iOS 18 and tvOS 18 Reintroduce SharePlay for Apple Music on HomePods and Apple TV
iOS 18 and tvOS 18 reintroduce SharePlay for Apple Music on the HomePod, HomePod mini, and Apple TV. The feature first appeared in the iOS 17.4 and tvOS 17.4 betas earlier this year, but it was removed before those updates were released.
This feature allows others to control Apple Music playback on your HomePod or Apple TV with permission, regardless of whether they subscribe to the service. The primary user can decide whether to approve or deny each request.
Apple already rolled out a similar feature for CarPlay last year, allowing anyone in a car to control music playback via SharePlay with permission.
HomePod
While playing a song in the Music app on your iPhone, tap the SharePlay icon at the bottom of the screen to bring up a QR code, which another person can scan with their iPhone or Android smartphone's camera to request access to music playback controls. Even a screenshot of the QR code suffices for remote access.
The feature works on both the HomePod and HomePod mini, and we could imagine the QR code eventually being shown on the long-rumored HomePod with a screen.
Apple TV
With the tvOS 18 update, the Music app on the Apple TV can also show a QR code on the TV that guests can scan to request access to music controls.
The expansion of this feature to the Apple TV and the HomePod is useful for house parties, allowing everyone to be the DJ.
iOS 18, tvOS 18, and HomePod software version 18 are currently in beta, and the updates will be widely released later this year.
Popular Stories
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Juli CloverApple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Juli CloverElevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.
Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year.
Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro.
The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie.
The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.
The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
