Cannot control volume using Apple Music when I stream to my AirPlay devices on my iPhone and iPad

Hello kaneumann and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

I see you are having some issues controlling volume from the Music app when streaming to an AirPlay 2 enabled device (in this case, it appears to be an Apple TV device).

Stream content using AirPlay with Apple TV - Apple Support

That capability should still exist both when streaming from an iOS or iPadOS device or from a Mac.

What device are you streaming from and is the volume control not present when connected to the Apple TV or is it not functional?

Note that if you are doing this from a Mac that the main volume control in the Music app will only control the volume on the Mac itself. In order to control volume on the Apple TV, you would need to click the AirPlay icon just to the right of the volume slider. There, you'll see a list of all nearby AirPlay devices to which you can connect with a checkbox for enabling and disabling each of them and a separate volume control for each one.

Cheers.

Hi kaneumann.

The proximity issue is interesting as it points to a difference in behavior between when the iPhone is communicating with the Apple TV only via Wi-Fi. You said you have AirPlay 2 "permanently disabled." As AirPlay 2 is a standard part of iOS 13 and tvOS 13, how did you disable it? Did you move back to earlier versions? Also, when you are further away and the volume control appears, is it functional?

Cheers.

One more detail which seems consistent: if you sign out of iCloud on the Apple TV when this unwanted handoff occurs, the handoff attempt still continues rather than Airplay, but the music will not play, so to resolve this issue, you have to restart your iPhone to get Airplay to function normally.

I've just spoken at length with a senior advisor at Apple, so hopefully that helps.

Just reset everything and kept my fingers crossed the whole time.

For now, it's working perfectly. My AppleTV is still signed into iCloud.

But, I can control volume on multiple devices from my iPhone.

Thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully, this solution sticks!

I have tried all this methods and still the Apple TV takes over and the volume disappears. I have Apple Music as well and I downloaded Spotify instead and that worked perfect. So Apple. Fix this or you will loose a lot pretty soon. Volume control and playing music is pretty much needed together ;)

I found that the shortcut method suggested by @staticinspace earlier in the thread works. It is a kludge as you can only select one device within the shortcut then you need to select your other devices within music airplay dialogs. And those dialogs are a terrible design. I get two devices streaming then go to adjust volumes and they merge together which shifts the menu up as I’m clicking thereby accidentally turning on another device in the menu. In my case its a home theater projector which I then have to physically go to to shut all the devices down. The GUI for all devices have gotten terrible over the years. A long rant for another thread.

Any difference in the Bluetooth or WiFi settings on the iPhone and iPad? Also, updates usually arrive for all iOS devices - any particular reason you didn't update your iPad as well as the phone?

Same issue for me, and it's only when I try to AirPlay to the Apple TV, which is connected to a Sonos stereo system. Weirdly, I was able to control the volume on it yesterday, and now I can't again. Not sure why it worked that one time.

Glad to have found this thread. I use a combination of AppleTV 4Ks and Airport Expresses. My current workaround is to airplay to both an Airport and an AppleTV. The content is streamed instead of handed off. Again, a temp fix. Will attempt the volume control fix suggested by SkylarMills. While we're on the subject , I seem to have to select a device 2 or three times before a connection is established. On an Airport or AppleTV 4K, or combination of both. Anyone else experience this behavior?

Same here: iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 13.5, Apple TV 4K.

Interesting enough, when Mirroring the iPhone the volume control works just fine !

Apple, please fix the volume control issues when using AirPlay and the unwanted Hand-Off !

Best regards, Ansgar S-J

I've seen this as well. Trying unsuccessfully to use the volume control on my iPhone then, suddenly the volume control is no longer greyed out and works. I have an "a ha!" moment, then the controls grays out again. The whole time I'm 15 feet from my Apple TV.

Omg. This worked!!! I have been so frustrated by this problem for a long time (thank you Apple) I actually went and spent $800 on a sonos amp because of it and had plans to switch out my other Apple TV’s with this issue. I have 3 Apple TV’s just dedicated to audio streaming. I found Sonos was very unreliable for some reason with airplay 2 and so I returned it. I am so happy this solution fixed my Apple TV audio volume control! I love being able to control volume from my hot tub with my Apple Watch. Thank you Tobia!!