Stream Movies From Your Mac
Stream movies, music & photos over your local network using your Mac to any smart device in your home
Me and my family always stream our home movies and other video’s we have stored on our own personal cloud. When we have visitors they always seem to ask how I do this.
So here I’m going to show you how you can do this from your Mac with no tech knowledge needed, oh and not cost a penny!
So to start you will need your Mac which you wish to stream your movies from, once this is decided then you will need to download an app called Serviio, you can get this app from here.
You need to select the .tar.gz file to download like below…
Once downloaded, un-extract the contents and run the package file to install Serviio to your mac. (.pkg file)
Once installed, run the Serviio app so we can set up the server and select the directories we want to send across the LAN. You will also notice that Serviio starts you off on a Serviio Pro licence for 14 days, don’t worry about this as this runs out the app will automatically switch to the free version.
On the left-hand sidebar of the Serviio app, you will see some options, if you click the Status option you will be able to see any devices that have previously connected to the Serviio server and also the status of the server. This comes in handy if for some reason you cannot find your server on the smart device you wish to watch your content on, as you can stop and restart the server quickly from here.
Now, all we need to do is add a Directory for the server to scan and send the files inside over the LAN.
To do this select from the left-hand side menu, select Library and add a folder you wish to share across your network.
If your sharing a Directory which is going to contain video files then make sure you check the media type to video.
You can also give it a name which will be displayed on your smart device, this is optional.
Be sure to click OK after the above and then hit Save.
That's it you now have a Directory on your Mac ready to stream its contents over your home network.
Now head over to any of your smart devices in your home ie. Xbox, Playstation, Smart TV etc. (If using a TV you will need to change the source, just like you would when switching to a console etc.)
You should now see the Serviio server that's running on your mac on your smart device, select a file from the shared Directory and sit back and enjoy!
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Happy streaming!
