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…
Essential for Me
The server app has now been updated to work with tvOS 26 and works great again. I’ve updated my rating to reflect those changes.
Airflow & Remote where great…
…while it lasted. I switched from Plex to using Airflow app and it’s remote almost exclusively. This became my preferred combo for Airplay’ing video from my Macs to AppleTVs. The server app was the perfect mix of simplicity and essential features. It was the antithesis of Plex’s bloat and really never had a hiccup. If it did, it was fixed. I was happy to purchase and support the dev.
Now, for the bad news. Like many smaller independent developers it all now seems too good to have been true and the apps now look like abandonware. Even worse, it may be a classic case of bait and switch. To add insult to injury the main app is still being sold even though it clearly does not function at all after the latest Tahoe and OS 26 updates. Support via email has been unresponsive across the board with many users taking to the net (Reddit, etc) to complain. Had the dev simply stopped making the apps, I’d have just been disappointed but being that it’s still actively available for purchase…this needs to be mentioned on the website. Not all Airflow users will be affected but a brunt of them will. This is your warning.
I’ll happily remove or edit this review and/or change my rating back to a 5/5 if proven wrong. I’d love to be wrong in this case!
Now, for the bad news. Like many smaller independent developers it all now seems too good to have been true and the apps now look like abandonware. Even worse, it may be a classic case of bait and switch. To add insult to injury the main app is still being sold even though it clearly does not function at all after the latest Tahoe and OS 26 updates. Support via email has been unresponsive across the board with many users taking to the net (Reddit, etc) to complain. Had the dev simply stopped making the apps, I’d have just been disappointed but being that it’s still actively available for purchase…this needs to be mentioned on the website. Not all Airflow users will be affected but a brunt of them will. This is your warning.
I’ll happily remove or edit this review and/or change my rating back to a 5/5 if proven wrong. I’d love to be wrong in this case!
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When it Works it’s Great
Unfortunately I have had significant issues getting the remote app to reliably recognize my device. It’s a shame because I truly adore the UI and find Airflow my preferred streaming service for locally stored files, but I’ve had enough issues that I’m now considering alternatives unfortunately
Solid. Need a few features.
I purchased this as a replacement to Air Video HD, which is abandonware (possibly from the same developer). I would love to be able to use this app to watch on my iOS devices (like the aforementioned app) but that’s not possible. The only other annoyance is the scrub bar — it feels backwards and would be nice to able to change scroll direction (like you can with an Apple Mouse). If feels unnatural.
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Does not work with Sonoma 14.0
Cant connect to my computer to use, I have an activated license, useless and should be removed from the app store
Keeps Failing to Connect
Keeps failing to connect for some reason. Unsure if macOS Sequoia is blocking it or something else. Wish app had troubleshooting help!
Can’t Connect
Can’t connect to my laptop
Skvělá aplikace
Pokud nejste 100% aplista a napadne vás použít chromecast, tak tohle potřebujete a budete max spokojeni. Airflow + remote AF.
dynamic island and widget support
Hi,
better dynamic island support would be great.
Also airflow widget would help a lot too.
Thank you
Best Regards
better dynamic island support would be great.
Also airflow widget would help a lot too.
Thank you
Best Regards
It just works
I don’t ever leave reviews for apps, but I really feel compelled to write one this time. Over the last few years and hundreds of hours of video, airflow has never let me down. It just works. I stream a lot of video from an old 2011 MacBook Pro to my TV. Like I said, it just works. The googles and apples of this world could take a page out of airflow developers book (but I do secretly hope giants like that wouldn’t try to buy airflow out…they always ruin a good thing after buying it). The built-in auto search for online subtitles as well as sub-to-video delay for proper sync -up are amazing features, especially if you watch a lot of foreign stuff and heavily rely on subtitles. Can’t say enough good things about airflow! Kudos to the developers!
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Amazing App
Been using Airflow for a few years and it’s no doubt the best app for streaming local video files to a TV. I originally used it with my Chromecast and recently got the new 4K Apple TV, both of which Airflow supports. Would definitely recommend. Happy to have paid for it. Also love the Apple Watch integration.
Side note: Recently experienced some buffering (~3x during 2hr movie) using Airflow on macOS to stream to Apple TV. Would love to see this addressed if it’s a known issue — I experienced 0 issues over the years of using Airflow with my Chromecast.
Thanks!
Side note: Recently experienced some buffering (~3x during 2hr movie) using Airflow on macOS to stream to Apple TV. Would love to see this addressed if it’s a known issue — I experienced 0 issues over the years of using Airflow with my Chromecast.
Thanks!
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Wouldn’t likely purchase again.
The app isn’t terrible. When it works it works but when it doesn’t it fails pretty bad and unfortunately it fails often. I’ve had consistent issues with subtitles simply turning off mid film, the app closing or losing its connection, and other weird anomalies that I don’t experience using other apps (Plex, AirVideo HD, etc) I’ve used to stream local media with. Overall, I think it could be one of the better apps of this kind if these issues were ironed out but as it is? Not so much. With its ease of use and broad format support it could easily be the best and most convenient but it’s not quite up to snuff. I’m aware that it hasn’t been updated in a while so maybe the experience has deteriorated overtime and I’m just coming onboard too late.
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Poor service
I would have given this a 5 star rating except that, after a few months I began having serious playback issues. I made 4 attempts to contact the service department and have never received any response. This represents a poor business model. There is no excuse for ignoring paying customers.
Absolutely incredible
This is my first app review because I am so impressed by it. Such a well designed and easy to use app that JUST WORKS. I thought this might be too niche to have a dedicated app but this was the best 20 bucks of my life. Great job!
Couldn’t live without it
I use this every single day. The Mac app is great, the iOS remote control elevates the experience to even higher levels of excellence. It always works without a hitch. It’s been a long journey to find a fuss-free airplay video player, through apps like Beamer, Elmedia Player and Xmirage. This blows them all out of the water. I’ve even started to enjoy the quirky, totally un-Apple interface.
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