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Streaming

The streaming option is useful when you want to listen to audio played by OwnTone in a browser or a media player of your choice 1,3.

Moreover, Apple Remote or the web interface can be used to control the playback.

Listening to Audio in a Browser

To listen to audio being played by OwnTone in a browser, follow these steps:

  1. Start playing audio in OwnTone.
  2. In the web interface, activate the stream in the output menu by clicking on the icon next to HTTP Stream. After a few seconds, the audio should play in the background 2.

Listening to Audio in a Media Player

To listen to audio being played by OwnTone in a media player, follow these steps:

  1. Start playing audio in OwnTone.
  2. In the web interface, activate the stream in the output menu by clicking on the icon next to HTTP Stream. After a few seconds, the audio should play in the background.
  3. Copy the URL behind the icon next to HTTP Stream.
  4. Open the copied URL with the media player, e.g., VLC. The URL is usually http://owntone.local:3689/stream.mp3 or http://SERVER_ADDRESS:3689/stream.mp3

Notes

  1. On iOS devices, the streaming option is the only way of listening to your audio, since Apple does not allow AirPlay receiver apps, and because Home Sharing cannot be supported by OwnTone. ↩

  2. On iOS devices, playing audio in the background when the device is locked is not supported in a private browser tab. ↩

  3. For the streaming option to work, MP3 encoding must be supported by libavcodec. If it is not, a message will appear in the log file. For example, on Debian or Ubuntu, MP3 encoding support is provided by the package libavcodec-extra. ↩