Facebook Now Lets You Use Google Cast or AirPlay To Stream Video On Your TV (digitaltrends.com) 31
Facebook has made it a high priority over the years to improve its video platform so that it can better compete with the monolithic video service that is YouTube. Today, the company has added another feature, one that allows users to stream Facebook video content to the Apple TV via AirPlay and to various Google Cast-enabled devices. Digital Trends reports: The feature is available on the Facebook iOS app and, according to Facebook, it will be available on Android soon. The best thing about it, however, is how easy it is to use. Simply find a video you want to watch, then tap the TV button and select which device the app should stream to. Another highlight of the feature is that it is truly built for Facebook -- that is to say, when you are watching a video on the big screen, your phone is not on lockdown until the video is over. Instead, you can keep scrolling through the News Feed, treating your TV as more of a second screen than simply a mirror of your phone.
You could already do that (Score:2)
This may be a shortcut button but anyone can stream any app to any AirPlay TV on iOS. Not sure about Google Cast, that's always been a bit broken.
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I'd love to know why you think it's a bit broken? Speaking as someone who has both a Google Cast and an Apple TV hooked up to my tv I've found the Cast to offer a far better viewing experience as the Apple TV seems to have trouble streaming anything without pausing to buffer despite being on the same network as the Cast and being sat about 10cm away from it. From a bit of research online the Apple TV seems to be widely seen as a bit pants when compared to the other options yet costs a magnitude more in typi
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Maybe that's your experience but I use two different models of AppleTV and I've never seen any real buffering going on but I guess in the end we're both offering up meaningless data based on a truly limited number of data points with no real reliable data. But now we get to hear about all "teh Applez Fanboisss!!!!1111!!!" while skirting the real issue at hand. I guess people have learned a lot about misdirection (ala the 2016 US presidential elections). Meh.
I will agree that gurueerifivie didn't really need
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From the summary, the FB app is using the Airplay device as a second screen. That's quite a bit different than the built-in mirroring.
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I've always wondered if, other than for video *stored* on an iOS device, if Airplay isn't just handing over the URL data to the AppleTV and it's actually downloading the data directly, not funneling it web->ios device->appleTV.
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If it helps, once you're streaming video on a ChromeCast, you can physically power off your phone.
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It depends. AppleTV does support streaming directly from the phone without the AppleTV having it's own connection and without tethering. Not all apps support it and some still require both the AppleTV and the iOS device to be on the same network.
I used my AppleTV in a location
I can stream it to my TV? (Score:1)
YouTube (Score:2)
So, this works EXACTLY like how the YouTube app on Android w/ Google Chromecast for years has been doing it? Because the summary makes it seem like it is some grand feature to hit "cast" on a video and still be able to use the mobile device for other things at the same time.
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I already stream video to my TV (Score:1)
Wasn't this (Score:2)
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One is spelled "Kodi"
The other is spelled "the likes"
How generous of Facebook (Score:1)
To let me do something like that. Where do I send my thanks?
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Problem solved... (Score:2)
Mom test fail (Score:3)
... old notebook with HDMI plugged on TV, with kodi.tv on int (I use it with Debian Jessie and LXDE: any old computer cam play 1080p without problem there...)
Wow that fails the Mom test [theatlantic.com] about as hard as possible. I'm sure it works beautifully for your needs but that doesn't work for 99.999% of people out there.
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By geeks for geeks (Score:4, Insightful)
My Mom use it without problem, you know: it's a matter of publicity
Could you mom build that system without your help? Did your mom set it up? Did you have to tell her about it? Was she able to use it without any guidance from you? Do you have to fix it whenever something breaks? Unless your mom is a lot more capable than most people, I seriously doubt she figured it out herself.
99.999% thinks that "there is no other way"..
And that's because for them they are right - there is no other way. Very, very, very few people are going to bother setting up a system like that even if they have to the technical chops to do it. Wouldn't matter if they knew it was possible or not - and most will not. Honestly even if you tell them point blank they will look at you like you are from Mars. They'll hear nothing but a bunch of meaningless (to them) technobabble and you can watch their eyes glaze over. The overwhelming majority wouldn't be able to figure it out on their own. That's why there is a market for stuff like Chromecast and AppleTV. Your solution is a solution by geeks for geeks and more or less useless to anyone else. I'm as geeky as anyone here on slashdot and I wouldn't go to the bother because the effort is just not worth the minimal reward to me.
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