Apple Releases Firmware Update for AirPort Express With AirPlay 2 Support

[MrGuder]

Can anyone help?
I updated the firmware and I even went into setting for the airport express tab Airplay and made sure the box is checked to enable. I went to play a song on my iPhone 6s and I brought up the airplay pop up through the music player and I see my airport express so I clicked it to change the speaker from my iPhone to my airport express but I get no sound from the airport express. What am I doing wrong?

 

[abhibeckert]

So, the Airport Express has an optical audio out (toslink).

Can I connect it to a receiver and stream 7.1 audio to it? The source will be an TV 4k (plex/netflix etc.) with 5.1/7.1 audio streams. I will select the Airport as audio out during TV playback. Can someone test this\confirm this?

Additionally, when I stream music to the AE, and someone calls, will the audio from the call be heard on the Airplay speaker?

AirPlay is good at only being used where it's appropriate.

For example on the Apple TV it sends sound from movies to airplay but interface sound effects are still sent to your TV since that has no latency.
[doublepost=1535586076][/doublepost]

So what you are saying is that with good Airport 2 device, you could initiate from Siri on you iPhone to play to it, and then shut off your iphone and it will continue to play? This is similar to how Sonos works?

I also think that the Sonos One has the minimal Airplay 2 support.

It will continue to play for some period of time, how long for depends on a variety of factors. Could be seconds or hours.

 

[Macwick]

So what you are saying is that with good Airport 2 device, you could initiate from Siri on you iPhone to play to it, and then shut off your iphone and it will continue to play? This is similar to how Sonos works?

I also think that the Sonos One has the minimal Airplay 2 support.

Correct. Overall I love AirPlay 2 (and the related iOS controls) but there is an awkward design flaw. Take my setup as an example. I have 4 Apple TVs and 1 HomePod (will likely get more). All five of these devices are capable of being AirPlay 'hubs' - meaning they can stream music to multiple other AirPlay targets, independent of an iPhone/iPad.

This leads to the following - if I ask my HomePod to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (an AirPort Express), it will stream the music from the HomePod to the Living Room (and any other destination I specify). This means I can turn off my phone, use it to make calls, etc.

HOWEVER - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (the *exact* same request), it will stream the music from my iPhone to the AirPort Express. Now my phone is the music server, so if I turn it off, leave the house with it, etc, the music will stop.

How should it work? Ideally, I think it should always default to streaming *from* an 'always on' AirPlay hub that is not currently in use, regardless of where you make your request. For example - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music in my Living Room, it should stream from an available AirPod or ATV to the AirPort Express in my living room. Same thing if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my AirPod - it certainly shouldn't 'tie up' my iPhone in order to do this.

Now I know this is tricky too. What if it starts streaming from an AirPod or ATV that is not in use, and then someone starts using it? I don't know. But I would still much prefer a design that is never (or hardly ever) dependent on my iPhone or iPad for multi-room music streaming.

EDIT: Actually, the ideal solution is that every AirPlay 'destination' is also an AirPlay hub - meaning it can always stream music from the Internet directly, with no other iOS device required. Ideally I ask Siri (on any device) to play music (in any room) and it plays in those room(s), with no dependency on my iPhone/iPad. I'm happy to use HomePods to accomplish this in most rooms, but Apple needs a version of HomePod (lite?) with an audio out for rooms with existing amps - such as built-in speaker systems, outdoor speaker systems, etc. I was hoping the AirPort Express with AirPlay 2 support would accomplish this, but it's clear that in this case (and likely other third party AirPlay 2 systems) they can only be streamed *to* from iOS devices.

 

[irish2110]

Can anyone help?
I updated the firmware and I even went into setting for the airport express tab Airplay and made sure the box is checked to enable. I went to play a song on my iPhone 6s and I brought up the airplay pop up through the music player and I see my airport express so I clicked it to change the speaker from my iPhone to my airport express but I get no sound from the airport express. What am I doing wrong?

I am having the same problem!

I have the Venlop system in the house (3 nodes) and unfortunately the receiver that controls the speakers does not have WiFi capability, just Ethernet. I wanted to use the AE as a WiFi adapater and hook it up to the receiver.

Followed all the prompts to make the AE work, saw the AE on both my Mac and X, played a song but no sound came out, even though the song was “playing”.

Am I missing something? Or is this not even possible.

Side note- the app controls the receiver now via WIFi.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Correct. Overall I love AirPlay 2 (and the related iOS controls) but there is an awkward design flaw. Take my setup as an example. I have 4 Apple TVs and 1 HomePod (will likely get more). All five of these devices are capable of being AirPlay 'hubs' - meaning they can stream music to multiple other AirPlay targets, independent of an iPhone/iPad.

This leads to the following - if I ask my HomePod to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (an AirPort Express), it will stream the music from the HomePod to the Living Room (and any other destination I specify). This means I can turn off my phone, use it to make calls, etc.

HOWEVER - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (the *exact* same request), it will stream the music from my iPhone to the AirPort Express. Now my phone is the music server, so if I turn it off, leave the house with it, etc, the music will stop.

How should it work? Ideally, I think it should always default to streaming *from* an 'always on' AirPlay hub that is not currently in use, regardless of where you make your request. For example - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music in my Living Room, it should stream from an available AirPod or ATV to the AirPort Express in my living room. Same thing if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my AirPod - it certainly shouldn't 'tie up' my iPhone in order to do this.

Now I know this is tricky too. What if it starts streaming from an AirPod or ATV that is not in use, and then someone starts using it? I don't know. But I would still much prefer a design that is never (or hardly ever) dependent on my iPhone or iPad for multi-room music streaming.

EDIT: Actually, the ideal solution is that every AirPlay 'destination' is also an AirPlay hub - meaning it can always stream music from the Internet directly, with no other iOS device required. Ideally I ask Siri (on any device) to play music (in any room) and it plays in those room(s), with no dependency on my iPhone/iPad. I'm happy to use HomePods to accomplish this in most rooms, but Apple needs a version of HomePod (lite?) with an audio out for rooms with existing amps - such as built-in speaker systems, outdoor speaker systems, etc. I was hoping the AirPort Express with AirPlay 2 support would accomplish this, but it's clear that in this case (and likely other third party AirPlay 2 systems) they can only be streamed *to* from iOS devices.

I hear ya, but it's a bit of a Catch-22 for devices like Sonos/AirPort Express. Not to mention, they may not have the architecture to support being a full-fledged hub. The best solution is to buy some used/discounted Apple TV 4s. You may also have to buy an HDMI de-embedder, if you're feeding an external amp/speakers.

 

[Macwick]

I hear ya, but it's a bit of a Catch-22 for devices like Sonos/AirPort Express. Not to mention, they may not have the architecture to support being a full-fledged hub. The best solution is to buy some used/discounted Apple TV 4s. You may also have to buy an HDMI de-embedder, if you're feeding an external amp/speakers.

Yes, I did *exactly* this for two outdoor speaker systems in my backyard. However there are two drawbacks:

1) As you said, you need very hokey HDMI to analog audio adapters. I don't know whether this impacts audio quality, but I have a suspicion that they might.

2) You can't control the volume when controlling AirPlay output to Apple TVs! So for example - I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my backyard speakers (powered by an Apple TV). The music starts playing, but there is no way to adjust the volume via the iPhone (the volume bar is greyed out). I would have to go inside and adjust the volume on the amp. I get why this is (Apple TVs don't have an adjustable volume level) but you can see why it doesn't work for my use case.

Oh and 3) there is nothing more frustrating than trying to play music to a remote Apple TV and having it prompt you for the 4 digit PIN because you haven't streamed to that device in a while. And of course the Apple TV in question isn't hooked up to a display
[doublepost=1535593712][/doublepost]

I hear ya, but it's a bit of a Catch-22 for devices like Sonos/AirPort Express. Not to mention, they may not have the architecture to support being a full-fledged hub.

Yeah, I can totally understand why this limitation exists. I think the solution is a full-fledged iOS device (i.e. HomePod lite) with audio out. The Apple TVs are an OK workaround as you suggest, but have limitations as I described.....

 

[Peepo]

AirPlay is good at only being used where it's appropriate.

For example on the Apple TV it sends sound from movies to airplay but interface sound effects are still sent to your TV since that has no latency.
[doublepost=1535586076][/doublepost]
It will continue to play for some period of time, how long for depends on a variety of factors. Could be seconds or hours.

I just found my airport express and upgraded it. If I started playing a song in Apple Music and then put my iPhone in airplane mode it still continues to play the song but didn’t play any remaining others from the album (maybe there is a solution but I’m not sure). With overcast it stopped playing immediately after placing iPhone in airplane mode.

 

[rlhamil]

My GOD>..wtf ??? and the wifi AC Apple’s AirPort will not receive this ?? an ancient Airport express will?

AFAIK, the Airport Extreme (the 802.11ac one) did not have a speaker jack, only Ethernet ports and a USB port; so it'd be kind of hard to add audio playing capability to it with a software update. Same for the Airport Time Capsule. They're still on Apple's store site, and you can look at a picture of the back, where all the connectors are.

 

[Peepo]

Correct. Overall I love AirPlay 2 (and the related iOS controls) but there is an awkward design flaw. Take my setup as an example. I have 4 Apple TVs and 1 HomePod (will likely get more). All five of these devices are capable of being AirPlay 'hubs' - meaning they can stream music to multiple other AirPlay targets, independent of an iPhone/iPad.

This leads to the following - if I ask my HomePod to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (an AirPort Express), it will stream the music from the HomePod to the Living Room (and any other destination I specify). This means I can turn off my phone, use it to make calls, etc.

HOWEVER - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to 'play Foo Fighters in the Living Room' (the *exact* same request), it will stream the music from my iPhone to the AirPort Express. Now my phone is the music server, so if I turn it off, leave the house with it, etc, the music will stop.

How should it work? Ideally, I think it should always default to streaming *from* an 'always on' AirPlay hub that is not currently in use, regardless of where you make your request. For example - if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music in my Living Room, it should stream from an available AirPod or ATV to the AirPort Express in my living room. Same thing if I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my AirPod - it certainly shouldn't 'tie up' my iPhone in order to do this.

Now I know this is tricky too. What if it starts streaming from an AirPod or ATV that is not in use, and then someone starts using it? I don't know. But I would still much prefer a design that is never (or hardly ever) dependent on my iPhone or iPad for multi-room music streaming.

EDIT: Actually, the ideal solution is that every AirPlay 'destination' is also an AirPlay hub - meaning it can always stream music from the Internet directly, with no other iOS device required. Ideally I ask Siri (on any device) to play music (in any room) and it plays in those room(s), with no dependency on my iPhone/iPad. I'm happy to use HomePods to accomplish this in most rooms, but Apple needs a version of HomePod (lite?) with an audio out for rooms with existing amps - such as built-in speaker systems, outdoor speaker systems, etc. I was hoping the AirPort Express with AirPlay 2 support would accomplish this, but it's clear that in this case (and likely other third party AirPlay 2 systems) they can only be streamed *to* from iOS devices.

Ya I understand the limitation. What turned me off Apple HomePod is the inability to play a song on it without using Siri - eg just going into Apple Music on my MacBook or iPhone and start a playback on a HomePod without taking to it. I’m not sure if AirPlay 2 steaming is a workaround because wouldn’t that have same problem of being streamed to constantly by iPhone or whatever device? Maybe Apple Music is a special case though and HomePod would play on its own?

 

[iObama]

This should be shouted loudly wherever SONOS will see it.

It's legitimately not technically possible on the Play:1.

 

[jessebkr87]

There have been a few people asking about using the Express with other brands of mesh networks and getting it working. I use Linksys Velop and have the AirPort Express set up to “join a Wi-Fi network.” Everything works just like it should after updating and setting up in the Home app.

Someone mentioned their Express being hardwired into their mesh network, but I just wanted to mention that it’s also possible to join wirelessly for those who may not have their stereo near one of their mesh nodes.

 

[Lax608]

There have been a few people asking about using the Express with other brands of mesh networks and getting it working. I use Linksys Velop and have the AirPort Express set up to “join a Wi-Fi network.” Everything works just like it should after updating and setting up in the Home app.

Someone mentioned their Express being hardwired into their mesh network, but I just wanted to mention that it’s also possible to join wirelessly for those who may not have their stereo near one of their mesh nodes.

Yes, mine is hardwired to an Orbi system however, prior to me wiring an Ethernet port into the closet where my AEs are, they were connected wirelessly to "Join a Network" as well. It worked ok for that but because of house size and location it wasn't a perfect solution.

 

[Kermetajb]

There have been a few people asking about using the Express with other brands of mesh networks and getting it working. I use Linksys Velop and have the AirPort Express set up to “join a Wi-Fi network.” Everything works just like it should after updating and setting up in the Home app.

Someone mentioned their Express being hardwired into their mesh network, but I just wanted to mention that it’s also possible to join wirelessly for those who may not have their stereo near one of their mesh nodes.

Yes, I also have an eero system and they work perfectly with it. What I did to avoid wireless interference was set the airport expresses in client mode (aka “join a network”), then disable the Wi-Fi and connected to ethernet cable. So, all of my expresses are hardwired and don’t give off a wireless signal. My mesh system covers the house in AC wireless and I didn’t want N wireless from the expresses mixed in. Connection and playback are super speedy compared to airplay 1.

 

[MrGuder]

I’m just going to stick with my trusty blue tooth speaker connects all the time and I can play music wherever I want in my home and not tied to wires. Can’t afford the home pod.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Yes, I did *exactly* this for two outdoor speaker systems in my backyard. However there are two drawbacks:

1) As you said, you need very hokey HDMI to analog audio adapters. I don't know whether this impacts audio quality, but I have a suspicion that they might.

2) You can't control the volume when controlling AirPlay output to Apple TVs! So for example - I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my backyard speakers (powered by an Apple TV). The music starts playing, but there is no way to adjust the volume via the iPhone (the volume bar is greyed out). I would have to go inside and adjust the volume on the amp. I get why this is (Apple TVs don't have an adjustable volume level) but you can see why it doesn't work for my use case.

Oh and 3) there is nothing more frustrating than trying to play music to a remote Apple TV and having it prompt you for the 4 digit PIN because you haven't streamed to that device in a while. And of course the Apple TV in question isn't hooked up to a display
[doublepost=1535593712][/doublepost]

Yeah, I can totally understand why this limitation exists. I think the solution is a full-fledged iOS device (i.e. HomePod lite) with audio out. The Apple TVs are an OK workaround as you suggest, but have limitations as I described.....

Yep, agreed - as I have experienced all of the above using an Apple TV 4 to distribute AirPlay 2 audio to an outdoor zone.

The other problem: even though I turn off ARC/HDMI control in the TV/AVR, turning on this AppleTV for AirPlay would typically make my TV turn on This is probably because I ran HDMI from the de-embedder back into the AVR, mainly so I could do firmware updates and input code if required, as you mention above.

So, I was happy to replace the Apple TV with the updated AirPort Express so there's no chance of HDMI glitchiness.

Also, analog audio out of the AE actually sounds pretty good! Much better than the ATV 4-> HDMI de-embedder.
[doublepost=1535632557][/doublepost]

I’m just going to stick with my trusty blue tooth speaker connects all the time and I can play music wherever I want in my home and not tied to wires. Can’t afford the home pod.

Pretty sure that's an oxymoron

 

[erinsarah]

...

2) You can't control the volume when controlling AirPlay output to Apple TVs! So for example - I ask Siri on my iPhone to play music on my backyard speakers (powered by an Apple TV). The music starts playing, but there is no way to adjust the volume via the iPhone (the volume bar is greyed out). I would have to go inside and adjust the volume on the amp. I get why this is (Apple TVs don't have an adjustable volume level) but you can see why it doesn't work for my use case.

I found this NOT to be the case, at least before the update. I have an AppleTV4. I turned on Apple Music and told the appleTv to play the music on my Airport Express down in the basement, which connects to a receiver that drives the outdoor speakers. Sitting outside and using the AppleTV remote app, I could see what was playing, but noticed there was no volume slider. HOWEVER, by hitting the volume up/down buttons on the side of the phone the music volume on the outdoor speakers adjusted accordingly. Which surprised the heck out of me.

 

[DeftwillP]

There have been a few people asking about using the Express with other brands of mesh networks and getting it working. I use Linksys Velop and have the AirPort Express set up to “join a Wi-Fi network.” Everything works just like it should after updating and setting up in the Home app.

Someone mentioned their Express being hardwired into their mesh network, but I just wanted to mention that it’s also possible to join wirelessly for those who may not have their stereo near one of their mesh nodes.

Interesting question for y'all that know then:
I upgraded to google wifi mesh system and have 2 points in my 1650 sqft house. I was previously using a 5th gen extreme and 3 or 4 expresses all hardwired together. I get much better coverage and speed using the mesh system so thats not changing. Airplay streaming has been faulty and skips a lot. I can have my airplay in the kitchen and living room playing the same song from my mac and the kitchen keeps pausing and unsyncing. The next day it will be the living room doing it.

I have the AE's set up to wireless join and its been pretty unacceptable. What I'm thinking after reading this is still hook up all the AE's to the old extreme (don't know what settings I'd choose for them all) and have it connected to a mesh node. Would that work?

 

[bubsdaddy]

Thanks for the Target tip. I just picked up a 2nd Gen Airport Express Base Station on sale for $89.99 (+5% off with my Target Red Card).

My local Target had 5 Airport Express units. I had to ask because they were all in the back and not out on display anywhere. I picked up 3 of them.
[doublepost=1535643728][/doublepost]

Same here. Rogue Amoeba seem to have good product support, so I'm hopeful that a patch won't be far away.

An update came out yesterday that seems to have fixed the issue.

 

[Kermetajb]

Interesting question for y'all that know then:
I upgraded to google wifi mesh system and have 2 points in my 1650 sqft house. I was previously using a 5th gen extreme and 3 or 4 expresses all hardwired together. I get much better coverage and speed using the mesh system so thats not changing. Airplay streaming has been faulty and skips a lot. I can have my airplay in the kitchen and living room playing the same song from my mac and the kitchen keeps pausing and unsyncing. The next day it will be the living room doing it.

I have the AE's set up to wireless join and its been pretty unacceptable. What I'm thinking after reading this is still hook up all the AE's to the old extreme (don't know what settings I'd choose for them all) and have it connected to a mesh node. Would that work?

You don’t actually need to have the extreme in your setup at all. Just hardwire the airport expresses into your system with an ethernet switch, set them up to join the network as you said, and then go into the settings and turn off Wi-Fi on the expresses (tap network, wi-fi mode, then change it to “off”). This should remedy your problems. The express will default to Ethernet.

 

[varunsanthanam]

So what you are saying is that with good Airport 2 device, you could initiate from Siri on you iPhone to play to it, and then shut off your iphone and it will continue to play? This is similar to how Sonos works?

I also think that the Sonos One has the minimal Airplay 2 support.

This is not just minimal support -- this is ALL AirPlay 2 products. Only HomePod and AppleTV can play the media by themselves, and that is because they are not merely AirPlay 2 compatible, but also Siri-enabled media sources by themselves. AirPlay 2 does not define the ability to play media independently -- that's just an additional feature of HomePodOS and tvOS -- not part of AirPlay 2.

To me, AirPlay 2 is just a half step. Ideally, Apple would take the HomePod OS, improve it, and let other OEMs use it. They could even have a 'lite' version without iCloud, Siri, and all that HomePod specific stuff. Never gonna happen though

I could even compromise if they created an updated AirPort Express type device running the HomePod os and let me connect it to whatever I want. The Apple TV/tvOS is simply overkill for a lot of audio-only setups in various rooms in my home, and it doesn't have there right I/O.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I am very happy with this update. I have one of the newer Airport Express units that I use in a sunroom that plays music outside. I have a HomePod that sits in the kitchen, so I can just tell it to play music in the Sunroom and music is playing before I open the door. I definitely wasn't expecting an Airport Express update, so I have nothing to complain about.

 

[giggles]

I always wonder if there exist a distinction between native Airplay2 and after-the-fact-updated Airplay2.
In particular, one of the features of Airplay2 is a longer buffer. Does a 2012 Airport Express have the built-in memory to do it? Or do Denon/Marantz AV receivers from 2016?
That seems something that needs hardware planning in advance.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Where's the support for Gen 2/3 AppleTV? Many of us still use them in other rooms in the house (I only bothered with a 4K ATV in the main theater room; it's overkill anywhere else, not to mention expensive compared to getting the Gen3 awhile back for $39 each). Being able to control the whole house audio system would be useful (Gen 1 doesn't need it; it could ALWAYS control the whole house just like iTunes has always been able to). Clearly, it's just a firmware issue.

Meanwhile, I keep waiting for Airport Utility to offer the firmware update (turned it on 10 minutes ago). Still sitting here with 7.6.9 on both my units. There's no "check for upgrades" button on the utility so it's waste my time as usual....

Edit: Actually, after reading another article elsewhere with more information, it sounds like it has to be from 2012 or newer, but everything I read said 2nd gen is recognizable whether it supports 5GHz networking or not (both mine do).

 

[Homealone]

Looks like this update applies to both the 2008 and 2012 models.

2012 or newer “Second Generation” only.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Apple's own page just says 802.11N (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201519) "2nd Generation" has traditionally referred to their 802.11N models versus the older 802.11A/G models. Beyond that, Apple doesn't make it clear at all that your 802.11N Express won't run the newest firmware because they didn't "feel like it". But that may indeed be the case anyway as it has yet to offer the update here to either of my 802.11N Airport Express models, stuck at 7.6.9 (which that page does not indicate that any 802.11N model is limited to as it's not even listed under that firmware version as ALL the 802.11N models are listed under 7.8 on that page.