How to isolate AirPlay to trusted devices?

Question

How to isolate AirPlay to trusted devices?

When attempting to AirPlay or Screen Mirror there are many devices listed that I do not own or control. How can I make it so that AirPlay only lists my own devices?

I see this both with and without bluetooth and the listed devices are not on my network.

Currently peer-to-peer settings are controlled on the AirPlay device rather than the broadcasting device. This is problematic given that I frequently use an iPad in sidecar and would like to start deploying these in our business. It feels like there should be a "Trusted Airplay Devices" list managed on the broadcasting device under Network Preferences.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Dec 30, 2020 6:46 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 30, 2020 11:03 AM in response to FirstChairLastCall

When using AirPlay or AirDrop, your device will list all devices that within range - the range of which can be anything between 10-30’. This behaviour is not configurable on iPad or iPhone.

Some devices on your network (such as AppleTV) can, however, have their broadcast connectivity limited to your WiFi network.

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Answer 2

Dec 30, 2020 12:17 PM in response to LotusPilot

To put this in context I am in a high rise apartment complex where there are consistently more than 10 devices on the list. I am evaluating using MacBook pros with iPads in sidecar in a dense business environment where there may be a couple hundred devices. It seems like the only way to differentiate between available airplay devices is to give each an obscure name and blindly trust based on that.

I am also concerned that our users may accidentally cast confidential information to the wrong device. Our devices are already locked down to the network. As-is it feels that this prime for a MITM attack and the feature is unusable at scale.

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Answer 3

Dec 30, 2020 4:01 PM in response to FirstChairLastCall

The issue is, perhaps, that AirPlay is conceptually a service that “advertises” its availability. Your neighbours have choosen to configure their devices to accept AirPlay connections from any source device - and therefore “advertise” a connection invitation.

If your neighbours instead lock-down their AppleTV configuration to only accept connections from their own WiFi network, you wouldn’t see these devices in the device list.

The same can be said for individual iPad configuration. If the iPad is configured to only accept AirDrop from users that appear in your Contacts, your iPad will not advertise or accept a connection.

If you are intending to configure multiple devices for use in a business environment, your best approach might be to centrally manage your business device estate via a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform - and apply device connection policy controls using Apple Configurator 2. This will provide considerably greater control over device configuration and connectivity.

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How to isolate AirPlay to trusted devices?

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