission for it to access your photos, hit the familiar cast icon in the lower left, pick a target Chromecast (or Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox and some smart TVs) and you're good to go. Swipe left or right through your media and it'll appear on your screen milliseconds later. Simple!
Music's on tap for casting too, but it's limited to stuff that's in iTunes as far as I could tell. I downloaded Them Crooked Vultures' self-titled album from Google Play Music (a record I'd uploaded sometime ago) and it didn't populate. U2's Songs of Innocence, however, did. How'd it sound? Not unlike any of the music I'd streamed from Mountain View's music service. Which is to say, it sounded fine coming through my home theater's speakers. Want to try it out for yourself? Of course you do. It's available on the App Store right this moment and you can download it for free (although there are some in-app purchases).
