Apple AirPlay and its features in the new iOS 8

AirPlay with Apple TV

Apple’s AirPlay, like so many other products and services of Apple is extraordinary. This once a dream that you can see everything from your mobile on you TV. Heck this was only plausible in movies like Star Trek. But Apple has made that a reality. Apple has introduced so much in the WWDC event this year. The AirPlay may not be the part of it, but it is somehow connected. How? That will be answered later. But before that, let us tell you what AirPlay is.

What is AirPlay?

AirPlay lets you wirelessly stream what’s on your iOS device to your HDTV and speakers via Apple TV. On mirror exactly what’s on your display to the big screen.

Why do you need it?

Suppose you watching a movie on your iPad and all of sudden you think that this particular part of the movie can use some more screen. Well that’s where the AirPlay comes handy. Just connect your device and Apple TV and the AirPlay icon appears automatically. Then tap the AirPlay icon in a specific app i.e. Photos, Videos, Music, Safari or any other AirPlay device. And everything will start streaming on your HDTV via your Apple TV.

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The complete replication

AirPlay Mirroring lets you show exactly what’s on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and any other iDevice for that matter, to everyone in the room. Just be careful not to activate it when – you know what I mean.

Connectivity

At first, it was required that the Apple TV and the iDevice must be connected on the same network in order to use the AirPlay service. This was great when you were at your own home and no one else was there to use the Apple TV. But what if you went to someone else’s place? You would have to configure the whole thing again.

Apple has removed that limitation now with the new iOS 8. Now your device will connect directly to an Apple TV without having to connect first to the home or Wi-Fi network.