While we covered Apple’s upcoming iOS 11.3 update yesterday, one feature flew under my radar — AirPlay 2.
Along with new iPhone X Animoji and additional battery performance information/options, multi-room AirPlay audio playback is also included in iOS 11.3.
Apple first announced AirPlay 2 at WWDC back in June, 2017, but didn’t provide details related to what the new wireless audio system improved on over its predecessor.
Multi-room playback means you’ll be able to stream to multiple Apple TVs and speaker around the house directly from your iPhone. While Apple first stated that the HomePod won’t ship with multi-room support, it’s possible AirPlay 2 integration will add this feature to the smart home speaker (this still remains unclear, though). Apple’s HomePod is set to launch on February 9th in the U.S. and other regions, but a Canadian release still hasn’t been revealed.
AirPlay 2 is the first significant update to AirPlay since its launch roughly seven years ago. Early impressions from those using the developer build of iOS 11.3 indicate that AirPlay 2 is still pretty buggy right now, but functionality will likely improve before the full release.
Competing smart home speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home feature multi-room playback between various connected devices.
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