Airparrot 2 for Mac Download Domain_10 UPDATED

Announced in tardily 2010, AirPlay enables Apple users with the latest iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macs to wirelessly stream audio and video to the Apple tree TV ($67.99 at Adorama). The hitch is that the protocol requires the latest Apple hardware, which leaves users of Windows, Chrome, or Macs sold before mid-2011 out in the cold. Squirrels' AirParrot two utility ($14.99; $62.99 for 5 licenses), yet, offers comparable video and audio broadcasting for those PCs, Chromebooks, and aging Macs.

While AirParrot originally focused but on the Apple Tv, developer Squirrels has expanded support to include Google Chromecast ($67.99 at Adorama), AirPlay-enabled speakers, and just about any device running the company's Reflector protocol. Simply this added functionality has also added to the price. The latest version of AirParrot costs l per centum more than the last version; nonetheless, users volition likely detect that this refined utility is worth the price.

Getting Connected
My involvement in AirParrot emerged from personal necessity. Soon after purchasing my Apple tree TV, I realized that my MacBook didn't support AirPlay. In searching for a workaround, I discovered AirParrot, then at version 1.5, which purported to practice everything AirPlay did and more, and with more than generous hardware back up. That was all true, and the latest version has only improved the utility's abilities. While I tested AirParrot 2 on a mid-2010 MacBook Pro in conjunction with a tertiary-gen Apple TV, Squirrels supports Macs, PCs, and devices running the Chrome OS.

On the Mac, installing AirParrot is as easy as dragging and dropping it into the Applications folder. Afterward you open it, the utility appears in your menu bar for piece of cake admission. From its driblet-down menu, you can access video-mirroring and media-streaming settings, adjust video quality (from low to very high), or fifty-fifty set up a maximum frame rate (past default video streams at 30fps, which may exist too high for slower networks). Connecting to wireless devices, such as the Apple Television or Google Chromecast, is as simple as clicking their interface icons. The latest version of AirParrot fifty-fifty supports Bluetooth Discovery and Quick Connect Codes, through which you lot tin connect to other types of devices.

More than One Mode to Share
Several sharing options appeared after I connected the Mac to the Apple Idiot box. Outset, you can share your desktop, which might be useful if yous wanted to troubleshoot on the big screen. More than valuable for my purposes, nevertheless, was AirParrot's power to share a detail application window—ideal for watching curt Spider web clips or peer-editing a document. With version i.5, I used awarding sharing to stream video, but I found that, unless I dropped the streaming settings, the video oftentimes stuttered. Version 2 addresses this problem.

Non only does video now wait better from a shared awarding, but Squirrels as well offers dedicated media sharing. Using media sharing, I found that Squirrels's video performance rivaled that of AirPlay from an iPhone half dozen. Not only does the video look better, but thanks to Squirrels' support for 5.ane environs sound, videos also sound bang-up on home theaters. My i complaint about the media sharing is the limited video controls: You scan ahead in video using a tiny—and imprecise—slider.

AirParrot 2 also supports streaming to Airdrome Express routers, and it tin even simultaneously stream your media to multiple devices. This means that if you have two televisions, i paired with an Apple Boob tube and a second continued to a Chromecast, yous can watch the same video on both screens.

AirPlay Plus
AirParrot ii earns our Editors' Choice accolade because it brings AirPlay to the exiles: aging Macs, Windows PCs, and Google Chromebooks. Now that Squirrels has improved video streaming, AirParrot rivals, and potentially exceeds, AirPlay thanks to its effortless interface and generous third-party back up. The utility is more expensive than its previous iteration, but Squirrels has done a lot of work both nether and in a higher place the hood to make it worth the price. Families might find that the five-computer license ($62.99) an attractive deal, and anyone interested in trying before buying tin get started take a chance-gratuitous by downloading the 7-24-hour interval trial.