AirPlay 2 SmartTV: Worth it? Or better get an Apple TV?

[Populus]

I’ve been thinking, now that LCD SmartTVs with AirPlay 2 integrated are cheap, and soon we’ll get rid of our old CRT TV, if it would be a good idea to get one.

My mom watches a lot of movies from streaming services on her iPad 9th gen, using a pair of wired EarPods (3.5mm jack), and her posture on the couch is not the best during so many hours. She also plays games on the iPad, mostly the match 3 type of games. She also uses it for iMessage, watching photos and FaceTime calls.

The plan is the following: getting a cheap SmartTV, with AirPlay 2 integration, that way what she’s watching on the iPad, she can watch it on a big TV as well. However, I’m not sure if this will drain the iPad 9th gen battery, or make it hotter. I’m also not sure if she’ll be able to keep using the wired EarPods connected to her iPad while streaming the video to the TV.

The second option I’ve been thinking about, is getting an Apple TV, either to stream via AirPlay 2, or to -most probably- use the video streaming apps on the AppleTV itself. Although this doesn’t make much sense, given that most SmartTVs nowadays already have apps for streaming content providers such as Max, Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video.

So… what would you do? If a content (a game or a movie) is being streamed to the big TV via AirPlay 2, will the audio still come through the wired headphones? Can you select that? Is the streaming good enough to watch the iPad content there?

Thank you.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Airplay capability is far from what AppleTV (the box) can do

AppleTV app on smartTVs is also far from what AppleTV (the box) can do.

To view either as equivalent to AppleTV box means:

1) YES, draining the battery on the iPad airplaying what you want to watch to the airplay TV vs. a plugged-in Apple TV (box) never draining a drop of battery power.

2) The ONLY apps that count for you are the ones that happen to come on the smart TV, which would include the AppleTV app.

If you can identify ONE more app you would like to enjoy NOT in the smartTV apps, you start making a case for an AppleTV (the box). Think of this like viewing an iPhone as if it is only a device capable of phone calls and texting. It's not. It does all kinds of other things due to many apps available for it. If Apple opted to bundle the phone calling & texting capabilities of iPhone into a dedicated app and installed it on TVs, that wouldn't make the TVs an iPhone... because that app would be tremendously narrow in scope vs. what iPhones (the boxes) can do with millions of other apps.

If the only Apps your Mom would ever want to watch are apps in the smart TV app collection, you don't need an AppleTV or even Airplay capability... until the TV maker stops updating the apps for the "old" TVs sold back in 2024... which tends to happen faster than AppleTV apps are abandoned.

Lastly, if there's more than Mom in the household, while the iPad is tied up standing in for an AppleTV with airplay, she can't easily use it for other things. On the other hand, an AppleTV dedicated to the TV would allow others to watch things on TV while that iPad could be doing anything else... including going out to other places with Mom. In my own experience, I find people with both use both at the same time, often having different content on the 2 screens.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Populus]

Airplay capability is far from what AppleTV (the box) can do

AppleTV app on smartTVs is also far from what AppleTV (the box) can do.

To view either as equivalent to AppleTV box means:

1) YES, draining the battery on the iPad air playing what you want to watch to the airplay TV vs. a plugged-in Apple TV (box) never draining a drop of battery power

2) The ONLY apps that count for you are the ones that happen to come on the smart TV, which would include the AppleTV app

If you can identify ONE more app you would like to enjoy NOT in the smartTV apps, you start making a case for an AppleTV (the box). Think of this like view an iPhone as if it is only a device capable of phone calls and texting. It's not. It does all kinds of other things due to many apps available for it.

If the only Apps your Mom would ever want to watch are apps in the smart TV app collection, you don't need an AppleTV or even Airplay capability... until the TV maker stops updating the apps for the "old" TVs sold back in 2024... which tends to happen faster than AppleTV apps are abandoned.

Lastly, if there's more than Mom in the household, while the iPad is tied up standing in for an AppleTV with airplay, she can't easily use it for other things. On the other hand, an AppleTV dedicated to the TV would allow others to watch things on TV while that iPad could be doing anything else... including going out to other places with Mom.

I hope this is helpful.

Yes, it is. Thank you.

I guess the option of buying an Apple TV (the box) is always there even after buying the TV. So I can try with the Smart TV apps for streaming services, as well as the AirPlay 2 connection at least for games, and see how it all works. If I need a better experience, I can then get the latest Apple TV (the box), or waiting a bit to see if there’s an A18 Apple TV in the horizon.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I missed the games reference. Airplaying games will likely be a bad experience because a touchscreen needs you to see where you are touching to control game action. No way around that without a dedicated controller... and that's true with AppleTV (the box) too. The game player will need to look at the iPad screen to play well, so the TV screen view would likely not get used unless others want to watch the gameplay too.

If you want to enjoy games, add a dedicated controller to the buy list and then you can both try airplaying games from iPad and possibly even a few games in the TVs apps. But if you want to really enjoy iDevice-type games, AppleTV (the box) with game controller will likely prove to be a must.

 

[Populus]

I missed the games reference. Airplaying games will likely be a bad experience because a touchscreen needs you to see where you are touching to control game action. No way around that without a dedicated controller... and that's true with AppleTV (the box) too. The game player will need to look at the iPad screen to play well, so the TV screen view would likely not get used unless others want to watch the gameplay too.

If you want to enjoy games, add a dedicated controller to the buy list and then you can both try airplaying games from iPad and possibly even a few games in the TVs apps. But if you want to really enjoy iDevice-type games, AppleTV (the box) with game controller will likely prove to be a must.

If only the AppStore retro emulators recently added were compatible with AppleTV (the box)… that would open a great potential to gaming in my home. And my apologies if you’re one of this vehement detractors of retro emulators. I can’t keep a list of who is in favor or emulation/EU-DMA/sideloading and who is angrily against, so I can’t really know who is on one side or the other.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Retroarch- which basically covers a very large number of platforms- works fine on AppleTV (the box). There are others but that's the only one I know.

Also, if you happen to have a PC with a NVIDIA game card in the home, install the free Moonlight app on AppleTV (the box) and enjoy any games- including AAA- that can run on PC, including fantastic retro front ends like BigBox/Launchbox and similar. PC does the heavy lifting and streams them through AppleTV (the box) to the TV. AppleTV (the box) processes wireless controller(s) actions to pass back to the PC. Works surprisingly well and brings pretty much all PC gaming to a TV with an AppleTV attached.

And boom: one potential reason to own the box vs. TV apps vs. airplay. 🕹️

 

[Populus]

Nice, you just sold me the box.

EDIT: using Tekken 3 on that demo was an unfair hit.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Wasn't really trying to sell anything but- IMO- "the box" is one of the best value things Apple makes... so, so, soooooooo underrated and overlooked... partially- IMO- because Apple has confused the concept by installing an App with the same name on all smart TVs and competing devices.

I have one- the box- hooked to every TV in the house. I even dumped cable/satt boxes and it stands in for them (and their hefty lease fees) with the incredible Channels DVR app paired with a Silicon Dust boxes to tune both over the air "free TV" and "cable TV." Have or like DVRs? That app can cover that too, for recording shows and watching on any TV or iDevice (like your Mom's iPad) in the home.

If your Mom is a cable subscriber, you might want to look into that and the money savings from not paying monthly cable box leases will cover the AppleTV many times over.

That app- not available on my smart TV- is the MOST used app in my household.

#2 is the Computers App- also not available on the smart TV- which accesses all of our accumulated media (movies, TV shows, home movies, photos, music) stored on a big HDD attached to my Mac.

Those two get used far more than the Netflix, MAX, Paramount +, Disney, AppleTV+, etc apps at my home... and neither is available in the SmartTV mix of apps.

 

[JeffPerrin]

In addition to everything HobeSoundDarryl has mentioned, I will add that I've found reliable AirPlay 2 support on smart TVs shaky at best. (ie. drops the signal or can be fussy with certain videos)