AirPin PRO - AirPlay & DLNA

Review by eFreeware

AirPin PRO is a receiver app from WaxRain Tech. that runs on Android hardware and accepts screen mirroring and media streams sent from other devices. The pitch is simple: your television, projector or set-top box becomes the screen that phones, tablets, laptops and network storage push content to. The main reason to consider it is that it handles both AirPlay and DLNA in one package, which the developer describes as a first, with the earliest release of the app dating back to 2012.

The PRO label matters here. AirPin PRO can display up to four device screens at the same time, while the standard version shows one screen at a time. That difference frames the whole product: this is the tier for shared rooms and multi-source setups, where several people want to send something to the same display without taking turns.

It costs $4.99, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so the transaction is a single payment rather than an ongoing commitment. The app has been on Google Play since April 2020, sits at a 4.0 average from 241 ratings, and has passed 10,000 installs. Those numbers describe a modest, settled audience rather than a breakout hit.

Four screens at once, and why that changes the room

The headline capability is simultaneous display of up to four device screens. In a meeting room, that could mean a colleague's laptop, two phones and a tablet all visible on one projector at the same time, with nobody unplugging anything. At home, it opens up the scenario of one person watching a streamed video while another mirrors a game or a photo slideshow to the same television.

AirPlay handling covers video and music streaming as well as full screen mirroring, and the developer says it works across iOS and macOS versions. Photo streaming gets a slideshow treatment, which the developer bills as a first for AirPlay. There is also password protection for connections, useful if the display sits in a space where you do not want every passing phone able to take over the screen.

AirPin PRO supports YouTube AirPlay streaming and password-protected AirPlay. The feature set is broad enough to cover the common ways people send content to a bigger display.

Windows, Android and network storage round it out

AirPlay is only part of the story. For Windows machines, the developer provides AirPinPcSender.exe, a small program you install on the PC to push screen and media to the receiver. Android devices are handled through a separate app called AirPinCast, which you search for on Google Play. That means cross-platform support is real but not uniform: Apple devices connect natively, while Windows and Android need an extra piece installed first.

The app also speaks DLNA and UPnP, and it can pull media directly from DLNA, NAS or Samba servers rather than waiting for something to be pushed to it. For anyone with a home server full of video files, that turns the Android device into a playback endpoint without a separate media player in the chain. It can act as both a renderer and a player for Android-based TVs.

Smaller touches fill out the list: audio streaming continues in the background, an anti-disturb mode keeps video playing when the controlling device disconnects, playback can resume from the previous pause point, and an external player can be used for files the built-in one does not handle. Automatic startup and service shutdown are configurable, which suits a device that lives permanently under a television.

What you need before buying

This is a paid app at $4.99 with no advertising and no in-app purchases, so the cost is upfront and predictable. The decision rests on whether the feature set matches your setup. The paid version offers the four-screen capability.

AirPlay from Apple hardware needs nothing extra, but Windows mirroring depends on installing AirPinPcSender.exe on the computer, and Android sharing depends on AirPinCast from Google Play. Budget a few minutes per machine to get those in place before you judge whether the whole arrangement works.

The receiver itself runs on Android phones, tablets, TVs, set-top boxes and projectors, so the hardware question is mostly about where you want the picture to appear. A television or projector makes the most sense for the multi-screen feature; a phone works as a receiver but the four-way display loses its point on a small panel. The developer also invites users to make contact if the app misbehaves with a particular device.

Getting the most from a multi-source setup

Password protection is worth enabling early if the receiver sits on a network others can reach. Password protection is available for connections. The same logic applies in an office where the projector is always on and always connected.

Anti-disturb mode and resume-from-pause are the two settings I would look at next. The first keeps a video running when the controlling phone or laptop drops the connection. The second is resume-from-pause.

If your media lives on a NAS or Samba share, pulling files directly through the app is tidier than routing them through a phone first. The latest update mentions improved compatibility for NAS and SMB along with support for Android 16 and later, plus earlier work on DLNA 1.5 and a doodle menu. Regular maintenance of this sort is a reasonable sign for a paid utility you intend to keep installed for years.

A receiver for shared screens and home servers

AirPin PRO is easy to recommend to a specific buyer: someone with an Android TV box, projector or spare tablet who wants Apple, Windows and Android devices to cast to it without buying into one company's ecosystem. The combination of AirPlay, DLNA, UPnP and direct NAS playback in a single paid app is the appeal, and the four-screen limit removal is what separates it from the cheaper tier.

The 4.0 average from 241 ratings suggests a product that works for most people most of the time, without universal praise. The extra sender software for Windows and Android is part of the setup. For a one-time $4.99 with no ads and no further purchases, that is a fair trade for the right setup.

If your goal is simply to watch a phone video on a television, the standard version may be enough. Buy the PRO tier when several sources need to share one screen, or when media already sits on a network server and you want the Android device to reach it directly.

What's new in version 5.7.1

v5.7.1: 1)Improve compatibility for NAS/SMB; 2)Improve google video streaming; 3)Support for Android 16+. v5.4.5: 1)Improve compatibility for DLNA 1.5; 2)Add doodle menu; 3)Fixed other known bugs.