VLC Streamer Helper 4.23

License: Freeware
Operating Systems: Mac OS X, Windows 2000, Windows 7 (32 bit), Windows 7 (64 bit), Windows 8, Windows Server, Windows Vista (32 bit), Windows Vista (64 bit), Windows XP
Languages: English
Software Cost: Free
Install support: Install and Uninstall



You could go to greater lengths and install a media server solution such as Plex, but if that sounds like overkill, you could plump for VLC Streamer instead. It’s based on the award-winning VLC Media Player, which means it’ll play just about any media file you throw at it, and exists solely to enable you to stream content from your computer to your iOS device over your network.

For this to work, you’ll need to install this Helper software on your PC or Mac (note the Linux version is an unsupported beta – see here for details). Once installed, skip through the helpful wizard and then tweak the quality settings according to the speed of your network or your choice of iOS device, then add files if you wish before switching to your iPad or iPhone.

Thankfully the helper’s main purpose is to make it easy to access media directly from your iOS device, so you don’t need to sit at your computer picking and choosing video, music or photos – you can do this directly from the iOS app itself.

You’ll find plenty of tweaks – such as custom port settings and password protection – via the Helper app’s Settings tab. It’s a slick solution that works best in small networked environments where your media is accessible from one or two computers only.

Verdict:
A polished and simple solution for streaming all kinds and formats of media to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.