Airplay 2 - iOS 11.4
+2
I am led to believe iOS 11.4 will be released later today allowing Airplay 2 support; assuming Sonos will also release an update to allow this function soon?
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The use case Apple airplay fans always bring up around here is the ability to have guests stream music from their own phones. And there is also the multi-room functionality.
Alexa on the One pretty much eliminates that use case around here. The don’t even need to connect to my WiFi. Just ask for a song/album by artist. Works every time.
I have a Playbar in our setup, which includes an Apple TV, and other Sonos units around the house, but none are new enough for AirPlay 2. Easy solution though – I just switch to Apple TV, play what I want from that through the Playbar, and then group other rooms together in the Sonos app. It's a little clunky, but a lot cheaper than buying a new speaker I don't need.
So it’s basically AirPlay 1 with a 15-second buffer. Still an outdated protocol, still sucks 3X the bandwidth of a casting or direct pull protocol. Only real use case, then, is playing audio portion of YouTube videos on better speakers. But that’s almost always better done via a set top box, like FireTV. Yawn!
The use case Apple airplay fans always bring up around here is the ability to have guests stream music from their own phones. And there is also the multi-room functionality.
I agree that it's not all that it could or should be. I would guess that if they made it a direct pull, the number of compatible speakers would shrink dramatically, and they would have security concerns when accessing guests apple accounts.
So it’s basically AirPlay 1 with a 15-second buffer. Still an outdated protocol, still sucks 3X the bandwidth of a casting or direct pull protocol. Only real use case, then, is playing audio portion of YouTube videos on better speakers. But that’s almost always better done via a set top box, like FireTV. Yawn!
Tested iTunes with Airplay from my Mac now. I turned off wifi and playback stopped after about 15 seconds. So it's also a direct stream.
Interesting Outburst. I had read that Homepod was the exception to that rule. If you get a chance, can you do another test? Try stream some iTunes music to the homepod...something Homepod could play on it's on. It's possible that YouTube is streamed just because Homepod can't do youtube on it's on. Or perhaps I misunderstood the 'exceoption'. It may mean that if you intiate music by voice command to the Homepod, your phone isn't involved. If that's the case, well duh. Not really a notable feature, IMO.
I'll do that tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it will also be a direct stream. The exception you mention is only Apple Music. When you use Airplay and Apple Music on a Homepod, the Homepad is pulling the stream itself like Sonos does it with it's own app and the various direct control thing (e.g. Spotify Connect). All other sources played over Airplay are a stream.
Dead simple.
Here we go for an example. Have fun.
Convince me? Just answer the question instead of making baseless 'amswers' and that's fine.
Dead simple.
Dead simple.
Trying to convince you is a fool's errand anyways. 😉
I have a Homepod at home (my wife wants Siri...) and I can tell you that it's a direct stream, I just played a video on youtube and put my iphone into flight mode, the stream dropped after 30 seconds.. same behavior with Spotify. Acutally I'm not even sure how it should work otherwise. The Homepod or any other Airplay 2 speaker would need millions of different implementations of App streaming, that's not really something you can achieve.
Interesting Outburst. I had read that Homepod was the exception to that rule. If you get a chance, can you do another test? Try stream some iTunes music to the homepod...something Homepod could play on it's on. It's possible that YouTube is streamed just because Homepod can't do youtube on it's on. Or perhaps I misunderstood the 'exceoption'. It may mean that if you intiate music by voice command to the Homepod, your phone isn't involved. If that's the case, well duh. Not really a notable feature, IMO.
It is, I recommend you read about Apple's MFI program.
smilja, you've gone quiet on those Sonos 64bit incompatibilities you asserted?
Ok, so old Play 1s and a few others in the range will not get Airplay 2, so what about if Sonos offered some kind of trade-in program for those that wish to upgrade and make use of Airplay 2 ?
Hopefully there’s no delay with airplay 2 as there is when you audiobrige from Apple TV to a Sonos speaker.
No it's not. It is for Airplay, not so for 2..
It is, I recommend you read about Apple's MFI program.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/05/ios-11-4-brings-stereo-pairs-and-multi-room-audio-with-airplay-2/
However, it doesn't say anything about whether it streams through the phone or not. It does clearly state though that Airplay 2 is "the most advanced, easy to use, wireless multi-room audio system"....multiple times. I guess that's all we really need to know.
I have a Homepod at home (my wife wants Siri...) and I can tell you that it's a direct stream, I just played a video on youtube and put my iphone into flight mode, the stream dropped after 30 seconds.. same behavior with Spotify. Acutally I'm not even sure how it should work otherwise. The Homepod or any other Airplay 2 speaker would need millions of different implementations of App streaming, that's not really something you can achieve.
Here's something directly from Apple on the subject.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/05/ios-11-4-brings-stereo-pairs-and-multi-room-audio-with-airplay-2/
However, it doesn't say anything about whether it streams through the phone or not. It does clearly state though that Airplay 2 is "the most advanced, easy to use, wireless multi-room audio system"....multiple times. I guess that's all we really need to know.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/05/ios-11-4-brings-stereo-pairs-and-multi-room-audio-with-airplay-2/
However, it doesn't say anything about whether it streams through the phone or not. It does clearly state though that Airplay 2 is "the most advanced, easy to use, wireless multi-room audio system"....multiple times. I guess that's all we really need to know.
Nope, the article is on point on this matter. Airplay is a direct stream protocol. It goes from the sender to the speaker via wifi, only Apple Music on a Homepod is an exception, every other audio goes the direct stream way. That means you're reliant on your wifi performance and it will drain your battery.
Airplay 2 compatible apps will have an improved buffer and time sync, but that's pretty much it. There are still a lot of "major" apps that don't support Airplay 2. That will also be a long way to go so I wouldn't expect too much from Airplay in the first months.
On a sidenote: Airplay 2 requires Apple WAC, I'm pretty sure that's the reason why most of Sonos' devices won't support it, as a hardware chip is needed for that.
Airplay 2 compatible apps will have an improved buffer and time sync, but that's pretty much it. There are still a lot of "major" apps that don't support Airplay 2. That will also be a long way to go so I wouldn't expect too much from Airplay in the first months.
On a sidenote: Airplay 2 requires Apple WAC, I'm pretty sure that's the reason why most of Sonos' devices won't support it, as a hardware chip is needed for that.
You could be right. I don't have an iPhone and no real means to test it out to confirm anything.
Userlevel 7
+22
I'm not sure about that article. I was under assumption apps that were full airplay2 compatible would be able to hand off the stream to Sonos (like say Spotify Connect and the way most Sonos stuff works - which is what makes it reliable). I think the spokesperson may have been confusing a bit the fact that the HomePod is the only device that can actually initiate a connection (which the phone normally has to do). I think its still a little up in the air. Without the ability to hand off Airplay2 is no better than Airplay1.
The weirdness could be about how Airplay 2 works with some of Sonos products, but not all. Or it could be because Apple has tried to market their Homepod as a kind of 'Sonos killer' when it was first announced.
That makes it clear. Too bad.
Although they say this :
"We’ll also have to see how AirPlay 2’s multiroom streaming works with Sonos, which has been promising support. I suspect there’s going to be some weirdness here."
They don't support what they mean by weirdness. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Although they say this :
"We’ll also have to see how AirPlay 2’s multiroom streaming works with Sonos, which has been promising support. I suspect there’s going to be some weirdness here."
They don't support what they mean by weirdness. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
I was looking forward to using the Music app for controlling Apple Music on Sonos but if it drains your battery, then I guess it makes more sense to continue using the Sonos app. I would think that playing something like the BBC iplayer or YouTube would work like streaming whatever is on your phone (it has to actually be playing on your phone) but I'm hoping for streaming music it's like the Sonos app (the speaker is connected to the service). Anyone have a clear idea of how this aspect works?
According to the article below, airplay 2 will stream through the phone, not establish a connection between Sonos and the streaming service.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/29/17403684/airplay-2-ios-114-stereo-homepod-available-now
It's not like the Alexa integration. When you make a command on an echo dot, for example, to play music on Sonos, you aren't streaming from your dot to Sonos, it's just passing the command on to Sonos.
What I'm not quite grasping is whether playing Apple Music from your phone's Music app to Sonos speakers with Airplay 2 is replicating the Sonos app connecting to the service by itself or will it be like streaming what is playing on your phone... My concern is battery use and the phone's proximity to the Wi-Fi router.
I was looking forward to using the Music app for controlling Apple Music on Sonos but if it drains your battery, then I guess it makes more sense to continue using the Sonos app. I would think that playing something like the BBC iplayer or YouTube would work like streaming whatever is on your phone (it has to actually be playing on your phone) but I'm hoping for streaming music it's like the Sonos app (the speaker is connected to the service). Anyone have a clear idea of how this aspect works?
I was looking forward to using the Music app for controlling Apple Music on Sonos but if it drains your battery, then I guess it makes more sense to continue using the Sonos app. I would think that playing something like the BBC iplayer or YouTube would work like streaming whatever is on your phone (it has to actually be playing on your phone) but I'm hoping for streaming music it's like the Sonos app (the speaker is connected to the service). Anyone have a clear idea of how this aspect works?
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