LG’s webOS television has a feature called SmartShare™, which allows its users to play multimedia files from other devices on their Smart TV.
I have tried this on Windows, and it actually works. While the SmartShare software is not available for Mac users, there are alternatives such as the Nero MediaHome Essentials.
Here is a step-by-step guide that will let you watch videos from your Mac on your webOS TV:
1. On your Mac, go to the LG SmartShare Downloads page of the LG website and download Nero MediaHome Essentials.
2. Find and unzip the Zip file that you downloaded.
3. Double-click the Nero MediaHome.dmg file.
4. Nero MediaHome will appear under your Mac’s Devices and on your Desktop. Open it.
5. On the window that will appear next, drag the Nero MediaHome icon to the Applications folder. (The name on the icon, as of this writing, is Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials).
6. Go to the Applications folder and open the Nero MediaHome icon app. Depending on your security settings, you may get a prompt saying “‘Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials’ is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” Click on Open. If you are unable to open it, check and tweak your security settings. If you need more details about it, click here.
7. Nero MediaHome will launch, and you will be asked to select the folders to be shared. Click on “Add,” and select the folders where you keep the multimedia files that you want to watch on your TV.
8. The program will scan the files in the folder. Remember that all the files in this folder that you are sharing may be viewed and downloaded by everybody on the local area network (i.e. other Wi-Fi users connected to router that your Macbook is using). Also, make sure that your Mac and your TV are connected to the same local network.
9. Click on “Start Server.” After clicking on “Start Server,” I got this prompt: “Either you did not select any network interface or a previous selected one is not available anymore. You will not be able to access Nero MediaHome from other clients.” I just clicked on “Yes.”
10. Go to the SmartShare app on your LG webOS TV. Under Devices, you should see Nero MediaHome. Click on its icon, and start browsing the files from your Mac.
Enjoy!
