AirPlay 2 on Smart TVs: Other Brands Coming, Lock Screen Controls, Siri, and More

[bayportbob]

"AirPlay 2-enabled TVs will act just like any other AirPlay 2 speaker, meaning you can send many different types of audio..."

so how does that replace an Apple TV? I can't even find the point of sending audio to a TV anyway; might as well send it to a sound system.

sound on crappy tv speakers will always be crappy. the purpose of the apple tv besides delivering apple media is to put all of the other media delivered via apps in one package rather than depend on the manufacturers throwing you a bone. nothing to see here, move on........

 

[Pupi]

- AirPlay 2-enabled TVs will act just like any other AirPlay 2 speaker, meaning you can send many different types of audio from an iOS device or your Mac to your TV. Music being sent to your TV via AirPlay 2 can also be synced with other AirPlay 2 speakers.

Huh? And VIDEO. Why omit that? Someone writing for MacRumors somehow thinks AirPlay is just for audio? LOL
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"AirPlay 2-enabled TVs will act just like any other AirPlay 2 speaker, meaning you can send many different types of audio..."

so how does that replace an Apple TV? I can't even find the point of sending audio to a TV anyway; might as well send it to a sound system.

It’s not true, just MacRumors being extremely dumb. From Apple’s website:

“Simply tap the AirPlay icon on your Apple device and share almost anything — the latest movies, home videos, vacation photos, presentations — to your Apple TV or AirPlay 2–enabled smart TV.”

It’s AirPlay for audio and video just like Apple TV. MR comparing it to Airplay 2 speakers is laughable. Amateur hour.

 

[rubberfish]

"AirPlay 2-enabled TVs will act just like any other AirPlay 2 speaker, meaning you can send many different types of audio..."

so how does that replace an Apple TV? I can't even find the point of sending audio to a TV anyway; might as well send it to a sound system.

Watch. Listen. Share.
it's not just audio
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Screen mirroring or no?

From the apple site:

Coming soon
AirPlay 2–enabled TVs. Now that’s smart.

Leading TV manufacturers are integrating AirPlay 2 directly into their TVs, so now you can effortlessly share or mirror almost anything from your iOS device or Mac directly to your AirPlay 2–enabled smart TV. You can even play music on the TV and sync it with other AirPlay 2–compatible speakers anywhere in your home.

 

[DNichter]

This is a good move for Apple and expands services revenue, which will be hugely critical moving forward. I still prefer my Apple TV for the native experience, app selection, and TV app - but this will bring a good amount of functionality to those in the market for a new TV. Good move for Apple and consumers.

 

[76morgan]

I'm trying to imagine a scenario with this that doesn't involve me getting up to turn on another device. Currently I can tell my phone to airplay, say, Apple Music, to my Great Room Apple TV. Doing that wakes up the ATV, which in turn, though HDMI, turns on the TV. But at that point I am stuck listening to the music through the TV speakers unless I go over to my entertainment center and turn on the receiver to pump the TV sound out to my external speakers.

Can you use a powerstrip that has a “control” outlet? I have one where I have my TV plugged into the “control” and when that is powered on, my receiver and Blu-ray power on. Perhaps plug ATV into control and the other components come on when that is triggered?

 

[rubberfish]

Can you use a powerstrip that has a “control” outlet? I have one where I have my TV plugged into the “control” and when that is powered on, my receiver and Blu-ray power on. Perhaps plug ATV into control and the other components come on when that is triggered?

Does your receiver have an ARC port? Try that

 

[DNichter]

surely the end of the notion of Apple making its own TV's?
and begs the question why would you buy an Apple TV going forwards?

Native experience with Apple apps, app selection, games, better UI, TV app integration, Siri remote/functionality, can be added to any TV. There are definitely reasons, but for some, the ability to AirPlay and purchase movies and shows directly may be all they need. Not a bad strategy by any means.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I am moderately interested, but I have questions.

1. Does this mean that I can "permanently" pair my HomePods with the tv, so that all content gets that luxurious HomePod stereo sound?
2. What about content apps, like WWE Network, AMC, DirecTV Now, Hulu, etc?
3. What about other apps, fitness, games, etc?

[doublepost=1546869151][/doublepost]

This pretty much rules out needing an Apple TV. Just AirPlay from an iOS or MacOS device. That is assuming you are in the market for a new fancy TV. Our old 2008 720p Panasonic Plasma still works just fine. The 4K quality is impressive though.

Unless it only functions as a receiver of sorts. It also explicitly states 'iTunes Movies & TV Shows,' so it could very well be that none of the reasons to get an Apple TV are included, such as HomeKit hub functionality, apps, games, etc.

 

[wigby]

RE: "described as coming soon:"

When your AAPL, you don't need to actually Produce anything, just issue a PR that says you will Produce !

In the meantime, the AAPL Board is interviewing Cook's possible replacement !

NO ONE should be surprised if AAPL announces this week that Cook has stepped down as CEO.

I see stories like this this as proof that Cook is pivoting Apple more towards services precisely to keep his job as CEO. There is now way he will be gone anytime soon because we are seeing all of his plans go into action now. If Apple's plan to expand services while decelerating hardware revenue doesn't work in a year or two, then we will see Cook's head on the chopping block.

 

[jdclifford]

I may jump once this happens

That's exactly why it will never happen. Apple wants to keep its walled garden.

 

[adamjackson]

I think the coolest thing here is that Apple added a few dozen new AirPlay and HomeKit partners ahead of CES 2019 and not a single leak. Some of these companies aren’t known for being secretive.

 

[Mascots]

Apple TV is a platform, not just a pipe for AirPlay.

This move is Apple making steps against products like Chromecast by directly integrating AirPlay 2 in TVs with manufacturers, leveraging their ecosystem rather than needing to push a new piece of cheap hardware to the masses to fight for that control. It’s a solid play, albeit late to the game.
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Unless it only functions as a receiver of sorts. It also explicitly states 'iTunes Movies & TV Shows,' so it could very well be that none of the reasons to get an Apple TV are included, such as HomeKit hub functionality, apps, games, etc.

Have we seen any 3rd party devices that can serve as “hosts” in AirPlay yet? As far as I’m aware, Apple has kept that part closed to companies integrating into the system and have a feeling they’d do the same here given their language on the AirPlay page on their site. That’d make these TVs just receivers, then.

 

[Mac 128]

Apple TV is a platform, not just a pipe for AirPlay.

This move is Apple making steps against products like Chromecast by directly integrating AirPlay 2 in TVs with manufacturers, leveraging their ecosystem rather than needing to push a new piece of cheap hardware to the masses to fight for that control. It’s a solid play, albeit late to the game.
[doublepost=1546873417][/doublepost]

Have we seen any 3rd party devices that can serve as “hosts” in AirPlay yet? As far as I’m aware, Apple has kept that part closed to companies integrating into the system and have a feeling they’d do the same here given their language on the AirPlay page on their site. That’d make these TVs just receivers, then.

There are AirPlay AVRs. What do you mean by third party devices serving as hosts?

 

[Apple blogger]

I’m thinking this is a move to prepare for apple’s video streaming service.

Wow! That’s perfectly said. That makes perfect sense! Since iTunes movies and tv would probably be a way to access the streaming service, with airplay, you can send it across to your tv.

My only question. Apple isn’t opening up airplay. They just partnered with the tv guys for audio. There isn’t mirroring, and video. Correct?

 

[Mascots]

There are AirPlay AVRs. What do you mean by third party devices serving as hosts?

Devices that have their own panel on the AirPlay screen and can control other devices or pump audio or video directly from themselves. Afaik the only devices that do this (other than iOS devices) are the HomePod and Apple TV - with all other devices in the AirPlay system being receivers.

For example, even though my Sonos speaker can stream audio on its own, it can only receive audio via AirPlay. It can’t host audio for my HomePod or other AirPlay 2 speakers and doesn’t show up as a card in the list outside of another device.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Apple TV is a platform, not just a pipe for AirPlay.

This move is Apple making steps against products like Chromecast by directly integrating AirPlay 2 in TVs with manufacturers, leveraging their ecosystem rather than needing to push a new piece of cheap hardware to the masses to fight for that control. It’s a solid play, albeit late to the game.
[doublepost=1546873417][/doublepost]

Have we seen any 3rd party devices that can serve as “hosts” in AirPlay yet? As far as I’m aware, Apple has kept that part closed to companies integrating into the system and have a feeling they’d do the same here given their language on the AirPlay page on their site. That’d make these TVs just receivers, then.

Yep. I believe you're right with both of your posts here.

 

[Manatlt]

That's exactly why it will never happen. Apple wants to keep its walled garden.

A small handful of existing iPhone users buy iPhone because of iMessage. iPhone sales have dropped BIG time this year, iMessage isn't enough.

Might as well expand iMessage to other platforms. iMessage apps/stickers will probably be remain exclusive to iOS.

 

[bchery21]

This is interesting. I use my ATV basically for airplay and streaming a few shows from the apps (Netflix, ABC, ESPN, HGTV) I have downloaded. If I can get these apps on the TV then not sure why I need my ATV :/

 

[jdclifford]

A small handful of existing iPhone users buy iPhone because of iMessage. iPhone sales have dropped BIG time this year, iMessage isn't enough.

Might as well expand iMessage to other platforms. iMessage apps/stickers will probably be remain exclusive to iOS.

The drop in sales has nothing to do with iMessages but everything to do with lack of innovation and exorbitant phone prices. People are holding their iPhones longer thus spreading out upgrade cycle and reducing annual unit sales. This DOESN'T mean everyone is jumping on the Android bandwagon. iMessages probably one of top apps in use. BTW I have both iPhone X, iPhone 8 and Galaxy S8. Everyone I know uses iMessage for texting esp since you can text to/from any apple device even without a phone #.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/tech/apple-tim-cook/index.html

 

[DevNull0]

This pretty much rules out needing an Apple TV. Just AirPlay from an iOS or MacOS device. That is assuming you are in the market for a new fancy TV. Our old 2008 720p Panasonic Plasma still works just fine. The 4K quality is impressive though.

Are you sure? There's nothing there to indicate that these TVs support screen mirroring. My AV Receiver supports Airplay2 but doesn't do screen mirroring.

That is literally the only worthwhile feature the AppleTV has and it's not worth more than about $30 (like chromecast) for that feature. Apple will not allow other devices to support unless they've already given up on AppleTV.

 

[MhzDoesMatter]

Circling back to this, I agree with posters that AppleTV is a platform, not an AirPlay receiver. Apple is leveraging Airplay and iTunes content to grow its reach rather than withholding features to serve as competitive advantages for AppleTV and HomePod.

However, the Home and TV apps as well as Siri are still Apple device exclusives. They're not giving up on their hardware. They're just not letting hardware dictate their services strategy any longer.

 

[trip1ex]

It would be nice if this meant you could use HomePods as your tv sound output

 

[falainber]

This is a good step but the industry as a whole are failing the consumers by producing these proprietary solutions. It's time for them to come up with some standard (something like DLNA) which would work on all computers and electronic devices uniformly.

 

[aldenh]

Any chances that this update is coming to Android TV boxes like the nvidia shield tv?

 

[trptdude]

It would be nice if this meant you could use HomePods as your tv sound output

You can....via Apple TV - running it with a stereo pair of home pods - voice control of video playback is limited to start/stop and volume requests, but it works and sounds pretty solid...wife likes the clean look of the setup as opposed to a soundbar - only glitch I've encountered is I have to periodically go into settings and remind the Apple TV that I want to use the home pods for audio - ARC on my samsung tv lets us do power up/down with the AppleTV remote too....