Thursday, March 1, 2012

Review: Reflection app brings full iPad & iPhone AirPlay mirroring to Mac

Review: Reflection app brings full iPad & iPhone AirPlay mirroring to Mac:

Right before Apple made AirPlay mirroring for Macs official with the Mountain Lion developer preview, we told you about AirParrot, a third-party app that brings the same functionality to Snow Leopard. The same developers have just announced the first solid release of another AirPlay app, this time for mirroring iPad 2 and iPhone 4S to your Mac. Reflection ($14.99 single license) allows you to easily view your iPhone or iPad’s screen (and audio) on your Mac’s display over AirPlay. We went hands on…

 

Reflection is still a work in progress, but from our first impressions, it’s more than solid enough for everyday use. After installing the app, you simply select your Mac from AirPlay on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S and the device’s screen is instantly displayed in real-time on your Mac within an iPad or iPhone shaped frame, like the Xcode iOS simulator. In our tests it was hovering around 30 FPS and set at Hi-Res (1929×1080). Unlike AirParrot, Reflection also supports full mirroring. That means full audio and orientation support. You can also lock your orientation to landscape or portrait if necessary.

In the video above we put the app through its paces  playing a YouTube video, running a game with Cut the Rope, and browsing in Safari. All tested on iPad 2. You’ll experience the odd hiccup, but for the most part any lag is bearable throughout the overall experience.

The only time the app crashed, not surprisingly, was when trying to run graphically intensive games like Dead Space and Jetpack Joyride. A reboot of the iPad was necessary to get Reflection back to normal. It’s going to be hit and miss with games, as some you’d expect to run seem to crash, while others like Cut the Rope run perfect most of the time. Other apps run just about as smooth as you could ask for. As a test, Netflix ran without issue, and we experienced hardly any lag in Maps.

Reflection doesn’t include a ton of options. At this point, the app’s preferences are limited to simply selecting a suitable resolution for your device and the ability to launch as a full-screen app. However, launching in full-screen mode (shown towards the end of the video above) will simply put the frame on a grey background, allowing Reflection to function as a full-screen app in OS X, opposed to having the iPad’s screen fill your Mac’s entire display. The app’s website also hints at the ability to record your screen, although that functionality isn’t yet included.

You can grab a single user license of Reflection here for $14.99, or 5 licenses for $39.99 here. There’s also a free limited-time trial available through the website before you make the purchase.

 

(Via 9to5Mac)

No comments:

Post a Comment