Repository
https://github.com/dkrivoruchko/ScreenStream
Introduction
Good day! Everyone. I'm here for another app review; another unique app review.😊
I've always wondered how I can share a live screen recording of my device with someone else. I have this friend of mine who is in a different country and needed a live screen recording of my device. I couldn't help her with it until I found an app that can stream my live screen recording.
About 1 or 2 months ago, I was enjoying my web surfing when I saw the ScreenStream app. I ignored it with the intent of looking into it later. After a long while, I came across the app again and wasn't going to postpone it anymore. I downloaded and installed the latest version of the app and figured out that I was missing out.
Please let me introduce the ScreenStream app to you.
What is ScreenStream?
Well, ScreenStream is a free and open-source mobile application which is developed with the aim of broadcasting a live screen recording of one's device.
According to the repo, it is an Android mobile app for viewing device screen in your web browser.
The app was first released on the 18 of June 2016, and since then there have been a total of 67 releases of the app. Woah! that's amazing.
The latest version of the app is version 3.1.7 and it was released about 21 days ago. It is a lightweight app as it weighs only 2.82.
You can download the app either from Google Play, F-Droid, AAPKS, or by clicking Here for a direct download.
Features of ScreenStream
- No ads and Little data consumption: Who would believe that such an app like this doesn't bug its users with ads. Ads, as we know, are very very annoying. Nowadays, the average application has ads embedded in it, but you'll have to count ScreenStream out. The ScreenStream app is absolutely free of ads and doesn't use my data connection except for streaming purposes.
One other feature of the ScreenStream app that overwhelmed me is the fact that the app uses a very little amount of data connection. When I used this app to stream my screen recording, I was shocked to see that after several minutes of using the app. Not even up to 1 MB of data was used for the streaming.
- Stream: The stream feature is the main feature of the app. On the stream feature, there is a device address which is shown at the top of the screen. This address is a very important one. It is the address which would be used to watch the live stream. Below the Address are tons of means to share the link. The number of connected viewers is also shown with their addresses.
Note: If your device address isn't showing, you may have to disable 'Use Wi-Fi only' in settings.
Down at the bottom of the screen is a play icon. This icon is used to start the broadcasting of the screen recording. Once you've found and shared your device's address, you'll just have to click on the play icon to start broadcasting.
I clicked on the icon and my the app started broadcasting my apps screen to everyone who has my device's link.
Below is a screenshot of what it looked like when I opened the link in my device.
- Settings: On the settings feature, they're a lot of setups but I'll just look at the unique and amazing ones. The first is the ability of the app user to set the web page background colour. There are 20 different colours to choose from, and if your preferred isn't there, you can set it up all by yourself.
The next unique feature I'll like to point out is the Image feature. On the Image feature, users can crop images, resize images, rotate images, and even compress image quality before broadcast.
Last but not least is the security feature. With this feature, users can protect access to their broadcast using a four-digit PIN. The app can generate a new PIN each time it is launched, and can also generate a new PIN for each new stream. Otherwise, the user can manually set his/her preferred PIN.
Comparing ScreenStream with PhoneBeamer
PhoneBeamer is a similar app and I'll love to tell you why I prefer ScreenStream to PhoneBeamer
- Firstly, after clicking on the stream link, users of the PhoneBeamer must scan a QR code before being able to view the live stream.
On the other hand, ScreenStream only needs a click on the link for anyone to view the live stream.
Secondly, With ScreenStream app, I can change the background colour of the web page. On the other hand, I can't do that whenever I'm using PhoneBeamer.
Again, on the ScreenStream app, I can crop, resize, rotate, and compress images. Meanwhile, I can't do these things when using the PhoneBeamer app.
Lastly, there are a whole lot of setups on the ScreenStream app which benefits me a lot. Whereas, on the PhoneBeamer app, there are no setups at all.
Irrespective of the comparison, PhoneBeamer is a cool one, though I prefer ScreenStream to it.
How to use ScreenStream
- Download and install the latest version of the app
- Launch the app
- Turn on your data/internet connection
- Share your stream address
- Click on the play icon at the bottom of the screen
- At this point, the viewers can now see everything that is displayed on your screen. For modifications, visit the settings feature.
That's it! Easy as can be.
Conclusion
Just as you can see, this is an amazing project. That's why I even reviewed it in the first place. 😜