Amazon is pushing a new Universal Casting Standard to work across Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and more

Posted by Elias Saba on — 15 Comments

Matter is a new connectivity standard, with support from Amazon, Apple, Google, and others, to make smart home interoperability possible across devices from different manufacturers. One aspect of Matter is a TV and streaming standard that has the potential to replace proprietary casting protocols, like Apple’s AirPlay and Google’s Cast, so that any streaming device can receive playback instructions from any other device, regardless of who makes it. Amazon, without a popular casting standard of its own, has the most to gain from the widespread adoption of Matter’s TV capabilities and is leading the effort behind the new standard. Read more ›

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Amazon’s own Fire TV Omni & 4-Series Smart TVs to gain Airplay 2, HomeKit, Alexa Home Theater support, and more this month

Posted by Elias Saba on — 1 Comment

Amazon has announced that its line of Fire TV Smart TVs, the Omni Series and 4-Series, will be gaining several new features “over the coming weeks.” One of those features is Apple AirPlay 2 support, which allows iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac owners to easily mirror and cast their screen to the TV. Along with AirPlay 2 will come support for Apple Homekit, which allows for basic control of the TV through Apple’s voice assistant Siri. Amazon also says its TVs will also gain support for Alexa Home Theater groups, which allows you to use Echo devices as wireless speakers. The list of compatible Echos is, unfortunately, smaller with these TVs than with other Fire TV models, and includes only the Echo Studio, Echo (3rd & 4th Gen), Echo Dot (4th Gen), and Echo Plus (2nd Gen). Lastly, only the Fire TV Omni is also getting access to Zoom video calls soon, when you connect a USB webcam. These features are expected to be available later this month.

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Amazon’s own Fire TV Omni & 4-Series Smart TVs to gain Apple AirPlay 2

Posted by Elias Saba on — 5 Comments

The first Amazon-built Fire TV Smart TVs have launched today and Amazon has announced that they will be receiving support for Apple AirPlay 2 casting. The Fire TV Omni Smart TVs, which are the premium models with hands-free Alexa, and the less expensive Fire TV 4-Series Smart TVs will “soon” be able to wirelessly connect to Apple iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers for screen mirroring and for remotely playing content in mobile apps. Read more ›

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Fire TV Smart TVs gain Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit capabilities

Posted by Elias Saba on — 12 Comments

Amazon has announced that Fire TV Smart TVs from Toshiba and Insignia are gaining support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. AirPlay will allow iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Mac owners to cast content from their Apple devices directly onto the TVs. HomeKit support will allow Fire TV Smart TVs to be controlled by Siri. Support is rolling out to 2020 models now and will come to other Fire TV Smart TV models in the future. Read more ›

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Roku OS 9.4 update adds Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to select Roku models

Posted by Elias Saba on — 7 Comments

Roku is starting to roll out Roku OS version 9.4 and the big new feature is the addition of Apple Airplay 2 and HomeKit support. AirPlay allows users to cast video from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a supported Roku device, providing a decent alternative to Apple’s own Apple TV hardware and a new way to watch HBO Max on Rokus, since the app is still not available on the platform. HomeKit support allows for control of compatible Roku devices through Siri voice commands and Apple’s Home app. Read more ›

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Netflix drops AirPlay support for Apple TVs and smart TVs — Fire TV casting is not affected

Posted by Elias Saba on — 5 Comments

Netflix has confirmed to The Verge that they’ve dropped support for Apple AirPlay entirely. This means that iPhone and iPad users can no longer use their mobile device to cast Netflix content to Apple TVs, as well as smart TVs that will support the upcoming AirPlay 2 expansion that includes Samsung, LG, Vizio, and Sony TVs. This does not affect Fire TVs, so it’s still possible to use an iOS or Android device to start playing Netflix content on any Fire TV that has the Netflix app installed. Read more ›

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AirScreen turns your Fire TV into a Chromecast with support for Google Cast and Apple AirPlay

Posted by Elias Saba on — 28 Comments

A new app called AirScreen has just arrived in the Amazon Appstore for Fire TV devices that adds support for all the major casting protocols. It is compatible with all Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire TV Edition television models and makes it possible to cast videos and your entire screen to your Fire TV from an Android device, iOS device, Mac, or Windows PC. It supports Google Cast so it works exactly like a Chromecast and supports Apple AirPlay, so it works like an Apple TV for iPhone casting. It also supports Miracast, which is what Windows PCs use for screen mirroring, as well as DLNA. Read more ›

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App Deal: AirPlayMirror Receiver down from $4.99 to $2.99 [Expired]

Posted by Elias Saba on — 4 Comments

AirPlayMirror Receiver has just gone on sale for $2.99. This is the first time this app has dropped below its regular price of $4.99. This is the newest AirPlay app to be released for the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. It allows Fire TVs and Fire TV Sticks to receive AirPlay video and screen mirroring from iPhones, iPads, and iMacs the same way the Apple TV works. One very interesting feature of this app that no other AirPlay app can do is display up to 4 different Apple devices simultaneously, with each device’s video displayed in its own window. I have not tried this app yet myself, but you don’t need to rely on my testing because the developer offers a free version that lets you try the app for 15 minutes before committing to buy the full version. The app is compatible with all Fire TV and Fire TV Stick models.

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New AirPlay app released for the Fire TV & Fire TV Stick

Posted by Elias Saba on — 19 Comments

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One of the most popular category of apps on the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are apps that add Apple AirPlay capabilities to the devices. Three out of the five most purchased apps by AFTVnews readers in 2014 were AirPlay apps, so it’s worth mentioning when a new player enters the AirPlay game. Airtight is a new app that promises to turn any Fire TV or Fire TV Stick into an AirPlay receiver, and it does so for just $0.99. That’s the same price as the full version (via in-app purchase) of AirBuddy, the previous cheapest app, but Airtight promises more features. Read more ›

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AllCast released for iOS — Compatible with AllCast for Fire TV & Fire TV Stick

Posted by Elias Saba on — 4 Comments

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AllCast has long been one of the best solutions to send photos and videos from an Android device to your Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Now, the app made by the same guys behind ClockworkMod Recovery has finally been released for iOS devices.

Install the app on both your Fire TV and iOS device, and seamlessly send photos, music, and videos from your mobile device to your TV. While it’s not integrated across the OS like AirPlay, it should serve to be more reliable than the various AirPlay apps which promise to add AirPlay support to the Fire TV but never quite fully deliver on that promise.

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NEW AMAZON DEVICES

2nd-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Price: $49.99
2nd-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max Price: $59.99
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Fire TV Shortcut Apps

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