Best AirPlay Apps For Android: Gettin' That Dream Stream

Apple’s AirPlay technology has gone from something that barely caught anyone’s attention when first introduced to a growing power feature of the Apple TV. AirPlay allows you to effortlessly stream any music or videos from your iPhone, iPad, or latest Macs right to your Apple TV. It even lets you mirror the entire display, which easily allows the Apple TV to turn any iOS device loaded with games into a pretty slick mini gaming console. But one thing that AirPlay doesn’t do is give a toss about Android. This could actually be considered a huge oversight on Apple’s part as many Apple TV households have a mix of iOS and Android devices. But knowing Apple, it’s a calculated move that’s designed to keep people in their ecosystem - and keep them buying Macs, and iPhones, and iPads that all work effortlessly with the Apple TV. Yet all is not lost, for there are other options. There’s a new range of Android apps that have found ways into Apple’s locked kingdom and allow you to use your smartphone or tablet with the Apple TV via AirPlay.

There is a myriad of apps on the Play Store allow you to do this, though some are of course a lot better than others. We’ve gone through selected and tested out some of the best so you don’t have to. Here’s our selection of the best AirPlay apps for Android. One thing to note is we only tested those on Google Play that use “AirPlay” as a keyword or in the description itself. The majority of these apps turn your Android device into an AirPlay receiver, which means you can stream music from iTunes on your Mac or PC to your Android device. That’s great and all, but in order to get your content from your Android device onto the Apple TV you need to turn your Android phone into a AirPlay transmitter, which the following apps do. This is the king of the jungle when it comes to AirPlay streaming apps.

AllCast lets you send photos, music, and videos on your Android to your Apple TV. Another big plus is that the content doesn’t have to be local. It can be hosted in the cloud and you can simply beam it to your Apple TV at will. The app also supports more than the Apple TV. Roku, Xbox One and 360, Chromecast, WDTV, and a host of smart TVs are also supported. The free version of AllCast has a one-minute streaming window, so it’s great to test it out. The full version will run you £3.00. AirStream allows you to send music and audio from your Android to any AirPlay-enabled receiver. As the Apple TV itself is an AirPlay-enabled receiver, this is a great way to get your audio from some of your favorite apps, including DoubleTwist, Spotify, Rdio, Google Play Music, and TuneIn, to your Apple TV. AirStream does have a few drawbacks, however.

It only handles audio and it also does require you to root your phone. The app is also time-limited, so after you've used it for a while you’ll need to pay around £4.00 via in-app purchase to unlock it fully. Forget about its cumbersome name, AppleTV AirPlay Media Player is a great way to stream audio and video to your Apple TV. This all-in-one app connects your music, podcasts, and radio and allows you to sync to your phone or laptop from AirSync over Wi-Fi. The app itself is free, but in order to unlock AirSync and AirPlay to Apple TV you have to buy the upgrade. The upgraded version also allows you to manage podcasts and perform album art searches. The best part about the app is that it automatically imports iTunes playlists, ratings and play counts and that you can stream music, not only to Apple TV but also to Xbox 360 consoles, the PS3 and Sonos. AirAudio streams audio-signals from apps on Android devices to any AirPlay-enabled receiver, including the Apple TV.