Dan Frakes @danfrakes
AirPlay works over any modern
ethernet or Wi-Fi network (for video over Wi-Fi, that ideally means a fast
network using 802.11n technology). The sending and receiving devices also need
to be compatible with AirPlay.
How you set up and use AirPlay
depends on the devices involved and on whether you’re streaming audio or video.
Here’s how you can get up and running.
(Note that these instructions assume
AirPlay and your local network are working correctly. If not, Apple provides
AirPlay troubleshooting information).
The
basics
At its simplest, AirPlay is a
convenient way to get audio from your Mac or iOS device to a speaker across the
room—or across the house.
Though most people think of AirPlay
as a wireless technology, you can also stream audio over a wired network, or
between wired and wireless devices—for example, from an iPhone to an
ethernet-connected AirPlay receiver. But AirPlay is also a relatively
inexpensive way to set up a whole-home audio system—at least when compared
with a custom-installed setup or something like a multiroom Sonos system.
Compared with Bluetooth‚ the much
more common approach to wireless-audio streaming‚ AirPlay has a number of
advantages. For starters, Bluetooth uses lossy compression, while AirPlay is lossless, so,
assuming that you’re streaming high-quality audio to begin with, AirPlay offers
better sound quality. And while Bluetooth audio streaming is limited to devices
no more than about 30 meters apart, AirPlay lets you stream from as far away as
your Wi-Fi or wired network can reach. Finally, while Bluetooth allows you to
stream to only a single Bluetooth receiver, AirPlay lets you stream audio to multiple
speakers or receivers simultaneously.
Compared with Bluetooth‚ the much
more common approach to wireless-audio streaming‚ AirPlay has a number of
advantages
AirPlay does have a couple
drawbacks: For one thing, streaming is limited to Macs and iOS devices—very few
non-Apple devices can transmit over AirPlay (at least not without employing
third-party software or hacks); and for another, AirPlay gear tends to be more
expensive than the Bluetooth counterparts.
Audio
options
Streaming audio over AirPlay
requires a Mac or an iOS device on one end, and an AirPlay-compatible receiver
on the other. The simplest AirPlay receiver is a dedicated
AirPlay-enabled speaker system. These speakers have network capabilities—usually
Wi-Fi and ethernet—built in, along with special circuitry that allows the
speakers to receive AirPlay-audio signals. Similarly, some recent home-theater
receivers have AirPlay built in.
Alternatively, you can use Apple’s AirPort Express as an AirPlay receiver. The
Express will take any AirPlay signal it receives and send that audio through
the unit’s output jack‚ and, from there, to any speaker system or other audio
component connected to that jack. (The Express can output either an analog- or
digital-audio signal.) For example, you can connect a set of powered computer speakers or studio monitors
directly to an AirPort Express.
Another possibility is to connect an
Express to your existing stereo system; you can even build your own AirPlay audio system using a compact amplifier or an amp/digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a set
of unpowered speakers.
Finally, if you already have an Apple TV (second generation or later) hooked up
to your home-entertainment system, that Apple TV can serve double-duty as an
AirPlay-audio receiver. One caveat, though: The Apple TV can output only a
digital audio signal.
Make
the audio connection
Before you can stream audio to an
AirPlay destination, you must configure your AirPlay receiver. How you do so
depends on the kind of receiver you have.
AirPlay-enabled speaker system: Most dedicated AirPlay speakers are easy to set up. Often,
you just connect an iOS device to the speaker via a USB cable, and then use a
dedicated iOS app to configure the speaker to join your local network. Other
models create their own Wi-Fi network; you join that network on your iOS device
or computer, connect to a built-in Web server on the speaker, and then
reconfigure the speaker to join your network. In either case, the speaker will
come with a setup guide for performing this procedure. (During this process,
you can also—and probably should—give the speaker a useful name, such as
Kitchen Speaker; this name is how you’ll identify the speaker when using other
devices on the network.)
AirPort Express Configuring an AirPort Express as an AirPlay receiver is a
bit more involved, but it’s still fairly easy. If the Express is already a part
of your network, you launch AirPort Utility, select the Express, and click
Edit. Next, click the AirPlay tab, check the Enable AirPlay box, give the
Express a useful name, and then click Update.
In
the AirPort Utility, clicking Enable AirPlay configures an AirPort Express to
act as an AirPlay receiver.
If you’re setting up a new Express
unit, you’ll first need to follow the setup wizard to configure the Express to
join (or extend) your existing network, and then you’ll perform the same steps
for enabling AirPlay.
In either case, you can also enable
a password so that anyone who wants to stream audio to the AirPort Express must
provide that password. If your AirPort Express is on a network accessible by
other people, a password is a wise idea. Once you’ve set up the Express, you’ll
then need to connect it to your audio system using an analog- or a
digital-audio cable.
Apple TV See “Streaming video,” below.
Streaming
audio
To stream audio, you should first
turn on your audio system and make sure it’s set to the correct input (if it
has more than one). Your next steps will then depend on the type of
transmitting device.
iOS: Apps with AirPlay controls: Under iOS 4.3 or later, apps can provide an
AirPlay-selection control right in the app. This button, which looks like the
AirPlay icon, is usually found next to the app’s volume-level slider. When you
tap the button, you’ll see a list of all AirPlay receivers on your local
network; tap one of those receivers, and after a few seconds of connection
time, the app’s audio will begin playing through your AirPlay speakers. Note
that when streaming audio from an iOS app, you can choose only a single AirPlay
destination at any one time.
This
iPhone screen shows a list of speakers and devices on the local network
configured to receive AirPlay audio.
iOS: Other apps and systemwide audio: Some apps don’t provide an AirPlay-selection control; or
perhaps you want to stream all of your iOS device’s audio, regardless of the
app. In this case, you can take advantage of iOS’s systemwide AirPlay control.
Double-press the Home button to access the task switcher, and then swipe to the
right until you reach the volume slider; next to the slider is the standard
AirPlay button. Tap it, and then tap the desired AirPlay destination.
Mac: iTunes audio: To stream your iTunes music, simply click the AirPlay
button near the top left of the iTunes window (next to the volume slider), and
then choose the desired AirPort destination. To send audio to multiple
AirPlay-equipped devices simultaneously, click Multiple and then select the
speakers you want to stream to; you can control the volume level of each
speaker independently in this menu.
Mac: Streaming all audio: If you want to stream all of your Mac’s audio‚ not just
iTunes‚ to a single AirPlay destination, open the Sound pane of System
Preferences, switch to the Output screen, and then select your AirPlay
destination in the list; after a few seconds, audio should stop playing through
your Mac and start playing over AirPlay.
(Alternatively, you can press Option
and click the systemwide volume icon in your Mac’s menu bar. This will reveal a
list of output and input options; you can choose your AirPlay destination under
Output Device.)
A couple caveats here: First,
because of slight transmission delays, you may find that audio and video are
out of sync if you’re watching video on your Mac while listening to the audio
for that video over AirPlay. Second, whenever your Mac isn’t actively streaming
audio, the AirPlay connection sleeps; once you start streaming audio again, it
can take a few seconds to reconnect.
Airfoil
for Mac lets you stream audio from any individual app.
Mac: Other individual apps If you want to stream audio from an app other than
iTunes—say, an Internet-radio broadcast you’re listening to in Safari—but you
don’t want to stream all your Mac’s audio, you’ll need to turn to third-party
software. Rogue Amoeba’s $25 Airfoil for Mac lets you choose any currently
running app on your Mac; that app’s audio is then streamed to the AirPlay
destination(s) of your choosing. The included Airfoil Video Player even allows
you to stream a video’s audio while keeping that audio in sync with the video
playing on your Mac.
Video
options and setup
If you have a recent Apple TV, you
can also stream video over AirPlay from a recent Mac or iOS device.
Specifically, you need a second- or third-generation Apple TV (one of the
small, black models). However, the requirements for your Mac or iOS device
differ depending on the type of video streaming you’re doing—I cover these
requirements in "Streaming video," below.
To enable AirPlay (for video or
audio) on your Apple TV, navigate to the Settings screen, select AirPlay, and
then make sure that the AirPlay is set to On. To prevent just anyone from
hijacking your Apple TV, you can choose between an onscreen code (which means
that anyone who wants to stream to your Apple TV must first enter a code that
appears on the TV screen) or a traditional password.
If you’d like to give your Apple TV
a descriptive name, go back to the main Settings screen, select General, and
then select Name. Choose one of the default names, or choose Custom to enter a
custom name.
Streaming
video
When you want to stream video to
your TV, you should first turn on your television and make sure it’s set to the
appropriate input for your Apple TV. Then use the procedure below that
corresponds to your video source.
iOS: Video from individual apps Many video-oriented apps, such as Netflix, YouTube, and Apple’s own Videos app, allow you to
send the app’s video to an Apple TV. While a video is playing, just tap the
AirPlay button (usually located next to the playback controls) and choose your
Apple TV.
Alternatively, on any iOS device
that supports AirPlay mirroring (see the next item), some apps—higher-end
racing apps are a good example—can use AirPlay to display primary video on your
TV while showing a secondary screen on your iOS device. Many of these games
have an option in the app’s settings screen to enable AirPlay.
Whichever method the app uses,
switching to your iOS device’s Home screen or to another app usually stops
streaming.
iOS: Mirroring the device’s screen: If you have an iPhone 4S or later, an iPad 2 or later
(including the iPad mini), or an iPod touch (fifth generation or later)‚ and
you’re running at least iOS 5‚ you can instead mirror your device’s screen on
your TV using AirPlay. When mirroring, everything you see on the device’s
screen will appear on your TV, including the Home screen and any apps you’re
using. This feature is more useful when your iOS device is in landscape
orientation, as a landscape-orientation screen is a better match for today’s
widescreen TVs.
To enable mirroring on an eligible
iOS device, you double-press the Home button to access the iOS task switcher,
then swipe to the right until you see the AirPlay button next to the volume
slider. Tap the button, choose the desired Apple TV, and, finally, switch the
Mirroring option to On.
Enabling
AirPlay mirroring on an iPad
Mac: Streaming video from iTunes Most Macs that can run iTunes 10.2 or later support
streaming iTunes-hosted video to an Apple TV. Just click the AirPlay button (in
the upper left corner of the iTunes window, adjacent to the volume slider), and
then choose the desired Apple TV. Now any video you play in iTunes will be
shown on your TV instead of on your Mac; if a video is already playing in
iTunes when you enable AirPlay, the video will stop playing in iTunes and,
after a few-second delay, start playing on your TV.
Mac: Streaming video outside iTunes If you want to stream non-iTunes video—say, movies in
formats that iTunes doesn’t support, or videos you don’t want to add to your
iTunes Library—you have two options: video mirroring (see the next item) or
third-party utilities. Beamer ($15) is a good option for the latter.
When you launch Beamer, it asks you to choose which Apple TV to stream to; then
you drop any supported video file (AVI, FLV, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, WMV, or VOB
files) onto Beamer to begin streaming it.
In addition to letting you stream
video that resides outside of iTunes, Beamer is also useful for streaming video
from older Macs that officially don’t support AirPlay for video. Beamer even
streams subtitles and 5.1 audio.
OS
X 10.8 Mountain Lion's AirPlay-mirroring menu
Mac: Mirroring the Mac’s display As with recent iOS devices, you can mirror your Mac’s
entire display to your TV over AirPlay, provided you’re running OS X 10.8
Mountain Lion on a compatible Mac: a mid-2011 or newer iMac, Mac mini, or
MacBook Air; or an early-2011 or newer MacBook Pro.
On any of these Macs, whenever OS X
detects a compatible Apple TV on your local network, a new AirPlay menu appears
in the menu bar, and an AirPlay Mirroring pop-up menu appears in the Displays
pane of System Preferences. From either menu, choose your Apple TV to start
mirroring; while mirroring, the icon for the systemwide AirPlay menu glows
blue.
When mirroring your Mac’s display to
an Apple TV, you can choose the resolution of your display‚ and, thus, of the
mirrored signal sent to your TV. Choose Best For Display (in System
Preferences) or This Mac (from the systemwide AirPlay menu), and your Mac’s
display remains at its native resolution. This setting will make for the best
appearance on your Mac, though the mirrored image may not fill your TV screen.
Choose Best For AirPlay (in System Preferences) or Apple TV (from the AirPlay
menu), and your Mac’s display resolution changes to a 16:9 ratio that best
matches your TV’s native resolution. This is the way to go when you want to
have the sharpest image on your TV.
When mirroring your Mac’s display to
an Apple TV, you can choose the resolution that’s the best fit for your Mac or
for your TV.
System Preferences also offers a
Scaled option, which lets you choose any non-native resolution that’s supported
by your Mac’s display, though this option often results in a blurry image on
both your Mac and your TV.
Don’t have a Mac that supports
AirPlay mirroring? AirParrot is a $10 utility that lets you mirror
an older Mac’s screen to an Apple TV. On both older and newer Macs, AirParrot
also allows you to use your TV as a second display for your Mac.
Stopping
the stream
Whichever type of streaming you’re
doing, with whichever device, you can stop streaming by using the same AirPlay
control or menu through which you originally started your streaming: Just
switch the selected output or destination back to your iOS device or Mac. When
mirroring a Mac’s display, just choose Turn Off AirPlay Mirroring (from the
systemwide AirPlay menu) or Off (in System Preferences).
Alternatively, if you’re streaming
from a particular app, quitting that app usually stops streaming. Finally, when
streaming to an Apple TV, you can usually stop streaming or mirroring by
pressing the Menu button on your Apple TV’s remote.
There is another class of
Airplay-compatible output devices: audio and Home Theatre receivers. Several
receiver manufacturers including Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, and Yamaha include
Airplay compatibility in many of their receivers.
I've always had a receiver as the
heart of my Home Theatre system in my living room. Having Airplay capability in
the receiver means that I don't need to use up another connection just to get
it.
