Newbie questions: media sharing/web streaming on Apple TV?

[macstatic]

Excuse me if this is the wrong group and my question is too basic, but I'm wondering if Apple TV is the way to go, or if I need to use something else....

I want to:
- watch live video streams on our TV (i.e. Grace Church Live which streams in either HTML5 or in Flash)
- watch videos on our TV which are on my Mac (iTunes)

I have a (mid-2010) Mac Pro (where my iTunes library resides) and a Mabook Pro (mid-2012), and we have a wired (ethernet) network. The Macbook Pro, being portable, and with a Lightning connector will apparently allow me to (using a Lightning to HDMI adapter) connect its output to the TV, as I can physically place it next to the TV as well (unlike the Mac Pro which is physically a distance from the TV). I believe that's one solution, but it would be better with a more dedicated and permanent connection than using the Macbook Pro, so would an Apple TV (current or older model) allow attaching to the TV and doing the same thing, or is it just for use with online media services (Netflix etc.)?

 

[cmaier]

Excuse me if this is the wrong group and my question is too basic, but I'm wondering if Apple TV is the way to go, or if I need to use something else....

I want to:
- watch live video streams on our TV (i.e. Grace Church Live which streams in either HTML5 or in Flash)
- watch videos on our TV which are on my Mac (iTunes)

I have a (mid-2010) Mac Pro (where my iTunes library resides) and a Mabook Pro (mid-2012), and we have a wired (ethernet) network. The Macbook Pro, being portable, and with a Lightning connector will apparently allow me to (using a Lightning to HDMI adapter) connect its output to the TV, as I can physically place it next to the TV as well (unlike the Mac Pro which is physically a distance from the TV). I believe that's one solution, but it would be better with a more dedicated and permanent connection than using the Macbook Pro, so would an Apple TV (current or older model) allow attaching to the TV and doing the same thing, or is it just for use with online media services (Netflix etc.)?

With the Apple TV you can definitely stream from your computer. You turn on “Home Sharing” in iTunes on your computer, and then you can see your media library from the apple tv and stream from it.

Can’t help you with he grace church thing. Don’t know what a church is or why you would stream it. Generally, though, there is no web browser on Apple TV, so to stream you need a corresponding app.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Don't mention 'Flash' it's the same as swearing in church!!!

I guess with the church site you'll be able to AirPlay Mirror from your MacBook Pro directly to the Apple TV. Even better if there's true AirPlay from it. Are they using YouTube for their live event?

 

[macstatic]

Yeah, I'm not too happy about Flash myself, having experienced lots of problems with it throughout the years on the Mac platform and go with other options if possible Fortunately you can choose between Flash and HTML5 from the Church's live streaming! I think they use some service from IBM for their streaming, not Youtube.

Good to hear that streaming from my Mac's iTunes library is possible. That's one problem solved 😀 Can I do that via a wired (ethernet) network as well, or just Wifi?

I'm not familiar with Airplay so I looked it up and it appears I need OSX Catalina which I don't have -I'm on 10.11 El Capitan). Is it possible to do it via a wired network? Come to think of it: since iTunes can be streamed to Apple TV, is there a way to stream from the web (i.e. the church link mentioned earlier) and have Apple TV receive it just like any streaming audio, video etc. ?
Perhaps some sort of media server software on the Mac can be used which Apple TV can receive?

Oh, I also noticed from the specs of the various Apple TV models that some of them have USB -can it be used to insert a USB stick with say MP4 video files on it, instead of just relying on the iTunes media stream from the Mac?

 

[Longkeg]

Catalina is required for Airplay 2. What you want to do only requires Airplay which El Capitan is more than capable of handling. Most iOS devices will also Airplay to the ATV. Airplay will work on either wired or wifi network. Choose whichever is fastest.

The ability to stream from iTunes is baked in to both the a Mac OS and the ATV OS and it has limitations. Only file formats supported by iTunes will stream. There are excellent third party solutions for streaming to the ATV. Check out VLC, Infuse and Plex as streaming apps for the ATV.

As for streaming from websites: The ATV doesn’t support web browsing. The only way to do it directly from the ATV is if the website developes and distributes an app dedicated to the task. For example: all YouTube content is streamed on the ATV via the YouTube app. Netflix streams through the Netflix app etc. If a content provider wants his stuff on ATV he needs to supply an app. If there is no streaming app available the only alternative is to airplay from a source that supports browser streaming... like a Mac running El Capitan.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

Any reason why you are on El Capitan? Your 2012 MacBook Pro should work well with High Sierra plus you'll gain far more security benefits!


HomeSharing is the easy way to go since all of your videos are in iTunes on your Mac - same as me here - I have everything in my iTunes library all under one roof and my iTunes films stream directly from Apple's servers - all flawless and stress free

 

[macstatic]

OK, if I understand you correctly you're saying that I can indeed watch the live web-streaming (https://www.gracechurch.org/live) on our TV (connected to an Apple TV via HDMI), also by using a wired network?

I checked my Mac Pro (mid-2010) but couldn't get any Airplay icon to show up, as this article explains, using Youtube videos playing in Safari on the Mac as an example. Then I read further in another article and found out that although I have OSX 10.11 (El Capitan) and 10.8 (Mountain Lion) is the minimum OSX version, only Mac Pro hardware from late 2013 and beyond support this feature.

That leave my mid-2012 Macbook Pro (OSX 10.9.5) which, according to the article, supports Airplay. I just checked, and yes -when I go to the "Displays" system preference and have "Show mirroring options in the menu bar when available" enabled there's an "Airplay: no devices detected" right above it.
I tried opening a Youtube video in Safari, but couldn't get any Airplay icon to show up for some reason.
In any case, if I need to use my Macbook Pro in order to see web-streaming sites on the Apple TV I might just as well buy a Lightning to HDMI adapter and connect that computer directly to the TV. The only advantage will be that I can place the Macbook Pro anywhere in the house as long as it's connected to the LAN network (as opposed to placing the Macbook Pro physically next to the TV in order to use the HDMI adapter cable).

You said iTunes only supports certain file formats and that there are other streaming apps I can use. iTunes works fine for me with all my files, but do those streaming apps support browser-streaming sites as well?
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Any reason why you are on El Capitan? Your 2012 MacBook Pro should work well with High Sierra plus you'll gain far more security benefits!

Yes, I've just upgraded from 10.9 Mavericks to 10.11, and that was only because of a newly purchased iPad not being compatible with my current iTunes (which in turn needed a newer OSX). And I'm keeping to 10.11 because the current OSX won't support several of my apps.

HomeSharing is the easy way to go since all of your videos are in iTunes on your Mac - same as me here - I have everything in my iTunes library all under one roof and my iTunes films stream directly from Apple's servers - all flawless and stress free

I don't have any prior experience with sharing the iTunes library, but from what I understand you can either share your files directly between the various computers in your home, or you can set it up via Apple's servers and for instance access media files on a computer at home even if you're physically in another location -the latter is what you're talking about, right?

 

[Longkeg]

The reason “ no AirPlay device detected “ came up is simple: you have no Airplay device on your network for your Mac to detect. It’s looking for an AirPlay device to automatically connect to, like an Apple TV maybe? Connect a property configured AppleTV on your network and watch that AirPlay icon light up.

For what it’s worth, you may be better off with an HDMI connection from the computer directly to the TV. People who’ve mastered this type of thing generally have put in many hours of research, not to mention lots of trial and error tinkering. If it’s true that we learn from our errors than I suspect there are a lot of geniuses on these forums.

 

[macstatic]

Thanks for clearing up the "no Airplay device" message, which makes perfectly sense of course. Unfortunately I don't have any Apple TV to try out.

Yes, connecting my Macbook Pro to the TV with an HDMI adapter might be easier so I might go for that. But since I use it for other stuff, it's not very practical to work on next to the TV and it'll be distracting with the Macbook Pro screen on while watching TV next to it I want to give the Apple TV (or some other stand-alone device) a good look.
I've found several sites describing how to install a web browser into ATV, such as here, involving some Xcode "hacking" on the Mac in order to install it on the ATV. I realize it'll be cumbersome to use as a day to day web-browser, but as long as I can enter a couple of bookmarks (like that church's live web-stream) so it can display it on the TV in full-screen I'll be perfectly happy
Has anyone reading tried installing a browser that way? Care to share your experiences here?

 

[26139]

I've found several sites describing how to install a web browser into ATV, such as here, involving some Xcode "hacking" on the Mac in order to install it on the ATV. I realize it'll be cumbersome to use as a day to day web-browser, but as long as I can enter a couple of bookmarks (like that church's live web-stream) so it can display it on the TV in full-screen I'll be perfectly happy
Has anyone reading tried installing a browser that way? Care to share your experiences here?

You can just use the Apple TV as an external monitor (well, the TV monitor attached to your Apple TV, anyway) to be able to watch your church videos.
You can either mirror or use it as a separate display, wirelessly via your laptop, and not bother with setting up a web browser on your Apple TV itself.