Review: AirParrot 3

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AirParrot 3 was recently launched. I had a chance to take AirParrot 3 for a test drive (I purchased the upgrade to it from AirParrot 2) and compare it to AirParrot 2.

What is AirParrot?

AirParrot is a streaming app for Mac and Windows. It goes beyond the built-in AirPlay support on macOS and allows for AirPlay and Chromecast Support on Mac and Windows, including screen mirroring, extended desktop, and the ability to drag and drop to stream media over AirPlay or Chromecast (there used to be a standalone app called DropStream that offered this, but it has merged under AirParrot). AirParrot can also be controlled using an iOS app called AirParrot Remote (although I haven’t had a chance to test it yet). AirParrot is handy for streaming media from devices to home entertainment devices, as well as is useful in educational and organization environments when needing to wirelessly stream media.

What’s New in AirParrot 3?

AirParrot 3 has a fresh new look which I do enjoy, plus new technology under-the-hood for faster streaming and desktop streaming with GPU support. Extended Desktop comes to Windows users for the first time, as well as HomePod support is also included. AirParrot 3 also supports streaming 4K video with surround sound. It is $15.99 for a single platform license or $19.99 for a cross-platform license. AirParrot 2 customers receive a discount to upgrade to AirParrot 3.

How Well Does it Work?

Compared to AirParrot 2, unfortunately I am having an issue with AirParrot 3. I primarily use AirParrot to stream video content from my iMac Pro (running Catalina) to an Android TV Chromecast device (I have an Apple TV in my living room, but I have a small TV on my desk using an Android TV Chromecast device). My goal with AirParrot has been the bridge between the two platforms. While some features such as desktop streaming and even extended desktop is working well, AirParrot 3 is buffering (and never completely loading) high-quality video (generally from video podcasts) when streaming the video from my iMac Pro to my Android TV Chromecast device. In AirParrot 2, I used the quality slider to bump the quality down to “Medium”, and this generally worked (with only an occasional failure). The quality slider is gone in AirParrot 3, so I no longer have a way to adjust this. I can attempt to workaround it by streaming my desktop to the Android TV Chromecast device, but then audio doesn’t work unless I play the audio through my iMac Pro speakers. Hopefully AirParrot 3 will bring back the quality slider in a future update, as it is a feature I relied heavily on.

Bottom Line

AirParrot 3 is a handy app to use AirPlay and Chromecast streaming across Mac and Windows. I like the app’s overall concept. AirParrot 3 has a nice look and some useful new features, although it took a step backward in removing a feature I relied on. Other than that, I still like AirParrot 3 overall, and hopefully, the remaining feature will be re-added in a future update so I can continue to press on using AirParrot 3 to its fullest.

Nathan Parker

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Elly, Alex5723

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Nathan, Is this something for professional users that create content and stream it over the Internet? I understand that you do this to distribute your tutorials.

I wonder, if it were otherwise, what I, a regular user, might be missing.

With any of my browsers (Waterfox, Firefox, Chrome, Safari) I can stream video in HD and watch it without lags and with crystal clarity in my Mac’s 288×2800, 226 PPI Retina screen with millions of colors. I can download video from Amazon Prime, Netflix, many sites with streaming news, etc. as well as YouTube — and save the YT ones in my Mac’s SSD using a non-Apple application called “ClickGrab.” I can use the Mac’s screen in parallel with a larger monitor connected via HDMI cable. That seems enough. Unless I am missing something useful and do not know it. Would it matter if I did not have, as I do, a fiber-optic 75 Mbps internet connection I use for just one device: my MacBook Pro laptop?

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Nathan Parker

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For you, it doesn’t seem you need it. It’s basically a way to wirelessly send content to another display in your home or office. I can use it to send media wirelessly to my living room Apple TV (although I generally just use AirPlay for that purpose), with my main use of it is to wirelessly send content to the Android Chromecast connected to a TV sitting on my desk.

They have a different app that allows one to mirror their iPhone or iPad screen to a Mac or Windows PC called Reflector. I use that constantly during my webinars, and it works flawlessly.

For streaming content over the Internet, you either need meeting/webinar software (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar, Cisco WebEx, etc) or live streaming software such as Wirecast. That is a different app than what AirParrot does. I can discuss those apps in a future AskWoody column if need be.

Nathan Parker

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Alex5723, OscarCP

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the “Reflector” suggestion is a lifesaver for an older Mac running Sequoia.  Thank you!

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Squirrels (their developer) wrote me back attempting to troubleshoot my issue. Great support from them! Will post back with updates.

Nathan Parker

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Elly

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Update: The developer has taken my feedback and passed it onto developers. I will download all updates they offer to AirParrot 3, and I’ll report back here if/when the issues are resolved.

Nathan Parker

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Elly

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Air Parrot3 version is useless. Installed on 2 new Dell laptops and got a black screen on Apple TV’s. After many attempts and exchange of data and info, was told to reset Apple TV’s to factory and still got same error. Imagine the hassle to re enter apps and passwords on several Apple TV’s! Customer support does not have a solution for it. Would not recommend it.
A. Amadeo AIA. Tampa, FL.

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Nathan Parker

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I may go back to 2. 3 is a disaster. Now that I’ve moved to more Apple gear, my need for it overall has decreased due to built-in AirPlay support.

Nathan Parker

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Hello Nathan, could you please elaborate on your “3 is a disaster” some more? Your previous statements about AirParrot 3 and the company behind it where quite positive and almost convinced me to give AirParrot and Reflector a try now that both are on the BundleHunt.com sale.

(I found this page through a Google search for a review.)

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We don’t see Nathan these days due to a change in his circumstances, but you may be lucky and he will respond.

cheers, Paul

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Airparrot seems to work almost on all devices, however I looked up whether the issue I am facing is a bug or just something I can’t do. I notice that with my LG TV I am able to hook it up to Airparrot and when I tried to hook it up to my phone with Homekit, once I did that, airparrot would no longer work with the TV. So I tried it three times, resetting and not doing the home kit while using airparrot and it worked. Then I put in the code 109284 — just a code, then added homekit again, now airparrot would ask for the popup code or password but then it would disappear. I truly started to believe that it would not work if you have apple homekit set up at least for my device. Don’t know if this is going to be fixed but it seems most likely that it won’t be fixed.

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