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I've been searching on this site and can't find exactly what I'm looking for: I have a PC (can run Linux or Windows) that's connected to my surround-sound speakers. When my friends come around they can listen to their music by connecting their phone to my speakers using a standard 3.5mm jack.

Is there a way that would let them connect their phone via WiFi to my PC and they could just play their music like they are connected directly to the speakers via a 3.5mm jack? One of the main requirements would be that they could use the standard music player in their phone.

Also does anyone know if this software or configuration this would require on the PC side to work?

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  • Please note that Is there an app for X questions are off topic, as well as things targeting at development (see our FAQ for details). I rephrased your question slightly to make it fit our rules :)
    – Izzy ♦
    Apr 3, 2013 at 17:31
  • This was part of the purpose of the not-quite-fully-baked Nexus Q, wasn't it?
    – ale
    Apr 3, 2013 at 17:54
  • @AlEverett: The Nexus Q only streamed directly from Google's servers, not actually from phone => NQ. In this use case it would seem to be effectively the same as long as you were using Google Music, but media solely on the phone wouldn't be available.
    – eldarerathis
    Apr 3, 2013 at 18:33
  • Also, this seems like a possible dupe of Stream music on Android to Desktop speakers
    – eldarerathis
    Apr 3, 2013 at 18:35

6 Answers 6

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There is a program that does this for the iPhone call shairport4w. It basically uses the air play feature of the iPhone to play all audio through a wifi router to a pc running this software.

Edit: Ok so download Airstream. Then go to the PC you want to play from, and download Shairport4w. You'll need the bonjour service from apple installed for this to work and if I remember correctly there is a way to install only the service without installing all of iTunes. I think it is get the iTunes full package installer and extract it as if it were an archive and only install the bounjour package.

After installing bonjour start shairport4w since it is only a small program running in the background. Then start Airstream. It should find your PC that has shairport4w running on it and then start playing whatever you want. It will go over wifi and play on the PC. I tried is using Amazon Cloud player and it worked great.

Edit: I've just added the links to the mentioned software. Though Kevin explains it the other way around (streaming from PC to Android, so he's probably rather referring to this Airstream app), the app I've linked above is the one for Android → PC streaming.

Edit (2): This actually is stream any music player on the Android Device to your PC via WiFi. The new name for the app is Allstream. Look for it in the Play store. Unfortunately for it to work, you're phone or tablet must be rooted. I use it all the time since my Sound system is hooked up to my PC as it is a Media Center, and listen to Pandora, Google Music and Amazon Music from my tablet through the PC.

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    Links to the apps and programs would be good.
    – Peanut
    Mar 10, 2014 at 21:04
  • Just added them. Still, the answer lacks one requirement: One of the main requirements would be that they could use the standard music player in their phone. This answer requires them to install a different app for that.
    – Izzy ♦
    Mar 11, 2014 at 17:19
  • Thanks for taking the time to write that, going to try out he Bluetooth suggestion below ...
    – handles
    Mar 13, 2014 at 10:39
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If you can skip the part with the "standard music player", there would be some solutions involving DLNA/uPnP. This would require an uPnP compatible device at your speakers end (e.g. a fitting programm on your PC), and a streaming app on the devices.

Some devices have such a streaming app pre-installed, so you can share directly from your device. If not, you find several apps on the Playstore, e.g. BubbleUPnP. They act as a "DLNA/uPnP server" (mentioned BubbleUPnP can act as client as well, in the other direction, so basically you could use this on an Android device connected to your speakers instead of your PC as "receiving end" as well).

As for the PC software, you might check with our friends at AskUbuntu for a Linux solution, there are plenty available -- see e.g. UPNP / DLNA (client) player recommendations?, where several good choices are mentioned. I cannot speak for Windows, as I live in a MS-free zone :)

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Use VLC direct. Using this app you can watch movies, play songs, view pics on your PC screen via VLC player.

Requirements: VLC on PC

After installing VLC on PC, you need to run a script which can be found.

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  • doesn't work anymore
    – Tek
    Jun 20, 2020 at 3:19
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If your computer has Bluetooth capability, it may be easier to use this for streaming the audio.

You need to enable A2DP on your Bluetooth settings (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), then you pair the phone with the computer and all multimedia audio from the phone will be played by the computer.

This means you can use the default music playing app and play your Google cloud stored music too.

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  • Thanks for this , sounds like a simple plan! Was even thinking of getting a 3.5 jack to blue tooth adapter and just plug it straight into speaker system . cheers .
    – handles
    Mar 13, 2014 at 10:39
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Use the application on Google Play called AirSong.

This application lets you listen to the music you have on your device at any PC with a browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera).

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Squeezebox by Logitech. Allows you to play your music as well as pandora remotely to PC. http://www.mysqueezebox.com/download

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  • Could you please include some more information? Especially a link to what you recommend would be helpful. As it stands now, it's not that helpful otherwise.
    – Izzy ♦
    Sep 26, 2014 at 12:21

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