Written by Richard
Edited on
19 August 2026
·
07:32
Advice on streaming media with your NAS
A NAS is an ideal solution for storing and streaming your movies, series, and music. You watch videos via a NAS on your phone, tablet, computer, and even smart TV. What are the advantages of streaming via your NAS? And which apps do you use for media streaming? I answer these questions and explain how you stream from your NAS.
Why stream via a NAS?
Streaming is playing a video from your NAS to a computer, phone, tablet, and TV. This way you can store and watch movies, series, and music from a central location.
- You can stream to smart TVs, computers, consoles, tablets, and smartphones.
- You can even stream media from your NAS when you're outdoors.
- Additional apps such as Plex automatically build a media library with subtitles and covers.
Viewing NAS media on your smartphone and tablet
All NAS manufacturers have developed their own apps for iPhone models and Android smartphones and tablets. Through these apps you can scroll through all your files and view your videos. Note that not every app will play your movies directly. If your NAS supports transcoding, your NAS will convert your video right away to watch the movie in the video app on your phone or tablet. View the App Store of your phone to find out whether the app works on your smartphone, tablet, or both and whether you're watching every video right away.
** Suitable for: **
- iPhone, iPad, and Android smartphones and tablets
Viewing NAS media on your computer and laptop
Your NAS works with folders just like your computer. On your Windows laptop and macOS computer, you can open the right map with a click and watch the video that you want to play. You need a video program for this. It's often pre-installed on your Windows or Apple computer.
Suitable for:
- Windows and macOS
Streaming NAS media with Chromecast or Apple TV
If you have an Apple TV, Chromecast, or television with Google Cast built in, you can stream videos from your NAS to your media player. Your NAS instantly converts movies and series to a supported format, allowing you to watch any video through your Apple TV, Chromecast, or television with Google Cast.
Suitable for:
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- Television with Google Cast
- iPhone, iPad, and Android smartphones and tablets (as remote)
Streaming NAS media with Android TV
Manufacturers QNAP and Synology have their own app for TVs with Android TV. With these apps you can view the videos from your QNAP or Synology NAS directly on your television. Because Android TV supports many video formats, you can play almost every video. Is a file unsuitable? Your NAS transcodes your movies instantly.
Suitable for:
- Smart TVs
Streaming NAS media with Plex
A frequently used streaming app is Plex. The app recognizes the video files on your NAS and automatically searches for movie information such as the actors, subtitles, and covers of the movie. This gives you a visual overview of all your movies and you can easily browse through them. If a particular video file does not play, Plex transcodes this video. Transcoding is the direct conversion of a video file to a suitable format. Transcoding takes a lot of processing power, so you need a powerful NAS to transcode through Plex.
Suitable for:
- Smart TVs
- iPhone, iPad, and Android smartphones and tablets
- Windows and macOS
- PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Watching NAS media on your TV with DLNA
Almost every smart TV has DLNA built-in. This is a technology that allows your television to recognize your NAS as a folder. For example, you can scroll through your video and photo files on your television and select a movie to play or photo to display. Not every television supports any type of video file, so you can't play every video. By means of an app, such as Plex or the manufacturer's own app for your smart TV, you solve that.
Suitable for:
- Televisions with DLNA support
More about NAS
With your NAS you don't just stream movies and series. You can also use your network storage to make backups and manage your own personal cloud.
Article by Richard
NAS Expert.
