Skip to main content

SharePlay is coming to Apple TV and HomePod

SharePlay from an iPhone to Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

Get ready to give your friends and family even more control over what’s playing on your TV and speakers. Apple appears to be prepping SharePlay for Apple TV, as well as HomePod speakers. Per MacRumors — and confirmed on our own hardware — the latest developer betas for tvOS 17.4 and iOS 17.4 add functionality that lets others take over the music experience in the same manner that previously was only available on CarPlay.

Again, this is part of a developer preview and not yet in production software. So features could change. Or disappear. Don’t go rearranging your life around any of this just yet.

Recommended Videos

But the basic premise is simple enough. Just like in CarPlay, choosing the SharePlay icon will pop up a QR code, either on your iPhone or on Apple TV. Your friend or whomever then scans the code and is granted access to the Music app and can change things up from their phone, using your Apple Music subscription.

SharePlay on Apple TV.
Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

The usefulness of SharePlay on tvOS is maybe a little questionable given that there’s likely a remote control laying around that could be used pretty easily, but it’s still a good thing to see the feature expanding beyond CarPlay. And it’s definitely easier to use a phone to search for something to play than it is to use the remote to pick one letter at a time.

SharePlay itself has been around for some time now, having made its debut with iOS and iPadOS 15.1 in 2021 and initially allowing users to share movies, music, and other content with each other during FaceTime calls. It expanded to CarPlay with iOS 17, allowing someone in the back seat to easily hop into the DJ role, which is good or bad, depending on who’s riding along.

Phil Nickinson
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
The new HomePod is still too expensive, which is exactly how Apple wants it
Handoff between Apple iPhone and Apple HomePod second-gen.

Apple just announced its second-generation HomePod. And it did so without too much fanfare, via press release and just a day after it unveiled new M2 processors inside new a MacBook Pro and Mac mini. And while there maybe wasn't much fanfare, there was plenty of flourish — also in typical Apple fashion — without divulging all that many details about what's new.

There's the lower price, of course, with $50 shaved off the first-gen HomePod price. The internals have been reworked some, though whether that's to lower the overall cost, or just to make things better, remains to be seen. But It's got a new S7 processor instead of the older (and less purpose-driven) A8. It's got support for the Matter smart home standard and can listen for things like carbon monoxide alarms. And it'll still play music and do other smart home stuff.

Read more
The Apple HomePod is back, with new smarts, and a lower price
Apple HomePod second-gen.

Apple has launched a second generation of its HomePod, for $299 ($50 less than the first-gen), with a similar design to the original HomePod. Apple discontinued the first-gen HomePod in 2021, less than a year after the debut of the HomePod mini, leaving many to wonder if the company had completely abandoned the larger smart speaker. Simply called the second-gen HomePod, the new model offers improved audio quality and deeper integration into the smart home. It's available to pre-order online and in the Apple Store app starting today, with availability beginning Friday, February 3.

In many ways, the second-gen looks exactly the same as the original HomePod. Apple has kept the distinctive rounded shape, the fabric-wrapped exterior, and the instantly recognizable touch area on top, complete with a colorful feedback display. Even the dimensions are nearly identical, with the same 5.6-inch diameter, but a slightly shorter height (6.6 inches vs. 6.8 inches). It's also a tad lighter at 5.16 pounds instead of the first-gen's 5.5-pound weight.

Read more
How the Apple TV and AirPods Max solved my TV headphone woes
The AirPods Max and Apple TV 4K with remote on a table.

What began with an old pair of Bluetooth headphones to watch late-night TV movies became an all-consuming quest to get great-sounding wireless audio and a reliable connection from my television. It really shouldn’t have been complicated, but it turned out to be far harder than I could have ever imagined. And I’ve spent months and months -- and a whole lot of money -- solving the problem.

This is how I did it.
How it all started
Toward the end of 2021, I began watching TV late into the night, and I didn't want to be “that neighbor” when doing it. So I grabbed a pair of Bluetooth headphones and connected them to my TV. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It’s a modestly sized room so I didn’t expect range to be an issue. It’s a modern television, and the headphones sound very good connected to my phone. I thought it was problem solved right then and there.

Read more