How to Set Up a DLNA/UPnP Media Server on iPhone & iPad for Streaming

Artem Meleshko Founder & Engineer at Everappz

DLNA (also called UPnP AV) is the quiet workhorse behind most smart TVs. It is a shared language that lets a TV or media player find a media library on the same Wi-Fi and play from it, with nothing to install on the TV. If your iPhone or iPad can act as that library, your photos, videos and music show up on the big screen on their own.

This guide shows how to turn your iPhone or iPad into a DLNA/UPnP media server using Everdisk, and how to open that library from a smart TV, a game console, VLC, Kodi, a computer, an Android phone, and even a second iPhone. Everything runs over your local Wi-Fi, so nothing is uploaded anywhere.

What you need

• An iPhone or iPad with Everdisk installed.
• A TV, player or computer on the same Wi-Fi network as your device.
• The photos, videos or music you want to play, already on your iPhone (in the Photos app, the Music app, or the Everdisk Documents folder).

Set up the DLNA server in Everdisk

Step 1: Choose what to share

Open Everdisk and go to the Sharing tab. Tap What to Share and pick your content:

• Turn on Allow access to all Photos Library to share every album, or tap Add Photos to pick a few.
• Turn on Allow access to all Music Library to share your songs, or tap Add Tracks for a selection.
• Add any folders or files with Add Folder and Add File. The app’s own Documents folder is shared by default.

You need at least one item selected before sharing can start.

Step 2: Turn on TV & Media Center (DLNA)

Go to Settings, then Sharing, then Connections. Make sure TV & Media Center is on. It is on by default and carries the DLNA tag. This is the server that TVs and players look for.

Step 3: Start sharing

Back on the Sharing tab, tap the big Start button. Your device is now a media server on your Wi-Fi. It appears to other devices under its friendly name, the one shown as your device name in the app (something like “Speedy-Hare” until you change it).

DLNA streaming is always open, so there is no password to enter on the TV. Keep Everdisk open on screen while you watch, because iOS pauses apps that are pushed fully into the background.

Play on a smart TV

This is the most common case, and it usually takes about thirty seconds.

1. Put the TV on the same Wi-Fi as your iPhone.
2. Open the TV’s built-in media player. The name depends on the brand: Media Player, Gallery, SmartShare (LG), AllShare or SmartThings (Samsung), Content Share, or SimplyShare.
3. Look for the list of media servers or sources. Your device appears there by its name.
4. Select it, browse into your photos, videos or music, and press play.

Preview thumbnails show up automatically, so you can find the right holiday album or movie without guessing.

Which TVs work

Most TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony BRAVIA, Panasonic (VIERA firmware), Philips and Hisense have DLNA built in and work right away. PlayStation and Xbox consoles and most AV receivers do too.

A few platforms leave it out: Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Vizio SmartCast, and plain Google TV without a maker’s media app. If your TV is one of these and cannot find your device, that is usually the reason. On those TVs, install a DLNA player app such as VLC or Kodi, or reach your files through a web browser instead using the WebDAV setup guide.

Some brands kept DLNA working even after removing the official DLNA logo, so if it looks missing, hunt for one of the media player names above.

Play in VLC or Kodi on Windows, Mac and Linux

VLC and Kodi are free, run on every desktop system, and speak DLNA well. They are the reliable way to open your Everdisk library on a computer.

VLC (Windows, Mac, Linux):

1. Open VLC.
2. Show the playlist (on Windows and Linux press Ctrl+L, on Mac open the Playlist from the View menu).
3. In the sidebar, open Universal Plug’n’Play under Local Network.
4. Your device appears in the list. Click into it and pick a file.

Kodi (Windows, Mac, Linux):

1. Go to Videos, Music or Pictures, then Files, then Add source (or Browse).
2. Choose UPnP devices.
3. Select your device and browse your library.

On Windows you can also open Windows Media Player, expand Other Libraries in the sidebar, and your device shows up there.

Play on Android

Android phones and tablets do not have a system DLNA browser, so use an app:

• VLC for Android: open the side menu, tap Local Network, and your device appears under UPnP servers.
• BubbleUPnP or a similar UPnP app: your device shows up in the server list, and these apps can also push playback to a TV.

Play on another iPhone or iPad

Two devices, one library. Say the photos are on your iPhone and you want to watch them on your iPad.

• The simplest route is Everdisk’s own Devices tab on the second device. It works as a DLNA client as well as a server. Open Everdisk on the iPad, go to Devices, and your iPhone appears under Available Devices. Tap it to browse and play.
• Any DLNA player app for iOS works too, such as VLC or a UPnP browser. Open its local network view and pick your iPhone.

Play on a game console

• PlayStation 5 and 4: open the Media app (Media Gallery), and your device shows up as a media server you can browse.
• Xbox: use a media player app that supports DLNA, then pick your device from the server list.

If your device does not appear in the list

Some players let you add a media server by address instead of waiting for it to be discovered. On the Everdisk Sharing screen, the DLNA card shows a device description address that ends in /device-desc.xml. Enter that address in the player’s add server field.

If it still does not show up, check three things: both devices are on the same Wi-Fi (not a guest network that blocks device to device traffic), Everdisk is open and sharing is started, and TV & Media Center is on in Settings.

If a video will not play

DLNA hands the file to the TV as it is, and the TV has to be able to decode it. If a clip refuses to play, its format is probably not supported by that TV. Two fixes:

• Open Settings, then Sharing, then Videos, and lower the Quality. Everdisk then converts the video to a more compatible format as it streams. (Conversion is a Premium feature.)
• Or open the same file in a web browser using Everdisk’s browser link, which is more forgiving about formats.

Real-life ways people use this

• Family movie night. Videos shot on your phone play on the living room TV without a cable or an Apple TV.
• Holiday photos on the big screen. Open your Photos library on the TV and swipe through the trip with everyone in the room.
• Background music at a party. Point a DLNA speaker or AV receiver at your Music library and let it run.
• Watching on a hotel TV that has a media player, once both devices are on the room’s Wi-Fi.

A few tips

• Keep Everdisk open while you stream. If you lock the phone for a long time, iOS may pause the app and playback stops.
• Plug the phone into power for long movie sessions.
• For the fastest streaming, keep Format and Quality on Original in Settings, and only lower them if a specific TV struggles with a file.
• DLNA is streaming only. Nobody on the TV side can change or delete your files. For two-way file transfer, use the SMB, WebDAV or FTP server instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to try it? Download Everdisk from the App Store and stream your first album to the TV in a couple of minutes. Questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected].