AirPlay is amazing! And here’s why...

WRITTEN BY CARRIE MARSHALL

Apple likes to throw around words like “magical” and “incredible” like confetti at a wedding, but AirPlay really is both. With a single tap or voice command you can share photos, videos, music, and more with all kinds of devices You can even use it to mirror your iOS, iPadOS, or macOS device’s screen on your TV to watch a movie or home video, or present a Keynote on the big screen.

AirPlay is incredibly easy to set up and use, and there’s a huge ecosystem of AirPlay–compatible devices you can share to and from. And chances are, if you’re using it at all, you’re only scratching the surface. Over the next few pages we’ll discover how AirPlay works, what it works with, and how you can use it to make your life easier and more entertaining.

Although AirPlay is new to many of us, it has actually been around for a long time; originally called AirTunes, it was introduced way back in 2004 as a feature in iOS 4.2 for streaming music. That was audio only, but since then AirPlay has grown more powerful. The current version, AirPlay 2, can take almost any kind of media — photos, videos, TV shows, movies, music, presentations, podcasts, even your device’s screen — and send it to any AirPlay 2 compatible device, including your Mac, with just a single tap.

THE AIRPLAY ECOSYSTEM

1 MAC

Your Mac can send music, movies, podcasts, TV shows, photos, audio, and more to other supported devices, or it can also play content sent via AirPlay to your Mac.

2 AIRPLAY SPEAKERS

AirPlay–enabled speakers can receive audio from any AirPlay sender on the same network whether that’s sent from your Mac, iPhone or iPad.

3 HOMEPOD MINI

If your iPhone/ iPod has Bluetooth switched on and shares the same Wi–Fi network, you can hand off audio to your HomePod by tapping it with your device.

4 iPAD

The screen mirroring you can use on your Mac works just as well from your iPad; it’s really good for photos. Your iPad can also AirPlay the same things as your phone.

5 APPLE TV 4K

Apple TV uses AirPlay in some really useful ways. You can get it to make your TV a second display for your device, or play shows from the Siri results on your iPhone.

6 iPHONE

Your iPhone or iPod touch can do lots with AirPlay, including getting Apple Music to play different songs in different rooms. iOS devices can also stream to Apple TV.

Use AirPlay on your Mac

Stream music, video, and more. Or mirror your Mac on another display

>> AIRPLAY USES WI–FI to transmit high–quality audio, video, images, and other data from device to device. Relevant Apple apps include Bluetooth speakers alongside AirPlay devices, but they are separate streaming technologies. There are tons of AirPlay devices from tiny speakers to massive OLED TVs, and your Mac can talk to them using the AirPlay 2 standard if it’s running macOS Catalina or later (or iTunes 12.8 or later) and connected to the same Wi–Fi network.