Apple really ticks me off sometimes. I like to use my Apple TV to stream audio just as much (well more) than turning it on to watch TV. For some of us this serves as a 2nd Airport Express. And yet, just to FORCE us to upgrade to the new Apple TV, they take away a feature that clearly could and should work just as it had. It's not as if the Apple TV can't receive audio, cause it work damn well from my iTunes right now! And what's worse is that the optical out on the Apple TV provides far superior sound in comparison to the Airport Express.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Airplay won't send AUDIO to Apple TV (What a joke, Apple!)
- Thread starter spimp31
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
the AE has a toshlink mini optical output, not the same as full optical. And I believe the DAC is better on the ATV as well, but that's not the issue here. Not letting me stream video to the Apple TV is one thing if the ATV original model is just not up to snuff for that kind of GPU intensive streaming from an iOS device, but it's more than fit to stream audio just as it does from my iTunes right now.
If I can stream audio from iTunes to my Apple TV, I should be able to stream audio from my iPad as well; not spend $100 for a rather pointless (and feature restricting) device.
I don't understand what you are saying I don't think. How are apple taking a function away? No steps back here are there I don't think, just functions moving forward on new devices. Correct me if I am wrong.
It's definitely functionality that is not being provided that can and should be provided. The first gen Apple TV is more than capable of being used as AirTunes (now AirPlay) speakers through iTunes. I can also select the Apple TV as my speakers from the iTunes remote app. Yet I can't toss any audio onto the device, even though it works exactly the same as an Airport Express does with iTunes.
They are 100% limiting the functionality of the Apple TV to make you upgrade, while taking away one of its uses that its other (older) product maintains. This isn't a matter of whether the Apple TV CAN do it.
The mini-Toshlink on the Airport Express sends out the exact same signals as any other optical digital output, be it Apple TV or an ultra high end Blu-Ray player. It even uses the same cable, when an adapter is used.
As for not being able to stream Airtunes/Airplay audio to the Apple TV. It was a stupid thing for Apple to remove.
Am I missing
Am I missing something here. After reading this I went to my Apple TV and am now streaming to it from iTunes. Or is it that we won't be able to stream from the iPad/iPhone?
Am I missing something here. After reading this I went to my Apple TV and am now streaming to it from iTunes. Or is it that we won't be able to stream from the iPad/iPhone?
Sorry if I wasn't clear enough, I thought this was the iPad forum. I'm specifically talking about AirPlay on 4.2 beta. Now this may just be a beta, but the audio streaming works on the same protocol and it's implemented with the Airport Express, so I don't think this is a beta issue.
What sucks is that the feature itself is pretty impressive. You can now stream from any app that does quicktime video or audio. It still needs some work to give you greater control of the volume and allow you to choose which apps (not all apps) are going to the AirPlay device, but I've tested it in the following apps with success, though I'm sure it works in many others:
- Safari (videos embedded from YT and Vimeo, audio files)
- YouTube
- Netflix
- Videos
- iPod
- BBC News
- MLB
What sucks is that the feature itself is pretty impressive. You can now stream from any app that does quicktime video or audio. It still needs some work to give you greater control of the volume and allow you to choose which apps (not all apps) are going to the AirPlay device, but I've tested it in the following apps with success, though I'm sure it works in many others:
- Safari (videos embedded from YT and Vimeo, audio files)
- YouTube
- Netflix
- Videos
- iPod
- BBC News
- MLB
Dude, it's a beta.
Wait for the finished product. The whole point of AirPlay is that you can stream to an Apple TV...if there's no audio, then what is the point?
Wait for the finished product. The whole point of AirPlay is that you can stream to an Apple TV...if there's no audio, then what is the point?
The whole point is that you can stream to a NEW Apple TV that you paid $100 for. I already have an Apple TV that works fine, and that I can stream audio to from my iTunes fine. This isn't a beta issue unless they still haven't figured out to cloak the fact that you CAN send video and audio both to an old Apple TV.
I did think it was pretty messed up when I saw AirPlay didn't work with my 1st gen Apple TV once I upgraded my iPad to the 4.2 beta. That said, it is a beta, and of course things might change who knows it is really too early to say. Yes of course it works in iTunes, but maybe there is a bug preventing it from working on the iPad. It is beta software after all.
Personally I don't care, as long as it works with the new Apple TV that will be shipping to me in a couple weeks.
Personally I don't care, as long as it works with the new Apple TV that will be shipping to me in a couple weeks.
I think the issue is that things that are firmware based (like Airport Express) and are iOS 4 based can do this. But the old Apple TV is Mac OS X based. It's likely that's the issue. Note that I have the old Apple TV also, so I feel your pain. But I suspect there is an incompatibility here that is causing the problem.
Have you tried pandora? If that works, then I'm installing the dev preview today.
Yep, Pandora works as well, though you currently have to set your audio to AE speakers in another app, then jump into Pandora and it will play as well. It will be interesting to see what API hooks allow developers to build in audio controls into their own apps. Hopefully that occurs.
Airplay is pretty rough at the moment. Streaming audio often stutters, and couple of occasions I have had to restart my iPad to get sound to play through the iPad speakers after initiating airplay and sending audio to my base stations.
So let's not get worked up we are on Beta 1
So let's not get worked up we are on Beta 1
airplay from ipad and iphone is a new feature, is anyone REALLY surprised they're not including some new features that they haven't made compatible with an OLD device? just look at the iphones, iPhone 3G doesn't get game center, iPhone 3GS doesn't get HDR... the list can go on...
The 1s and 0s which come out of the Apple TV's optical output are all in the same order as the 1s and 0s which come out of the Airport Express optical output, therefore (so long as your DAC isn't appalling), the sound will be identical.
I don't get it - isn't Airplay a feature of iOS 4.2?
Slightly off topic, but I think you should be grateful - without a foreign credit card I cannot even get Pandora here in New Zealand (or Radio.de).
yeah its super lame. Im going to get the new ATV but I was going to move my old ATV downstairs and it would be nice to have the airplay functionality in more then 1 place. I was considering getting an airport express to extend my wifi downstairs but that still wont give me video downstairs as well.
OMG! I just heard that this isn't going to work with the iMac G3 I have!!!!
Seriously people, it is technology. This is what happens with EVERY company. They create something new and prevent it from working on something old to not only optimize it but also to force people to move on. They eventually need to stop supporting devices they aren't making anymore.
If it is that big of a deal, go pay $99 and get a new AppleTV!
- Joe
Seriously people, it is technology. This is what happens with EVERY company. They create something new and prevent it from working on something old to not only optimize it but also to force people to move on. They eventually need to stop supporting devices they aren't making anymore.
If it is that big of a deal, go pay $99 and get a new AppleTV!
- Joe