4

Currently I am using ES File Explorer + MX Player to play audio and video files for this.

Unfortunately it has some problems:

  1. MX Player sees only current playing file, not a directory. So I can't jump to next file from within player. I need to go back to ES Explorer to go to next file.

  2. Sometimes if there is a connection problem, the video just closes and later can be started only from the beginning. In correct software, the video should wait until the source is available again.

  3. Some players are not displayed for certain file types at all. If I force using them, they say

    This file type does not support streaming

    and then starting to copy entire file to local storage before playing. Correct software should simulate normal directory from SMB shares so that applications could not know that the source is remote.

Improve this question

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
3

VLC for Android plays media from SMB shares. I use VLC on my tablet, my little Android set top box and about to put it on my firesticks. I also use VLC on my Windows and Linux PC's.

Improve this answer
1

For music try Samba Player, though it doesn't support video.

Link: Samba Player on Google Play

Description:

"Listen to your network stored music collection as if it was all on your phone! Enjoy music right away, no complicated setup required.

Samba Player works with shared folders from Windows, Linux, Mac, home routers, media players, network drives (NAS) or any network device that can share folders."

Improve this answer
2
  • Could you provide the download link and the official description of the app? Thank you.
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 9:36
  • apologies for the rush - wrote now
    – RumburaK
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 10:43
1

Now that ES File Explorer has jumped the shark somewhat, I asked in our chat about possible replacements, and Solid Explorer File Manager is a good replacement. It can stream via FTP, SFTP, SMB, and WebDAV, along with plugins for other protocols and cloud services. It can stream audio and video into other players such as VLC. That combination of apps will do exactly what you're asking for.

N.B. VLC is free software (both gratis and libre), but Solid Explorer is non-free.

Improve this answer
0

If you have root, you could use an app to really mount the share locally. Maybe this will work. (ES file explorer only serves the files from a local webserver and tells MXPlayer to play them from there.)

If you don't have root, you could play the files directly in ES file explorer (ES music player), it works well that way.

Improve this answer
0

Try XenoAmp (for audio) - it plays off SMB natively (you don't need to use ES Explorer) and does it by streaming! No audio file is copied to your device while playing, it is streamed directly from your SMB share. Plus - if you tap audio file in external file browser like ES Explorer, XenoAmp will create a playlist of whole directory with the selected file in it. Sounds like it is exactly what you need, right?

Improve this answer
0

I use BSPlayer it has browse LAN option that allows me view/select to play video files and mp3 files stored on my windows shares.

For your second option, the only time I loose connection to the share is when my tablet looses connection with my wireless router. This is rare for me since I do most of my work near the router.

For option 3 I can play avi mp4 mkv files with no problems

the official site says BS.Player ™ is the software movie and media player that supports all popular video and audio media file types, containers and formats such as: WebM, Xvid, avi, mpg, mpeg-1, mpeg-2, mpeg-4, 3ivx, YouTube streaming video, AVC HD (avchd player), QT QuickTime mov, RM Real media, OGM, Matroska , mkv, asf, wmv, DV, m1v, m2v, mp4, mpv, swf, vob and wav, mpa, mp1, mp2, mp3, Ogg, aac, aif, ram, wma, flv (Flash and YouTube Video) and much more!

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this answer
0

I have been using USB Audio Player PRO (yes, it costs money after a short trial, but the developers are very responsive on bug reports and feature requests) very successfully. It supports SAMBA well and works quickly with very little cache (actually can be troublesome with MORE cache). Other network options are UPnP/DLNA and internet radio stations, allowing you to add custom stations so you can even create your own. Shoutcast and TIDAL are also supported. The premium app I had been using before (begins with "N" ends with "ron") worked OK if I connected to a small network source, but its insistence on creating a local catalog of the entire resource sent it into deep space and used space I didn't have on internal and external cards combined. The real reason I have now totally switched to USB...PRO was its support of an external DAC. I have several USB DAC implrementations from Zorloo.com Z:ERO earbuds with tiny DAC integrated in the cable ($39-a steal!) to a full size DAC that integrates with my home music system. I can really hear a difference between my music straight from my S4 headphone jack vs the USB DAC. NOTE: My ears aren't quite good enough to hear the difference between a ~$100 DAC vs a ~$500 DAC, so I'm not a menace to my wife's budget! Give it a try and see what you think. BTW - My music is mostly FLAC some APE. The outstanding stuff is 24/192. The stupid stuff is people who buy a CD and rip it to 24/192 thinking there is some magic process that is going to improve the red sound on the CD. Like people who convert 128MP3 to lossless to improve the quality. Of course, you do upgrade to perfect copy of the 128 kbps MP3!

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .