iOS 11.4 Launches Today With AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud, HomePod Gets Multi-Room Audio, Stereo Pairing

[jsmith189]

I don't really get what's so exciting about Airplay 2. Could someone explain it to me? I have a couple Sonos products and I've noticed a lot of Sonos owners are excited for it too. Don't see how it'll operate any differently with Airplay 2 than it currently does

It'll mean you won't have to use the Sonos app, for one. You can use the native Music app and just select it as a source as you would AirPods or any other Bluetooth device. Also, if you have a HomePod (I have a mixture of HomePod/Sonos speakers), you can choose both HomePod and Sonos speakers to play to, again directly from the Music app.

Assuming this will also somehow apply to Siri (on HomePod) - asking her to play a song on multiple speakers.

Having said that, this will unfortunately depend on what Sonos device/s you have. Sonos have confirmed that it's not coming to all of their products, I believe only the Play:5 and One?

 

[Crzyrio]

This to me means that airpower is going to be delayed even further, unless 11.4 already contains code to manage airpower. But I'd imagine someone would have found traces of it in that case

 

[citysnaps]

Yes, in a couple weeks when Apple brings them on board along with a bunch of other 3rd party vendors.

I'm confused. Somebody up above says that capability exists now (going back to 2015).

 

[garethjs]

There are traces of AirPower in 11.3

 

[randomplaydo]

Will there need to also be a companion release of OSX in order for messages in the cloud to connect over to iMessage on the Mac? I mean, for me that's kind of the important part of it.

 

[stanman64]

Literally the ONLY reason they did this was not to look outright stupid next week at the Keynote..

“As you may know we still havent released last years promised features.. BUT THIS YEARS, we will!” **


*Subject to availability and development timeframes

Wouldnt doubt it, that would indeed look pretty bad. As terrible as delays have been, especially with iMessage in iCloud and AirPlay 2, they almost have to address what took them so long.

 

[bwintx]

Two bugs I'm wondering whether this quashes:
(1.) iPad Pro not charging if using the Logitech Create keyboard (I'd heard 11.4 beta fixed it).
(2.) Weird issues with Bluetooth that make notifications not appear or be heard.

 

[drewyboy]

I don't really get what's so exciting about Airplay 2. Could someone explain it to me? I have a couple Sonos products and I've noticed a lot of Sonos owners are excited for it too. Don't see how it'll operate any differently with Airplay 2 than it currently does

Honestly, it depends on your use. For mine, I'm probably never using Airplay 2 once Apple brings on 3rd party support in a few weeks with the likes of Sonos. Your iPhone is required since that is the device that is actually sending the audio stream to the speaker.

For me, Airplay is useless because I use my speakers for streaming music and Sono's already has it built in to stream directly from the source rather than your phone. I will be getting a Playbar, once the new ones are released, so that any content played through my TV is streamed to my Sonos speakers. This is one area that I refuse to be locked down and limited in Apple's products.

 

[e-coli]

Soooo…AirPower?

 

[citysnaps]

Via AirPlay, yes.

And the soundtrack syncs properly on Sonos with the video being watched on a Mac?

 

[icanhazapple]

Lack of an Airport Express firmware update to support Airplay 2.

A thousand times this. It was present in 11.4 Beta 1 without an Airport Express firmware update. People don't want to buy a $150 Apple TV (and have a HDMI -> optical or RCA converter sitting on top of it) or a $350 Homepod to enable their existing speakers to do multi room audio.

Especially since Google has a $35 dongle (Chromecast audio) that can do multi-room output (just add a Chromecast audio to each speaker in every different room) since September 2015.

 

[critter13]

can anyone confirm airport express airplay 2 support???

actually read the post. announced, not released. my bad, will wait.

 

[coreyrexroad]

Has anyone else had issues with their HomePod "having trouble connecting to the internet" but is fixed by AirPlaying to the device or power cycling it? It started for me as soon as I updated to 11.3, and I'm hoping that 11.4 fixes it!

 

[Wags]

WWDC for iOS 12 is literally in 6 days. Lmao. About time.

Need something to feel good about and act like everything thing is great.

 

[Mlrollin91]

The story is currently on the 9 to 5 Mac website.

9to5 is using Buzzfeed's article as their source. If the main source goes down, then clearly something is off.

 

[Tokenfreak]

I hope iMessages in iCloud is fixed as it always shows up as other in my iCloud storage instead of messages.

 

[garethjs]

Wouldnt doubt it, that would indeed look pretty bad. As terrible as delays have been, especially with iMessage in iCloud and AirPlay 2, they almost have to address what took them so long.

I’m waiting for their excuse on their wireless charging mat

 

[ipedro]

I don't really get what's so exciting about Airplay 2. Could someone explain it to me? I have a couple Sonos products and I've noticed a lot of Sonos owners are excited for it too. Don't see how it'll operate any differently with Airplay 2 than it currently does

AirPlay 2 will allow you to AirPlay directly to your Sonos, without the Sonos app. AirPlay 2 is also significantly faster, eliminating the lag that we’re used to. Currently, when selecting an AirPlay speaker, it’ll take a couple of seconds for it to start playing. With AirPlay 2, it’s virtually instant. AirPlay 2 will also put your AirPlay speakers (including your AppleTVs) inside the Home app to be controlled as HomeKit devices. Finally, AirPlay2 allows you to play to multiple speakers at once, rather than just one at a time. They can be p,aging the same song or different songs and you can control all of your speakers from your iPhone.

 

[xpxp2002]

9to5 is using Buzzfeed's article as their source. If the main source goes down, then clearly something is off.

MR already updated their post. Sounds like BuzzFeed published before embargo lifted. The Verge also already has a post up citing today, as well.

 

[nburwell]

Great. I'm more excited for WWDC next week and trying out the iOS 12 PB.

 

[stanman64]

I’m waiting for their excuse on their wireless charging mat

"As it turns out, we lost our prototypes in the move to the new campus..."

 

[bluecoast]

The Verge is leading with this story too.

They’re not mentioning that their source is Buzzfeed so it looks like they were briefed directly by Apple.

So I think it’s going to happen (11.4 today).

 

[frrc21]

Will AirPlay 2 let me Play Music thru 2 sets of AirPods at the same time? For shared music/video watching

No, AirPlay 2 is a standard for Wi-fi Streaming while the AirPods use Bluetooth with the W1 chip for better battery management, pairing and connection strength.

 

[drewyboy]

I'm confused. Somebody up above says that capability exists now (going back to 2015).

Using the Sonos app for music has for a few years. If you are choosing to play something other than music, ie audio from a video you took earlier in the day or audio from a game app, that is what is going to be supported with Airplay 2.

 

[garethjs]

If iMessages sync gets released today their servers are going to be overwhelmed