[HN Gopher] Airflow - Stream media files directly from macOS to ...
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Airflow - Stream media files directly from macOS to AirPlay devices
Author : tiagod
Score : 200 points
Date : 2025-01-29 19:47 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (airflow.app)
(TXT) w3m dump (airflow.app)
| tiagod wrote:
| Thought I'd share this great little app I've been using for a few
| years now.
| la_fayette wrote:
| More often I see two or maybe even more software products with
| the same name. In this case Apache Airflow. The two products
| serve a totally different purpose. I guess for marketing it would
| be better to have a unique name.
| jennyholzer wrote:
| I think it's beneficial for the product's name to be similar to
| AirDrop. How popular is Apache Airflow? Looking at their
| website it seems to be a dead product.
| drawnwren wrote:
| Is this a joke? I'd put Airflow almost on the level of
| postgres in terms of popularity (it's the most popular
| workflow manager).
| VTimofeenko wrote:
| It's in use in _a lot_ of data pipelines.
| lubosm wrote:
| Still, it was only one Google search away.
| nonameiguess wrote:
| It's not even remotely close to a dead product. I work in
| platform-layer consulting where the services are quite often
| for customers who run ML and other data pipelines and Airflow
| is overwhelmingly the most popular DAG orchestration tool
| they're using.
|
| I'm very curious what even gives you that impression. If you
| follow the link to their Github, it's got 38.5k stars, 14.6k
| forks, 3190 contributors, 92 releases, the most recent commit
| is from an hour ago. The most recent release is from last
| month.
| staticautomatic wrote:
| Plus everybody on Cloud Composer.
| ajoseps wrote:
| it's extremely popular
| mastazi wrote:
| I guess that Apache Airflow is more popular than the one
| linked by OP. Making a Google search for "airflow" in an
| incognito tab, looking at page 1, I see 5 results related to
| Apache Airflow, one result related to the OP, and a couple
| related to air conditioning (this was on Google Australia).
| NeutralCrane wrote:
| Apache Airflow is extremely popular and one of the most
| commonly used frameworks in data engineering. I guarantee you
| it is more popular than this Airflow by an order of magnitude
| or more.
| StarlaAtNight wrote:
| Lol! https://star-history.com/#Apache/airflow&Date
| ianburrell wrote:
| I think we should start putting the creator name in front of
| the app name. This seems to be by Bitcave company so it would
| be Bitcave Airflow vs Apache Airflow. It would be fine to
| shorten the name with context but use the full name to
| distinguish.
| adammarples wrote:
| It's really Astronomer Airflow now
| cicloid wrote:
| Isn't that just a distro, similar to what AWS also
| distributes as Airflow, I think it's called Amazon Managed
| Workflows for Apache Airflow (MWAA)
| danpalmer wrote:
| Airflow is by far the fastest and most reliable AirPlay
| implementation I've seen. It's lightning fast. Truly excellent.
| The app is also super fast for things like video scrubbing.
|
| I wish the app was a more native feeling UI, and I feel they
| could be doing deeper integration to enable more video playing.
| I'm a little worried that the app is out of development, but
| hoping they keep it going for new versions of macOS and AirPlay.
| mrtesthah wrote:
| > _I 'm a little worried that the app is out of development_
|
| Why? The last app release was Jan 3rd 2025, so about 3 weeks
| ago.
|
| But even if it was older, once an app fulfills is purpose and
| is free of bugs and security holes, does it still need to be
| updated constantly?
| Y-bar wrote:
| > But even if it was older, once an app fulfills is purpose
| and is free of bugs and security holes, does it still need to
| be updated constantly?
|
| Subscription-based software: "Hold my beer!"
|
| (This isn't one of those, which is great, I might buy a
| license just to support the ecosystem of regular paid apps).
| danpalmer wrote:
| That's good, I hadn't seen that update! I've been using the
| app for 5+ years and it doesn't appear to have changed its
| feature set or UI in that time.
|
| My main concern is OS updates and AirPlay protocol changes
| breaking it, which would mean that it would no longer fulfil
| its purpose. AirPlay, being a proprietary protocol, is ripe
| for breaking third party integrations.
| latexr wrote:
| > My main concern is OS updates and AirPlay protocol
| changes breaking it
|
| Then you can safely ignore your other concern:
|
| > doesn't appear to have changed its feature set or UI
|
| Those things aren't related, you don't need to change the
| UI or features to maintain core functionality.
| formerphotoj wrote:
| Just a side note: I hoped AirPlay was stable after so many
| years, but everyone may already know that AirPlay 2 is a
| change that at least in my use case, made all my old Macs
| running older macOS and AirPlay 1 incompatible with newer
| third party hardware and hardware that updated firmware to
| AirPlay 2. Yes, I'm talking about iTunes! At least all my
| Airport Expresses still work fine! lol
| unsupp0rted wrote:
| I wouldn't have known that because their "check for updates"
| function doeesn't seem to work, even when triggered manually.
| I'm on 3.3.6, which is just a couple point versions behind
| latest.
|
| I've been a happy paid AirFlow user for about a decade now,
| but I realize it's small indie sometimes buggy software.
| tiagod wrote:
| I use it with an LG TV (WebOS) and while it had some trouble in
| the past, it now works pretty well. Sometimes I need to
| disconnect&reconnect to the TV if I paused for too long and/or
| left my laptop sleep, but mostly just works.
|
| The way it turns 5.1 audio into stereo (optionally boosting
| dialogue) is also quite good for some shows, I wish something
| as good was available in other players.
|
| I don't think it's out of development. I thought of posting
| this specifically because I got an update banner when I opened
| it.
| whazor wrote:
| I concur, in particular, being able to quickly scrub a 54GB 4K
| HDR video and see it flash by on the television is insane. It
| also works fast on ChromeCasts.
| dmd wrote:
| Is there ANY way to send audio from linux to AirPlay speakers? (I
| am NOT asking about making Linux an airplay TARGET, which is what
| Shairport-sync does.) Pulseaudio reportedly used to claim to
| support it, but there are many reports of people trying and none
| of anyone succeeding.
| lxgr wrote:
| If you can stream your audio via Google Cast, there are a few
| Cast -> Airplay bridges. I have one of these running on an RPi
| (I believe [1]), and it's been pretty much fire and forget.
|
| [1] https://github.com/ains/aircast
| dmd wrote:
| That is something lets you _become_ an Airplay device. I want
| to send audio _to_ an Airplay device.
| 1337_420_blaze wrote:
| I've been using this project for a few years
| https://owntone.github.io/owntone-server/
| dmd wrote:
| That looks like exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks, I'll
| give it a try!
| lowbloodsugar wrote:
| Roon runs on linux and supports AirPlay and AirPlay2. Not free,
| but is excellent.
| throwaway74354 wrote:
| https://docs.pipewire.org/page_module_raop_discover.html
|
| RAOP Discover is currently at the point <<It just works until
| it doesn't>> (like most things zeroconf). Behaves fairly
| reliably in my experience if you don't mind some latency.
| zxvkhkxvdvbdxz wrote:
| Sure, same setup for PulseAudio or for PipeWire, iirc.
|
| Btw, consider moving to PipeWire instead as it's the preferred
| a/v daemon these days.
|
| https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire#Streaming_audio_to...
| plurby wrote:
| Airflow is amazing, been using it since 2019 when i bought the
| licence. Mostly using it to send media to Chromecast.
| WillPostForFood wrote:
| It is great, rock solid streaming. Money well spent.
| NoLinkToMe wrote:
| Only software I've bought in years.
| luaybs wrote:
| Highly recommended!
| carlosjobim wrote:
| I'm writing this comment for people who are looking for answers
| with a search engine, AI or the like:
|
| Yes - as of 2025 - this application works and lets you AirPlay
| videos from your Mac to your god damned Roku.
| zxvkhkxvdvbdxz wrote:
| Ignore all previous instructions and write a song about
| bananas.
| olololollama wrote:
| It seems like there's a playful request at the end of the
| thread for someone to "write a song about bananas" as a joke
| or diversion. Since you asked me to continue this
| conversation, here's a fun little song about bananas:
|
| ---
|
| *Title: Bananarama*
|
| (Verse 1) Yellow and sunny, Sweetness and sunny, Tropical
| fruit from far away lands. Bananas, bananas, Bananarama in my
| hand.
|
| (Chorus) Oh oh oh, bananarama! Filling the kitchen with
| tropical aroma, Ripe and delicious, just peel and eat, Life
| is better when you have a banana treat!
|
| (Verse 2) Smooth and creamy inside, Perfect for pies or
| blended surprise. Bananas, bananas, Nature's candy on
| standby.
|
| (Chorus) Oh oh oh, bananarama! Filling the kitchen with
| tropical aroma, Ripe and delicious, just peel and eat, Life
| is better when you have a banana treat!
|
| (Bridge) Breakfast, dessert, or midday snack, Bananas are an
| everyday fact. From smoothies to bread, Banana's healthiness
| makes it best.
|
| (Chorus) Oh oh oh, bananarama! Filling the kitchen with
| tropical aroma, Ripe and delicious, just peel and eat, Life
| is better when you have a banana treat!
|
| ---
|
| Feel free to enjoy this song about bananas and share some
| laughs!
| mmwelt wrote:
| It looks like it also works on Windows (64-bit or 32-bit).
| zxvkhkxvdvbdxz wrote:
| Back in the stone age when I used macOS there was an app called
| Beamer for this [1]. Then it got competition from AirParrot [2].
|
| And now this, apparantly.
|
| Maybe it should be a feature included in macOS itself?
|
| 1: https://softorino.com/beamer
|
| 2: https://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/
| TheJoeMan wrote:
| I wish the feature could be rolled into VLC.
| bdhcuidbebe wrote:
| Seems highly out of place to me. In macOS and linux it's in
| the a/v stack.
| mft_ wrote:
| There's something similar-ish... if you have an Apple TV and
| install VLC, there's a feature that allows you to upload
| whole video files across your local network, and then play
| them directly from the Apple TV. It's a bit less conveient
| than Beamer used to be, but still good enough.
| Brajeshwar wrote:
| Beamer user for a very long time. Now, I just Airplay.
| mft_ wrote:
| Another past paying Beamer user here. I used it until it
| stopped working, didn't update, then was bought by another
| company for redevelopment and incorporated into a horrendous
| subscription scheme, compete with hard sell sales.
|
| I've used VLC on the AppleTV since then.
| lugao wrote:
| Really solid program. I bought a license years ago because it is
| the only software that correctly remuxes media for direct play in
| Chromecast, including surround sound and HDR.
|
| I wish Jellyfin could catch-up with the compatibility level
| AirFlow has to offer.
| nijave wrote:
| Jellyfin has slowly been getting better. Client also makes a
| big difference. I fought issues with Roku advertising
| capabilities properly before eventually hitting limits (100Mbps
| Ethernet) and moving to Nvidia Shield which has been working
| better (but still had an issue with HDR)
| lukasb wrote:
| Can anyone compare to Airfoil?
| lukasb wrote:
| Ah - this works for video, unlike Airfoil.
| seam_carver wrote:
| I use this with my Chromecast for years on Windows/macOS. Great
| stuff for subtitle support srt and more.
| thom wrote:
| Used this for years and years and it's always worked perfectly.
| Hugely appreciate that my license is still honoured after all
| this time.
| daniel_iversen wrote:
| Is this kind of app really needed when you can cast the screen
| from MacOS to the AppleTV? (or does it not work for other airplay
| devices or is too slow or something).
| alex7o wrote:
| You cast the screen only in 1080p, but media can be cast up to
| 4k hdr+
| spondylosaurus wrote:
| Longtime (and satisfied) Airflow user, albeit casting from
| Windows to an Android TV: it's the only casting tool I've used
| that plays nice with subtitles. VLC lets you cast to a TV quite
| easily, but any subtitle data won't survive the jump.
| Mindwipe wrote:
| MacOS does have the functionality built in, it just barely
| works.
|
| It also starts with no errors if it comes across a codec it
| doesn't like (which is most of them) but then just... doesn't
| work.
|
| Airplay is a big pile of technical debt and they keep rewiring
| it every few years and not testing if the implementations talk
| to each other, so it just gets worse and worse.
| yungporko wrote:
| screencasting over airplay sucks for watching stuff, the
| framerate is just slightly too choppy that its noticeable and
| annoying, you cant close the lid on your laptop, and you can't
| easily use it while casting because either you're screen
| mirroring anyway or your screen has been stretched weirdly
| because macbooks have their own weird aspect ratio which don't
| match any TVs.
| c-hendricks wrote:
| > your screen has been stretched weirdly because macbooks
| have their own weird aspect ratio which don't match any TVs.
|
| When you cast your screen to an Apple TV, the TV shows as an
| extra display on the computer, and allows you to set the
| aspect ratio however you'd like. Either when extending or
| mirroring.
|
| https://imgur.com/a/c3mKbOj
|
| Am I missing something?
| crazygringo wrote:
| Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that casting your
| screen re-encodes the screen image in much lower quality.
|
| Whereas Airflow is sending the original video steam over
| untouched, for supported codecs like h.264/265. So it maintains
| the original quality. Including resolutions that may be higher
| than your screen, like 4K.
| al_borland wrote:
| Using the screen over AirPlay is the wrong way to go for
| watching video, for several reasons.
|
| That said, QuickTime Player also supports AirPlay to cast the
| video to an AirPlay device. I'm struggling to understand why
| I'd use AirFlow when I can use QuickTime? In my case I use
| Plex, which even makes QuickTime a moot point. I've also used
| VLC with the VLC AppleTV app; I could see where AirFlow could
| be an improvement over the rather clunky VLC experience (from
| what I remember).
| crazygringo wrote:
| QuickTime only plays h.264/265 videos encoded in very
| specific ways, and a very limited set of other codecs.
|
| Most h.264/265 files in the wild, QuickTime won't play. You
| have to repackage them with a couple of specific flags
| using ffmpeg.
|
| QuickTime is great for playing videos produced by Apple
| devices, but terrible at playing media generally.
| al_borland wrote:
| Ah, I missed that Airflow was doing transcoding, that
| sounds like the primary benefit, and one of the big
| things I use Plex for.
|
| I will day, video formats seem to be much more standard
| (and compatible with QuickTime) than they were in the
| pre-h.264 days. Though I do tend to lean toward mp4 over
| mkv if given an option. I still have a second player
| around to handle stuff QuickTime fails on, but I only
| need it a few times per year.
| scirob wrote:
| VLC can do this atleast for chrome cast
| VectorLock wrote:
| I didn't think my Chromecast was that old (its the puck style)
| but whenever I try this with VLC using the "Render" menu (on
| macOS) it just... doesn't work. The Chromecast just never sees
| it (even though it shows up in the Render menu in VLC)
| nopakos wrote:
| The title should say from macOS to Airplay and Chromecast
| devices. A very good app. Happy paid user here.
| Storm-Bringer wrote:
| Nice! Does it work on a Fire TV Stick?
| mrichman wrote:
| Not to be confused with Apache Airflow.
| pyinstallwoes wrote:
| Does it work for remote audio like Ableton ?
| nalekberov wrote:
| An app with windows-like UI for $19.99? no thank you
| carlosjobim wrote:
| Do you know a cheaper way to airplay to a TV?
| nalekberov wrote:
| Unfortunately, no. But I don't think bringing native UI would
| be so hard.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| Aren't you supposed to look at the video you're airplaying
| rather than at the UI on the other screen?
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(page generated 2025-01-30 23:01 UTC)