Beware the charlatan.
… Or how I was duped with a “bait and switch” by the same developer, twice.
To preface, I previously had high praise for Airflow Server and consequently this Airflow Remote companion app. The dev is certainly a very capable software developer being that at its best Airflow was a good alternative to complex software like Plex that could quickly feel bloated and unwieldy. Although lacking some of the depth of features of that software (metadata, organization, etc), Airflow’s simplicity was a part of its charm. It was lite and nimble, yet compatible with almost every type of video I threw at it even if limited in its feature set. It lacked the convenience of more advanced server apps, and having to launch the remote app on a phone was a minor hassle, but these were caveats I was willing to accept.
Unfortunately, around late March with the release of updates for Apple’s OSes, notably tvOS, many users, including myself, began having issues with the Airflow apps. I cannot speak to all of the issues but I specifically have experienced unresolvable buffering issues due to subtitles. The only workaround has been to either disable subtitles altogether (which is a no-go due to foreign films) or turn on subtitle rendering which introduces its own set of bugs. This issue has been confirmed to be wholly related to Airflow being that neither VLC nor Infuse have these issues. There are a mass of other issues also which are well documented online (Reddit, etc). Offensively, the developer has been unresponsive to both support email requests and public pleas for support while apparently still being very active online on things like X and Github. Yet, the Airflow app is still for sale on his website despite these known issues from both Mac and Windows users.
If that wasn’t distasteful enough, this is the 2nd app I’ve purchased from this same developer that was eventually abandoned while still publicly available for sale. Airvideo HD, my prior purchase from them, conveniently (as focus shifted to Airflow) became obsolete and riddled with bugs, despite still being available for sale and may very well still be! It was the same behavior under a different set of code. You all have been warned! Take heed. As for me, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Never again! This dev has tarnished my respect and confidence in them.
Thus, I’ve put my money where my mouth is and I’ve voted with my wallet. After much research and testing I’ve switched over to Infuse Pro. They seem to actually value the customer and have a long track record of actively maintaining their software. And in contrast, I had an issue during my testing and I received a support email resolving the issue the same day! A simple but welcomed courtesy! I’m admittedly not too excited about software subscriptions but if I love it after a year, I’ll go lifetime license. It helps that the software is just as capable as Airflow with far more features: essentially the parts of Plex I liked without the parts I didn’t. Your mileage may vary. I hope for the sake of Airflow users that the dev eventually delivers the patch you all deserve but I’m off this Airflow ship. Good riddance! Programming savvy does not make up for a lack of integrity.
To preface, I previously had high praise for Airflow Server and consequently this Airflow Remote companion app. The dev is certainly a very capable software developer being that at its best Airflow was a good alternative to complex software like Plex that could quickly feel bloated and unwieldy. Although lacking some of the depth of features of that software (metadata, organization, etc), Airflow’s simplicity was a part of its charm. It was lite and nimble, yet compatible with almost every type of video I threw at it even if limited in its feature set. It lacked the convenience of more advanced server apps, and having to launch the remote app on a phone was a minor hassle, but these were caveats I was willing to accept.
Unfortunately, around late March with the release of updates for Apple’s OSes, notably tvOS, many users, including myself, began having issues with the Airflow apps. I cannot speak to all of the issues but I specifically have experienced unresolvable buffering issues due to subtitles. The only workaround has been to either disable subtitles altogether (which is a no-go due to foreign films) or turn on subtitle rendering which introduces its own set of bugs. This issue has been confirmed to be wholly related to Airflow being that neither VLC nor Infuse have these issues. There are a mass of other issues also which are well documented online (Reddit, etc). Offensively, the developer has been unresponsive to both support email requests and public pleas for support while apparently still being very active online on things like X and Github. Yet, the Airflow app is still for sale on his website despite these known issues from both Mac and Windows users.
If that wasn’t distasteful enough, this is the 2nd app I’ve purchased from this same developer that was eventually abandoned while still publicly available for sale. Airvideo HD, my prior purchase from them, conveniently (as focus shifted to Airflow) became obsolete and riddled with bugs, despite still being available for sale and may very well still be! It was the same behavior under a different set of code. You all have been warned! Take heed. As for me, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Never again! This dev has tarnished my respect and confidence in them.
Thus, I’ve put my money where my mouth is and I’ve voted with my wallet. After much research and testing I’ve switched over to Infuse Pro. They seem to actually value the customer and have a long track record of actively maintaining their software. And in contrast, I had an issue during my testing and I received a support email resolving the issue the same day! A simple but welcomed courtesy! I’m admittedly not too excited about software subscriptions but if I love it after a year, I’ll go lifetime license. It helps that the software is just as capable as Airflow with far more features: essentially the parts of Plex I liked without the parts I didn’t. Your mileage may vary. I hope for the sake of Airflow users that the dev eventually delivers the patch you all deserve but I’m off this Airflow ship. Good riddance! Programming savvy does not make up for a lack of integrity.
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Not available anymore on the french app store
Please bring it back we really need it.
Good, but may be abandon-ware.
Airflow is great when it works and for the most part it does. However, occasionally Apple will change something in Airplay, macOS or tvOS that breaks or limits the server app and due to sparse updates from the dev (and the abandoned Air Video HD) I’m always worried that the software has been abandoned. As I type, either Tahoe 26.4.2 or tvOS 26.4 has made the near perfectly functioning Airflow a pain to deal with again. I’m getting constant buffering on high bitrate H.265 mkv files that previously worked fine. I’m not even sure if the dev is aware of the issue even though it’s been mentioned in other reviews. Hopefully, it will be addressed. Until then I’m dropping my rating from a 5 to a 3 since I do still use Airflow and prefer it over things like Plex.
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Nice to see a return to the App Store!
This app disappeared a while back without explanation, now it’s back… again with no explanation! It had become extremely unstable, but now appears to be considerably smoother.
Welcome back Airflow, you were VERY much missed!
Welcome back Airflow, you were VERY much missed!
Broken and no updates for months
Stopped working with the latest Apple TV update a few months ago. No updates since then…
