Apple killed 3rd party Airplay streaming apps with tvOS 10.2

Question

jerome1989 Author

Level 2

257 points

Apple killed 3rd party Airplay streaming apps with tvOS 10.2

Hi.

I had a very bad surprise after updating my Apple TV (4th gen) to tvOS 10.2 :

The Beamer app does not work anymore (it allowsallowed to send a movie in any format from a Mac to an Apple TV).

Neither do all 3rd party apps streaming to Airplay devices (I have Safari extensions, and I suppose AirParrot or Airfoil do not work either)

That is reduced functionality in a point update and I am very unhappy about it.

macOS Sierra's Airplay features are not nearly as general nor convenient.

Since tvOS 10.2, device verification for Airplay cannot ne turned off.

In addition to the reduced functionality, this does not make a lot of sense to me - being able to disable point-to-point Airplay connections (as seems to be possible if you use Apple configurator) makes a lot more sense to me.

Anybody has a workaround, or a not too uneasy way of streaming a movie from a Mac to an Apple TV ?

Posted on Mar 28, 2017 4:37 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Rudegar

Level 10

170,634 points

Mar 28, 2017 9:29 AM in response to jerome1989

maybe they send api changes notifications to the developers of your various third party apps and they are currently working on a new release with works with the new version ?

otherwise you should tell them your displeasure using the feedback

http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

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Answer 2

Mar 28, 2017 8:07 AM in response to jerome1989

Hi. Just remember that AirPlay is an unpublished proprietary protocol that can change at any time. I was able to AirPlay to a Google TV until the release of iOS 9. If your 3rd party app vendors are Apple licensees, they will be able to release updates to handle the new requirements. Otherwise, they'll need to crack it, which might be difficult.

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Answer 3

jerome1989 Author

Level 2

257 points

Mar 28, 2017 9:04 AM in response to Diana.McCall

Thanks Diana.

Apple can do whatever they want. True.

Yet I think that in that case, Apple removed functionality for no good reason. (that is unless device validation is accessible to developers in the case of 43d party apps, in which case the current issue will eventually disappear).

And there is plenty of Airplay documentation, in particular to allow iOS apps to use it -I remember Apple even demonstrated Real Racing 2 on an iPhone or iPad Airplayed to a TV at a keynote - and that was no mirroring).

Just not for Mac apps apparently, unless they use te Apple TV as a regular second screen.

In that point update, Apple also removed Airplay support on Apple TV 4 from "old" iOS devices, that is pre-iOS 7.1, and pre-OS X 10.10 Macs. Which is not cool.

And did not put anything about it in the release notes!!!

I just never thought I should keep an older Apple TV in order to stream video from by Mac running the latest macOS!

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Answer 4

jerome1989 Author

Level 2

257 points

Mar 28, 2017 10:21 AM in response to Rudegar

Hi Rudegar.

I just did send feedback.

I had already filed a bug report (since this is a regression and is not mentioned in the release notes, it appears to be a bug)

And will start searching for a 3rd gen Apple TV or a Chromecast Ultra :-(

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Answer 5

ImHoox

Level 1

9 points

Mar 29, 2017 1:45 AM in response to jerome1989

Turns out, some forward thinking developers have already tackled this. AirParrot 2.7.0, released recently, has tvOS10.2 support. http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/release-notes/win/

I have just installed it on Windows 10 and can confirm it works. As you launch it, if you don't have a passcode or password set on your ATV4, Apple TV then shows you their standard format 4 digit code which you then enter on a little AirParrot prompt window and that's it. Streaming via AirPlay once more.

I can only assume then that other developers can and should follow suit and update their software.

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Answer 6

jerome1989 Author

Level 2

257 points

Mar 29, 2017 1:56 AM in response to ImHoox

Hi.

Thanks ImHoox.

I downloaded AirParrot 2's trial version and it works quite well, although I find its interface way too complicated for my taste. I might use Airvideo HD (which is not a streaming app per se, is not free, but I already have it, it always works, and might be easier to use for my usage than AirParrot 2) to stream non standard formats from my MacBook Pro until I have a better solution.

It is very encouraging that Airplay device verification can be implemented by Mac app developers :-)

Yet I do not understand why Apple is forcing me to pair every single iOS device, Mac and Mac app to my Apple TV, although they all are on the same (quite secure) local network in my apartment.

This at a time when pairing my Airpods to one apple device automatically pairs them to all others ....

What's next : mandatory passwords to connect to an Ethernet network? Mandatory passwords and pairing to my network/WiFi printer ?

(my unhappiness about this of course not a reply to ImHoox's post - it is for Apple)

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Answer 7

Mar 29, 2017 11:18 AM in response to jerome1989

Since your main concern seems to be non-standard video formats, there is an alternative solution. The VLC app on Apple TV is pretty wide-ranging, and can stream from all sorts of file systems. It should give a better video result for such formats, since it can access the ATV frame buffer directly, while mirroring from the computer converts the video to H.264 and streams that. This means the original video stream is transformed several times, adding noise at each step.

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Answer 8

jerome1989 Author

Level 2

257 points

Mar 29, 2017 11:18 AM in response to Diana.McCall

Hi.

Thanks Diana.

Yes, VLC can play about anything on the Apple TV.

And has Remote Playback (which I had forgotten).

Not quite as easy as Beamer, but more than OK.

Thanks again.

(I also use Infuse Pro, which I like a lot, but is not free (and, for local content, requires to weaken account security on the Mac)

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Answer 9

Apr 20, 2017 9:36 AM in response to jerome1989

In addition to Mr. Colas remarks above, it would be also great if Apple would put a huge warning sign before installing an update with information on what features will stop working with the next update so people can choose for themselves to they want to update or not. Thinking about it, a pros and cons table is even better, although I doubt anyone will ever install an update in such case.

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Answer 10

May 24, 2017 9:48 AM in response to jerome1989

Not the only problem with ios10.2! AirPlay is totally broken now, and even after entering the 4 digit code shown on Apple Tv 4 on your device, isn't working! So no AirPlay at all after next update i suppose?

So dissapointed that Apple can make a bug like this in the first place. 😠

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Answer 11

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Apr 20, 2017 3:42 PM in response to aleksandar85

These were 3rd party apps that worked around a proprietary protocol which no longer works, and not a removal of documented features by Apple

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Answer 12

May 24, 2017 10:12 AM in response to CyberGoose

Hi CyberGoose. AirPlay is still working in tvOS 10.2 and 10.2.1. I use it almost daily from my iPad Air (iOS 10.3.2). What device/software are you trying to connect from?

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Answer 13

May 24, 2017 10:14 AM in response to Diana.McCall

iPhone SE and Imac. None is working. Both with latest os.

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Answer 14

May 24, 2017 10:28 AM in response to CyberGoose

Have you restarted Apple TV since updating, Settings > System > Restart? Please identify the OS versions on the iPhone and iMac?

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Answer 15

May 24, 2017 10:30 AM in response to Diana.McCall

I found the problem. Restart didn't do the trick, but a full reset did!

Thanks for the help though. 😉

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