Over the past two weeks, plenty of excited users have received their new (version 2) Apple TVs, including everyone here at Rogue Amoeba. We’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Apple TV, as well as Apple’s updated version of AirTunes, now called AirPlay.
For years, our audio transmitting tool Airfoil has made it possible to send any audio to devices which support AirTunes. Originally, the only device of this type was the AirPort Express, Apple’s strange little router with an audio output. Later, the Apple TV (version 1) came along, and we supported that as well.
Currently, Airfoil supports sending audio to the AirPort Express, AppleTV, iOS devices (running our free Airfoil Speakers Touch app), and even other Macs, Windows, and Linux machines (running our free Airfoil Speakers software). Airfoil aims to let you send any audio, all around your house, using the AirTunes protocol.
In September, Apple announced that they’re changing AirTunes into AirPlay. AirPlay will do everything AirTunes did (wireless audio to AirPort Express and AppleTV), with some important additions:
• AirPlay will be supported by additional hardware from third parties like iHome and JBL, making it possible to send audio to more devices.
• AirPlay will enable you to send audio from an iOS device out to an AirPlay-enabled device.
• Airplay will enable you to send video from an iOS device to an Apple TV (version 2), and likely from iTunes as well.
With all that in mind, let’s answer a few questions related to Airfoil, AirPlay, and the new Apple TV.
Can Airfoil send audio to the new AppleTV?
Yup! The current versions of Airfoil send audio to the new AppleTV with no updates required. We’ve worked with version 1 of the AppleTV since 2008, and we support version 2 as well. Download and enjoy!
What about sending video?
Right now, this part of AirPlay’s functionality is not available in the iOS betas nor in iTunes. When it is available, we’ll be taking a close look at it, and determining what we can do then. Sending non-iTunes video from your Mac to your AppleTV is certainly something we’d love to make possible, if Apple doesn’t.
Won’t it be easy to send video, with Airfoil Video Player?
We don’t have any way of knowing just how the video sending will work with AirPlay. Once we see it, we’ll be able to tell if we can mimic it. Right now, we have no idea what format AirPlay will send it, or if it will accept streams rather than seekable files.
However, even then, Airfoil has never done much with video. Airfoil Video Player is a tool for playing video files and DVDs on your Mac, with remote audio. We’ve never sent video.
So, in short? We’ll see what happens.
Will I be able to transmit from my iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad to Airfoil Speakers?
Unfortunately, this is not currently possible. Just as iTunes currently won’t see or send to Airfoil Speakers, iOS devices also will only send to Apple-approved outputs.
Do I still need Airfoil Speakers Touch to receive audio on iOS?
It appears so, yes. Nothing currently in AirPlay makes it possible to send from your Mac to an iOS device. Airfoil enables this.
What about Airfoil for iOS?
This is still not possible for a third-party. However, AirPlay on iOS appears to obviate the need for a third party app to send audio out.
Closing
Right now we’re eagerly waiting for more information. It looks like Airfoil will continue to be useful in the future, and we’re working on some major updates already. You can be sure we’ll be working on updating Airfoil to provide the best possible AirPlay functionality as well, so stay tuned!
Source: Rogue Amoeba Software, LLC
