What the difference between Home Sharing Vs. Airplay.

[techguy40]

Why is there Airplay for the Mac on Itunes?

We already have homesharing for Itunes to ATV2 that does the same thing. It streams your itunes library for movies, music and photos.

Airplay for the Mac to ATV2 don't make any sense.

Also what the big deal streaming you tube videos from ios device. ATV2 has You Tube already.

[QuarterSwede]

What if you're at a friends house and want to show them a video you have?
For me, I love not having to get out my MacBook and login just to stream something.

[swingerofbirch]

I was gonna start a thread, but this place looks good. I am finally starting to understand what Airplay is. Does it exist on the Mac? I would get an AppleTV if it did. And am I to understand that you can click a button on any compatible video and it will stream to your Apple TV? Or is it only with iTunes content?

[techguy40]

Originally Posted by swingerofbirch

I was gonna start a thread, but this place looks good. I am finally starting to understand what Airplay is. Does it exist on the Mac? I would get an AppleTV if it did. And am I to understand that you can click a button on any compatible video and it will stream to your Apple TV? Or is it only with iTunes content?

It exist on the Mac for Itunes content only.

But Homesharing on Itunes on the mac does the same thing already. No need for Airplay on the Mac.

Airplay should of been for the IOS devices only.

[swingerofbirch]

Originally Posted by techguy40

It exist on the Mac for Itunes content only.

But Homesharing on Itunes on the mac does the same thing already. No need for Airplay on the Mac.

Airplay should of been for the IOS devices only.

I see...yes I don't have anything in iTunes I want on my TV. I already have an Airport Express for my iTunes music. I thought Airplay would be really cool if you could push random web videos onto your TV with it. Maybe some day . . .

[Irishman]

Originally Posted by swingerofbirch

I see...yes I don't have anything in iTunes I want on my TV. I already have an Airport Express for my iTunes music. I thought Airplay would be really cool if you could push random web videos onto your TV with it. Maybe some day . . .

I use Mirroring on my new iMac to watch regular Hulu videos on my ATV.

As an example.

[Chundles]

AirPlay = Push media, no iTunes Store account name and password required. Awesome for getting media from visitor's machines and devices onto your telly without giving them access to your iTunes account.

Home Sharing = Pull media, easy one-step access to your media.

They each have their positives but the ability to push media from ANY computer running iTunes or any iOS 4 device is awesome.

[newagemac]

Airplay will stream content in iTunes from your Mac or PC to your Apple TV or Airport Express. You can go to your Mac and start playing something in iTunes, select the little Airplay icon and push it to your Apple TV or Airport Express. You can also use the Remote app on your iOS device to select the content in iTunes on your Mac and play it on your Apple TV or Airport Express. Note that if you have Home Sharing set up on your Apple TV you can do the same thing except you start at the Apple TV and pull the content from the Mac rather than start at the Mac and push it to Apple TV. Of course with Airplay, you don't need to have Home Sharing set up.

But the Mac/Apple TV integration is just one part of Airplay. The other part of Airplay is that it allows you to push content actually stored on an iOS device to your Apple TV or Airport Express. In this scenario, your Mac and iTunes are not needed at all and don't have to be on. All you need is your iOS device. To me this is the most revolutionary part of Airplay. I don't think it has ever been possible to have a mobile device in your hand with GB of content on it that you can make play on your TV and/or home theater wirelessly like this. All in HD and 5.1 surround sound. That is pretty cool. And streaming radio/music apps like Pandora are absolutely killer with Airplay used in this way.

When I visit the family for the Holidays, I'll be taking my Apple TV 2G and loading up a few Hollywood movies and home videos on my iPhone. When we get there, I should just be able to connect the Apple TV and Airplay the movies, home videos and photos, holiday music, and etc. on the big screen with no computer required.

[tallyho]

Originally Posted by newagemac

When we get there, I should just be able to connect the Apple TV and Airplay the movies, home videos and photos, holiday music, and etc. on the big screen with no computer required.

Better make sure you import your home movies into iTunes (computer required) and then copy them onto your iPhone before you leave, then. If you should happen to make any spontaneous home movies during your stay, and edit them in iMovie on your phone (no computer required) then they aren't going anywhere near your AppleTV until you import them into iTunes (computer required) and sync to your phone.

Just saying.

[Naboh]

Originally Posted by tallyho

Better make sure you import your home movies into iTunes (computer required) and then copy them onto your iPhone before you leave, then. If you should happen to make any spontaneous home movies during your stay, and edit them in iMovie on your phone (no computer required) then they aren't going anywhere near your AppleTV until you import them into iTunes (computer required) and sync to your phone.

Just saying.

If you make home movies, why not turn mirroring on then when you play your movie it will go to the ATV without using iTunes, no?

[KeithJenner]

The biggest difference between using home sharing and airplay is multiple devices.

When using home sharing, your apple TV pulls content from your Mac and plays it on that device.

Using Airplay you can push (music only I think) to multiple Apple TV's or Airport Expresses.

For me that's a massive difference.