App Watch: DoubleTwist Lets Android Users Stream Media to Apple TV

By Stu Woo

DoubleTwist has been touted as the “iTunes for Android,” as it lets PC and Mac users sync music and other media files wirelessly over a WiFi network.

The app this week takes a step toward reinforcing that moniker, as it releases an update that lets Android phone users stream media to an Apple TV and computers using Windows Media Player 12.

DoubleTwist
A screenshot of the DoubleTwist app transferring a song

At the startup’s San Francisco headquarters last week, CEO Jon Lech Johansen started playing a video on the DoubleTwist app on his phone. Then he tapped the “Twist To” button. The phone, using the WiFi network, zapped the movie he was watching on his phone to Apple TV-connected television in the room. Johansen used his phone like a remote, using it to stop and fast-forward the video on the television.

IPhone and iPad users can already do similar things, but DoubleTwist is one of the first Android apps to integrate with Apple TV.

The basic DoubleTwist app is free, but the version with the “Twist To” feature costs $4.99.

The upgrade also includes another new feature that lets users copy a single video or song to another Android phone. Anyone who starts playing a song or movie on DoubleTwist can physically tap his phone against a second Android one. The tap starts the transfer, and the music or movie file will be copied to the second phone via WiFi or Bluetooth. To use the feature, both phones must be enabled with near field communication, or NFC, technology.

The upgraded DoubleTwist app is already available.