What is AirPlay?
AirPlay is a proprietary protocol developed by Apple Inc. that allows wireless streaming between Apple devices and AirPlay-enabled speakers, TVs, AV receivers, and other hardware. It enables users to stream audio, video, device screens, photos, gameplay, and more wirelessly from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac to an Apple TV or other AirPlay 2–compatible smart TVs, speakers, and receivers.
Some key capabilities and uses of AirPlay include:
- Streaming music, podcasts, and other audio seamlessly from an Apple device to AirPlay-enabled speakers - great for partys or whole home audio.
- Viewing photos and slideshows from an iOS device or Mac on a TV screen wirelessly.
- Mirroring your Mac, iPhone, or iPad display in real-time to a TV with Apple TV.
- Extending your Mac or iPad display to an HDTV using AirPlay.
- Playing videos, movies, TV shows, and more from apps on an Apple device to an Apple TV or smart TV.
AirPlay provides a convenient wireless second-screen experience for effortlessly consuming media, content, and screens across Apple devices. It takes advantage of hardware acceleration on Apple platforms for smooth, low-latency streaming. The AirPlay ecosystem continues to expand with more third-party speaker manufacturers and smart TVs integrating AirPlay 2 support.
SoundWire, Airfoil, WiFi Audio Wireless Speaker, Stream What You Hear, TuneBlade, Stardock Acoustic Bridge, AirAudio, Soundfly, Mkchromecast, SpeakerShare, Share Speaker Player, StreamToMe, Snapcast, Gnomecast, Flipps, Porthole, RaopX, withU, oAEP are some alternatives to AirPlay.