What it this?

Cross-platform Java + JavaFX application that work's as remote server for casting videos from supported client apps. It's like Chromecast but designed to be used on local network with AniLabX ecosystem in mind

Note: video content itself is not sent over the network. Client only sends a link to video with additional metadata and server will play video directly

App can be used on Windows, Linux and MacOS, and released in binary builds for each platform and single cross-platform JAR file

App consist of separate modules that work together for best user experience:

• XRemote×Server - core of the server. Used for low-level communication with XRemote×Client instances using Socket
• XRemote×Client - client implementation for communication with XRemote×Server. Not used in this project
• XRemote×Remote - for remote player controlling (Play/Pause/Stop/Seek/Volume/Metadata, etc)
• XRemote×Discovery - uses multicasting (Zeroconf/Bonjour protocol) that allows server to be discovered by clients over the network

Clients

For now, only AniLabX (Android) as client is supported

Also, AniLabX implements both XRemote×Server and XRemote×Client functionalities, that allows creating server from one app instance and using another instance as client. It may be useful in cases where you're using AniLabX on Android TV for watching and on Android phone/tablet for playback controlling

Prerequisites

JAR version

Download and install any JRE 17+ version. I prefer GraalVM 17

Binary version

Windows

Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 (x64) and Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 (x64)

Linux

Additional libs are not required, but make sure to mark file as executable:
chmod +x XRemote

MacOS

Additional libs are not required, but make sure to remove Apple quarantine attribute:
sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine XRemote
and mark file as executable:
chmod +x XRemote

Installation and launching

Note: binary version of app will work only on x86_64 systems (and, maybe, on ARM Mac with Rosetta)! JAR version is WORA

• Download latest binary file for your system from Releases
• Put it in desired location (Note: it can be launched from any location, but app will create /bin folder next to itself)
• Refer to Prerequisites section and read info about how to prepare for launch on your system
• Launch as normal app by double-clicking or in Terminal with ./XRemote command for binary version or with java -jar Xremote.jar command for JAR version

Configuration

App UI is self-explanatory and consist of few server configuration fields, player configuration section and Start/Stop button

Server configuration

There is only one text field for server Port defining and switch that allow server autostart on app launch. Default 31337 port should be fine for almost all users

Player configuration

App rely on MPV for video watching. You will be prompted to install MPV if app will not find it on system

There is player configuration section on right side of app that will help you change default behavior, but predefined settings should be fine for almost all users

How to start and stop

Just hit Start/Stop button

How to connect

In XRemote×Client-powered client (for example, AniLabX (Android)) find XRemote section and add new server using IP and Port from this app after server launching. After that you can send video to server from application UI

If XRemote×Client-powered client supports XRemote×Discovery service, it may show available servers with fast connection ability in local network, for example, in player UI. In that case, there is no need to add XRemote×Server by hand

Note: after starting server you will see only one IP from first network interface. In some cases, it can be wrong (for example, ip from VMWare network interface). You can see all available IPs in logs and find correct one

Building

Refer to Building guide