mrgroovymann

Q: Netflix work around airplay peer to peer

Has anyone established a workaround for watching Netflix using peer to peer mirroring on Airplay? I have no Wi-Fi, but I have an unlimited LTE data connection on my phone. The unlimited data only applies to the phone though, and not to personal hotspot/tethering (or I would just connect my Apple TV to my phones Internet-not that simple unfortunately).

I have the most updated equipment (iPhone running 8.4 and apple tv 3rd gen rev A with the most up to date software). What I want is to mirror my iphone screen to my HDTV using apple TV AirPlay mirroring. I have it all set up and it works fine, but when I try to play a Netflix vid, I get a couple of different error messages.   Netflix customer service has told me that Netflix doesn't work with airplay, but that they are working on it. Something about my data connection not having enough strength to send the proper resolution to the HDTV. But really it's just a Netflix hasn't figured it out yet, because I can use both the NBC iPhone app and the Hulu iPhone app, and they both work great with great resolution and no lag while using peer to peer airplay mirroring

 

I hope Netflix can figure it out, but I thought I'd come here to all you geniuses and see if anybody knows a workaround.

 

thank you!!

 

b

iPhone 5, iOS 8.4

Posted on Aug 7, 2015 10:59 AM

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Q: Netflix work around airplay peer to peer

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  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Aug 7, 2015 7:15 PM in response to mrgroovymann
    Level 6 (19,103 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 7, 2015 7:15 PM in response to mrgroovymann

    That would be something the developer needs to work out. There is no workaround for that.

  • by mrgroovymann,

    mrgroovymann mrgroovymann Aug 10, 2015 6:57 PM in response to vazandrew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 10, 2015 6:57 PM in response to vazandrew

    TThanks for your thoughts. Do you mean that Netflis developers need to figure it out, or AirPlay developers? When I made it clear to Netflix that I may have to cancel my service and go with Hulu since the Hulu app works perfectly, they said that they would escalate my case and contact AirPlay about it. We'll see if that actually happens.

  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Aug 10, 2015 7:03 PM in response to mrgroovymann
    Level 6 (19,103 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 10, 2015 7:03 PM in response to mrgroovymann

    It would be the Netflix developers. Airplay is a protocol developed by Apple. The same tools are given to all, if there is a an issue it will be up to the specific app  developer (in this case Netflix) to fix it.

  • by rstocker,

    rstocker rstocker Aug 13, 2015 7:25 PM in response to mrgroovymann
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2015 7:25 PM in response to mrgroovymann

    The issue is that AirPlay simply hands over connection details and expects the AppleTV to do the heavy lifting (actually pulling the data from Netflix), so this is by design.  In order to be able to AirPlay Netflix, the AppleTV itself must have an internet connection.  "Mirroring" the iOS device would probably work, but is not ideal for movie watching.

  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Aug 13, 2015 7:49 PM in response to rstocker
    Level 6 (19,103 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 13, 2015 7:49 PM in response to rstocker

    It would be getting a network connection from the phone via peer to peer AirPlay. The issue is with the Netflix app operating under these conditions, the developer would need to issue a fix.

  • by rstocker,

    rstocker rstocker Aug 13, 2015 8:17 PM in response to vazandrew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 13, 2015 8:17 PM in response to vazandrew

    I don't believe the ad-hoc wireless network created to facilitate "direct" airplay shares the iPhone LTE Internet connection - it works in similar fashion to peer to peer AirDrop.  The AppleTV must have Internet access itself in order for HTTP Live Streaming to work.  The same thing will happen when one tries to AirPlay YouTube, Vimeo, etc from an LTE-only iPhone to a peer to peer AppleTV without an active Internet connection - it's not just Netflix.

  • by vazandrew,

    vazandrew vazandrew Aug 13, 2015 8:40 PM in response to rstocker
    Level 6 (19,103 points)
    Apple TV
    Aug 13, 2015 8:40 PM in response to rstocker

    Other apps are working just fine, it's only Netflix that's giving the issue

  • by rstocker,

    rstocker rstocker Aug 14, 2015 5:21 AM in response to vazandrew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 14, 2015 5:21 AM in response to vazandrew

    Maybe I'm missing something or have a peculiar configuration that's giving me a red herring.  I ran this experiment quickly this morning:

     

    - Unplugged router (airport extreme)

    - Waited for iPhone to go to 4G/LTE

    - Verified I could AirPlay a photo from my photo library

    - Attempted to AirPlay a video from the YouTube App

    - As expected, the AppleTV just kept spinning, unable to play the video

     

    Turning back on the router (thus providing the AppleTV with Internet access) immediately allowed AirPlay of the YouTube video. 

  • by mrgroovymann,

    mrgroovymann mrgroovymann Aug 18, 2015 8:11 PM in response to rstocker
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2015 8:11 PM in response to rstocker

    AppleTv definitely does not *have* to have an Internet connection. Without connecting AppleTv to a wifi connection (using AppleTv only as a mirror) I can stream and mirror content beautifully from my iPhone to my tv from several websites, including Hulu, NBC, FOX, CBS, Amazonf Instant, all while ONLY using the phone's LTE connection and using AirPlay/AppleTv only as a mirror.

    vazandrew is correct. The issue with with Netflix itself not building this functionality into its app. They really need to get it together, since Hulu and the rest clearly have it figured out.

  • by iW00,

    iW00 iW00 Aug 19, 2015 1:41 AM in response to mrgroovymann
    Level 4 (1,349 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 1:41 AM in response to mrgroovymann

    mrgroovymann wrote:

     

    AppleTv definitely does not *have* to have an Internet connection. Without connecting AppleTv to a wifi connection (using AppleTv only as a mirror) I can stream and mirror content beautifully from my iPhone to my tv from several websites, including Hulu, NBC, FOX, CBS, Amazonf Instant, all while ONLY using the phone's LTE connection and using AirPlay/AppleTv only as a mirror.

    vazandrew is correct. The issue with with Netflix itself not building this functionality into its app. They really need to get it together, since Hulu and the rest clearly have it figured out.

    Airplay and Airplay Mirroring it is not the same service. If you use Airplay Mirroring, Netflix will worked too. If you only try to use Airplay, it looks like connection to the Internet for Apple TV is required.

     

    It looks like the same requirements which applies for streaming iTunes content via Peer-to-Peer connection from iOS device to Apple TV, also applies for a Netflix - as per: Use AirPlay to wirelessly stream content from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

     

    Use peer-to-peer AirPlay

    With peer-to-peer AirPlay, your iOS device and Apple TV don't have to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

    To use peer-to-peer AirPlay, you need one of these devices with iOS 8 or later:

    • iPhone 5 or later
    • iPad mini or iPad (4th generation or later)
    • iPod touch (5th generation or later)

    You can stream content to your Apple TV (3rd generation rev A, model A1469 or later) with software version 7.0 or later. Find out which Apple TV model you have.

    Make sure that both devices have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.

    If you want to stream iTunes Store content, you also need an Internet connection.

  • by Alley_Cat,

    Alley_Cat Alley_Cat Aug 19, 2015 2:44 AM in response to rstocker
    Level 6 (19,583 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 2:44 AM in response to rstocker

    rstocker wrote:

     

    The issue is that AirPlay simply hands over connection details and expects the AppleTV to do the heavy lifting (actually pulling the data from Netflix), so this is by design.  In order to be able to AirPlay Netflix, the AppleTV itself must have an internet connection.

    It doesn't do that.  Standard Airplay relays a pre-rendered stream or device copy to AppleTV - to do so the stream/copy has to be AppleTV compatible.

     

    Standard Airplay does not expect AppleTV to fetch the data, the Airplay device does it and relays it.

     

    This might be an issue with Airplay of Netflix's rate adaptive stream.

  • by RootX,

    RootX RootX Nov 7, 2015 3:23 PM in response to iW00
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2015 3:23 PM in response to iW00

    I agree that Airplay and Airplay Mirroring are not the same thing and it seems that Mirroring should simplify the situation and make Netflix work...but, it seems that the Netflix app disables Mirroring and tries to send the video via true Airplay.

     

    I have set up iphone to ATV via peer to peer.  Then I turn on Mirroring and the iphone is successfully projected to the TV.  Then as soon as I start the Netflix app on the iphone the Mirroring goes away and the screen just turns to the spinning wheel until an error comes up minutes later.  Actually it works sometimes and other times it doesn't.  To me, it seems that certain episodes work and others do not.