Just turned old cell phone into remote-controlled Google Play wifi streamer!
So I was researching RasberryPi, XBMC, Bluetooth, AptX, etc recently because I wanted an easy and cheap way to stream music from the Google Play cloud server without having to plug my phone into my stereo to do so. The Chromecast dongle would be perfect but, alas, my TV is not connected to my stereo.
In researching, I read about an Android App called 'Cast to UPnP/DLNA' that mimics a Chromecast request insofar as it will convince any UPnP/DLNA rendering device to stream directly from Google Play as would an actual Chromecast dongle. This includes 'Smart' TVs, DVD players, video game consoles, Sonos, etc.
In researching what exactly all that jargon meant, I discovered another app called 'BubbleUPnP' (by the same app publisher) that will allow an Android cell phone to function as a UPnP/DLNA renderer.
Huzzah, I have a bucket full of old cell phones!
Here's how it went down:
1. I downloaded Cast to UPnP/DLNA on my regular phone that is also synced to my Google Play account (where I've already uploaded a large amount of my digital files). This allows the Google Play player app to 'cast' to a UPnP/DLNA device. The music interface I'm used to using on my phone (Google Play Music) is essentially unchanged. Note: if you already have a UPnP device connected to your stereo (Sonos, 'Smart' DVD player, laptop, etc) you can skip to step 4.
2. I downloaded BubbleUPnP on my old Android phone. No server configuration or fancy networking knowledge was needed. My old phone automatically connected to my home Wifi network. This app does present some options for configuring a server, but it was not necessary for my purpose.
3. I connected my old phone to my stereo via RCA->3.5 cables.
4. I opened the Cast app on my regular phone and hit 'Start', which automatically booted up Google Play that now included a Chromecast icon in the tool bar at the top. Clicking the icon gave me a list of UPnP devices to stream to (including my old phone, my XBox and one of the laptops that happened to be running). I chose my old phone.
4. I hit play on my regular phone and viola! Music was now streaming from the Google Play server directly to my old phone and coming out of the speakers! Best of all, I could use my regular phone as the remote and continue to sit on the couch and surf diyaudio with it!
Conclusion
All in all, the sound quality is quite good and certainly much better than I anticipated. That is definitely going to be somewhat dependent on the headphone out of my/your old phone though. I did download a free EQ app on my old phone to help out too.
Advantages as I understand them: Because of the way the Chromecast protocol works, music is not coming to my regular phone and being beamed to my old phone. Google's servers send music via my wifi network to the old phone (which takes the place of a Chromecast). I'm lead to believe this is an advantage over bluetooth, which would include an extra level of compression/decompression. The bandwidth is limited by my wifi network. A side effect is that the processor and battery on my regular phone aren't taxed by any processing (except when sending a command) and neither is the battery drained by the bluetooth radio. Because the streaming itself is going to the old phone (located not far away from my wifi router), I haven't had any range or drop-out issues around the house.
A couple of downsides: I'm still listening from the headphone out of a cell phone (mine is acceptable after a little EQ'ing) and there's a delay between when I switch a song on my regular phone and it starts playing on my old phone (the requests have a ways to travel away and back though, I suppose).
It should be mentioned that both apps have 20-30min trial periods whenever booted up (ie you can reboot and start streaming again when they expire). I did end up unlocking both apps (a cost of something like $7 total).
For the small amount I spent on the apps, I got a very nice little streaming device with a great mobile interface (ie the regular Google Play Music App). I'm quite satisfied!
Disclaimer: I have no association with the App company or Google (but they can pay me if they want). Just wanted to share with anyone looking for a quick and relatively painless way to stream from the Google Play cloud servers without resorting to building a media center, spending big bucks on a Sonos receiver, or using bluetooth.
So I was researching RasberryPi, XBMC, Bluetooth, AptX, etc recently because I wanted an easy and cheap way to stream music from the Google Play cloud server without having to plug my phone into my stereo to do so. The Chromecast dongle would be perfect but, alas, my TV is not connected to my stereo.
In researching, I read about an Android App called 'Cast to UPnP/DLNA' that mimics a Chromecast request insofar as it will convince any UPnP/DLNA rendering device to stream directly from Google Play as would an actual Chromecast dongle. This includes 'Smart' TVs, DVD players, video game consoles, Sonos, etc.
In researching what exactly all that jargon meant, I discovered another app called 'BubbleUPnP' (by the same app publisher) that will allow an Android cell phone to function as a UPnP/DLNA renderer.
Huzzah, I have a bucket full of old cell phones!
Here's how it went down:
1. I downloaded Cast to UPnP/DLNA on my regular phone that is also synced to my Google Play account (where I've already uploaded a large amount of my digital files). This allows the Google Play player app to 'cast' to a UPnP/DLNA device. The music interface I'm used to using on my phone (Google Play Music) is essentially unchanged. Note: if you already have a UPnP device connected to your stereo (Sonos, 'Smart' DVD player, laptop, etc) you can skip to step 4.
2. I downloaded BubbleUPnP on my old Android phone. No server configuration or fancy networking knowledge was needed. My old phone automatically connected to my home Wifi network. This app does present some options for configuring a server, but it was not necessary for my purpose.
3. I connected my old phone to my stereo via RCA->3.5 cables.
4. I opened the Cast app on my regular phone and hit 'Start', which automatically booted up Google Play that now included a Chromecast icon in the tool bar at the top. Clicking the icon gave me a list of UPnP devices to stream to (including my old phone, my XBox and one of the laptops that happened to be running). I chose my old phone.
4. I hit play on my regular phone and viola! Music was now streaming from the Google Play server directly to my old phone and coming out of the speakers! Best of all, I could use my regular phone as the remote and continue to sit on the couch and surf diyaudio with it!
Conclusion
All in all, the sound quality is quite good and certainly much better than I anticipated. That is definitely going to be somewhat dependent on the headphone out of my/your old phone though. I did download a free EQ app on my old phone to help out too.
Advantages as I understand them: Because of the way the Chromecast protocol works, music is not coming to my regular phone and being beamed to my old phone. Google's servers send music via my wifi network to the old phone (which takes the place of a Chromecast). I'm lead to believe this is an advantage over bluetooth, which would include an extra level of compression/decompression. The bandwidth is limited by my wifi network. A side effect is that the processor and battery on my regular phone aren't taxed by any processing (except when sending a command) and neither is the battery drained by the bluetooth radio. Because the streaming itself is going to the old phone (located not far away from my wifi router), I haven't had any range or drop-out issues around the house.
A couple of downsides: I'm still listening from the headphone out of a cell phone (mine is acceptable after a little EQ'ing) and there's a delay between when I switch a song on my regular phone and it starts playing on my old phone (the requests have a ways to travel away and back though, I suppose).
It should be mentioned that both apps have 20-30min trial periods whenever booted up (ie you can reboot and start streaming again when they expire). I did end up unlocking both apps (a cost of something like $7 total).
For the small amount I spent on the apps, I got a very nice little streaming device with a great mobile interface (ie the regular Google Play Music App). I'm quite satisfied!
Disclaimer: I have no association with the App company or Google (but they can pay me if they want). Just wanted to share with anyone looking for a quick and relatively painless way to stream from the Google Play cloud servers without resorting to building a media center, spending big bucks on a Sonos receiver, or using bluetooth.
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