I've just bought and jailbroken (using jailbreakme.com) an iPad 2 running 4.3.3. I'd love to be able to transfer videos from my computer and watch them without having to convert to an Apple-friendly format (AVI, WMV, MKV, etc.). What's the best solution for this? The only one I've been able to find by searching is yxplayer, but that seems buggy. Are there better solutions for the jailbroken?
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Video watching apps
- Thread starter ramparts
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Welcome to the JB community.
I personally enjoy Oplayer HD, but until recently I've come across XBMC player. What I like most about this application is I can watch video content (in many many many formats) str8 from my SD card with the camera connection kit. Unlike other players, I had to copy the video files from the SD card, onto the iPad, then load them into the video player. Normally, I would need iFile to transfer from the SD card to the iPad, and I would use either Oplayer or AVIplayer. Either or were the same for me... But XBMC took those extra steps out of the equation, and direct playing from the SD reader amazing.
I personally enjoy Oplayer HD, but until recently I've come across XBMC player. What I like most about this application is I can watch video content (in many many many formats) str8 from my SD card with the camera connection kit. Unlike other players, I had to copy the video files from the SD card, onto the iPad, then load them into the video player. Normally, I would need iFile to transfer from the SD card to the iPad, and I would use either Oplayer or AVIplayer. Either or were the same for me... But XBMC took those extra steps out of the equation, and direct playing from the SD reader amazing.
I second xbmc, although I dont have it set up to stream video over the internet. Intranet video/audio is really good.
Airvideo does a real good job with streaming video over the internet. If you have a computer which seconds as a server, you run airvideo windows based software, which serves up the videos to the airvideo app on your idevice. The windows software performs a " live conversion" of various video formats. It works pretty well, even at 3g speeds.
Another good option is Playon by mediamall. You will also need a dedicated server for this app, which gives you access both to local media as well as Netflix, Hulu, and multiple internet channel based streaming video. Playon also seems to do well at 3g speeds, but not as well as AirVideo IMO.
Streaming video is a nice solution b/c it doesnt take up any storage space on your idevice.
Airvideo does a real good job with streaming video over the internet. If you have a computer which seconds as a server, you run airvideo windows based software, which serves up the videos to the airvideo app on your idevice. The windows software performs a " live conversion" of various video formats. It works pretty well, even at 3g speeds.
Another good option is Playon by mediamall. You will also need a dedicated server for this app, which gives you access both to local media as well as Netflix, Hulu, and multiple internet channel based streaming video. Playon also seems to do well at 3g speeds, but not as well as AirVideo IMO.
Streaming video is a nice solution b/c it doesnt take up any storage space on your idevice.
Thanks guys! Just to clarify, I'm not looking for a streaming solution since most of the time I'll be watching videos I'll be away from my local network (otherwise I would just watch the videos off of my computer). I want to transfer the files to my iPad (I have plenty of storage space) and watch them locally. Is xbmc the best app for that? I can't find it on the App Store, it looks like all the xbmc apps there are either for streaming or are remotes.
I tried OPlayer HD and BUZZ Player. They are very similar, and both support almost all types of video formats (i.e. .mov, .avi, .flv, etc.) So no conversions required.
Aloha!
I think XBMC would be a good solution for you. It can handle a wide variety of audio and video formats. Open Cydia and add the repository: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/ios
Then, install XBMC via Cydia.
Addendum: You said you recently j/b your iPad. I don't know if that means you are new to Cydia or not. I thought I should give you a bit more direction in terms of adding a repository.
Open Cydia, at the bottom of the screen click on "Sources" -> click "Edit" in the upper right of the screen -> click "Add" in the upper left of the screen -> enter the URL: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/ios -> Add Source -> click "Done" in upper right corner. Now, click on the "teamXBMC" entry and select the XBMC-iOS software.
Then, install XBMC via Cydia.
Addendum: You said you recently j/b your iPad. I don't know if that means you are new to Cydia or not. I thought I should give you a bit more direction in terms of adding a repository.
Open Cydia, at the bottom of the screen click on "Sources" -> click "Edit" in the upper right of the screen -> click "Add" in the upper left of the screen -> enter the URL: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/ios -> Add Source -> click "Done" in upper right corner. Now, click on the "teamXBMC" entry and select the XBMC-iOS software.
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Done, thanks for the tip! And I'm familiar enough with Cydia that I was able to add the repository and install Cydia but thanks very much for making the effort to write the steps out 
I'll give XBMC a try soon.
EDIT: First newb question, how do I transfer video files over from my computer? xbmc seems to allow you to find videos anywhere on the iPad drive, but I'm not sure how to put videos on there except through iTunes (which I'd think would require conversion).
I'll give XBMC a try soon.EDIT: First newb question, how do I transfer video files over from my computer? xbmc seems to allow you to find videos anywhere on the iPad drive, but I'm not sure how to put videos on there except through iTunes (which I'd think would require conversion).
I would suggest setting up a couple subdirectories. I would arbitrarily set it up like this:
SFTP to your iPad and navigate to: /var/mobile
Make a new subdirectory: Movies
Now all you have to do is SFTP your movies to that subdirectory and can avoid syncing altogether. In the XBMC interface for Videos -> Add Videos -> Browse -> Home folder then select your Movies folder. (Obviously, you can do this for Music and Pictures as well).
Download AVPlayerHD. Nothing else comes close.
Plays any format, simply drag and drop from computer to app via iTunes, adds subtitles if you wish, smaller files can be sent via wifi, you can create and delete folders from within the app giving you file access to any vid and placing it anywhere you want and of course easily delete vids when you are done watching them, freeing up storage space.
It really is the easiest and best program out there.
Plays any format, simply drag and drop from computer to app via iTunes, adds subtitles if you wish, smaller files can be sent via wifi, you can create and delete folders from within the app giving you file access to any vid and placing it anywhere you want and of course easily delete vids when you are done watching them, freeing up storage space.
It really is the easiest and best program out there.
Thanks! Is there any particular reason this is better than uploading movies through iTunes using an app like Buzz player?
I'll try AVPlayerHD too.
I'm currently using Buzz, but if anyone can compare this to oplayer, AVPlayerHD, or any of the other similar apps to save me a few bucks and some time, I would appreciate it! Thanks to everyone who's helped out in this thread so far
Not only this but the most recent version added an FTP client so I can ftp into my NAS from the iPAD and copy the files over to AVPlayerHD over wifi without the need of a computer.