AirPlay and Mirroring
The Apple AirPlay technology streams music from your iOS device over Wi-Fi to any compatible device or speaker. Not only does this allow you to create a wireless home audio system, but it also means that your music isn’t confined to your iPhone or iPad. You can go to a friend’s house and play your music over their speakers if those speakers are connected to Wi-Fi. At first, AirPlay only supported audio streaming. Because of that, the feature used to be called AirTunes. If you had a video you wanted to share, you were out of luck—until AirPlay mirroring came along. AirPlay mirroring, which Apple introduced with iOS 5, expands AirPlay so you can display everything that’s happening on the iPhone or iPad screen on an HDTV. More is involved than streaming content. With AirPlay, you project your screen, so you can open web browsers, photos, tutorials, or games on your device and have them show up on a huge HDTV screen.
AirPlay Requirements
To use AirPlay, you need:
An iPhone 4S or later, an iPad 2 or later, any iPad mini, a 5th generation iPod touch or later, and certain Macs. iOS 5 or later. A 2nd generation Apple TV or later or Wi-Fi-connected speakers. A Wi-Fi network with the iOS device or Mac and Apple TV or speakers connected.
How to Use AirPlay With Apple TV
If you have the right hardware, follow these steps to mirror your device’s screen to the Apple TV: Your device is now connected to the Apple TV and mirroring begins. Sometimes, there’s a brief delay before mirroring starts up.
How to Turn Off AirPlay
When you’re finished watching the movie, playing your game, or streaming audio to your speakers, it’s time to turn off AirPlay.
Notes About AirPlay Mirroring
If there are significant delays between what’s happening on the device screen and when it appears on the HDTV, there may be interference with the Wi-Fi signal, or your Wi-Fi network may not be fast enough. Make sure no other devices are trying to connect to the Apple TV, end other devices’ use of the Wi-Fi network, and turn off Bluetooth on the device you’re mirroring. Depending on your TV and the content you’re mirroring, the image you mirror may not fill the entire screen and instead shows a square image with black bars on either side. This is due to a difference between the iPhone and iPad screen resolutions and the resolution of the content they show on the TV.
