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When it comes to listening to music wirelessly, most people think of Bluetooth. It’s built into just about every smartphone on the planet, and a huge number of tablets, desktops, and laptops have it too. But if you own Apple hardware, you need to know about a Bluetooth alternative that works over Wi-Fi, called Apple AirPlay 2.

AirPlay 2 is much more than just a simple pairing option: It lets you send both audio and video to a growing variety of devices such as TVs, speakers, Apple TV boxes, Macs, and home theater receivers, all sans wires. If you own more than one AirPlay 2-compatible audio device, you can stream your music to just one of them, some of them, or all of them without losing synchronization. If that sounds cool, stay with us: We’re going to point out all of the exciting features of AirPlay 2 and show you how to use it.

Originally debuted in 2004 as AirTunes, AirPlay is Apple’s proprietary, wireless protocol suite designed to allow users to “throw” audio and video signals from one “sender” device to one “receiver” device. Streamed content included music, video, photos, and screen sharing, all of which retain their metadata when sent via AirPlay.

Back then, sender devices included Windows computers running Apple Music, iOS devices (iOS 4.2 or higher) including iPhones, iPods, and iPads, and Mac computers running MacOS X Mountain Lion or later (depending upon the processor).

Receiver devices included Apple’s now-discontinued AirPort Express routers, but now include Apple TVs, Apple’s HomePod speakers, Mac computers with Monterey MacOS installed, and a wide variety of supported third-party wireless speakers, as well as a number of smart TV platforms. You can even turn wired speakers into receivers with devices such as the Belkin SoundForm Connect audio adapter. The third-party adapter plugs into any speaker with an optical or 3.5mm audio input and allows for one-tap AirPlay pairing. It will set you back $99, but hey, it’s cheaper than a new set of AirPlay-capable wireless speakers.

AirPlay also lets you “mirror” the screen of an iOS/iPadOS/MacOS device to an Apple TV, so that you don’t end up with a group of people huddling around a tiny screen just to see a map, photo, video, etc.

Announced in 2017, AirPlay 2 builds on the original AirPlay feature set and lets you exert more control over AirPlay devices through Apple’s HomeKit platform. It added several important features, notably:

Other devices that support AirPlay 2 include multiple soundbars, smart thermostats like Ecobee’s, and other smart speakers.

AirPlay 2 is baked into iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS, so whether you are using an iPhone, iPad, or computer, you’ll have full control of playback.

AirPlay 2 is baked into iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS, so whether you’re using an Apple mobile device or computer, you’ll have full control of audio playback. The same goes for the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K streaming devices. Apple’s tvOS 11, which launched in fall 2017, turned your Apple TV into a “sender” device for audio, so if you’re playing a movie on Apple TV, you can turn every AirPlay 2 speaker in your home into an expanded home theater sound system — a handy feature for those without a dedicated soundbar or 5.1 home theater system.

With the MacOS Monterey update, Apple has also added the ability to AirPlay directly from another Apple device, like an iPhone or iPad, directly to your Mac. This can be used to show media on a larger screen if you want to share it with an audience, among other purposes. This MacOS support is only available on Mac models sold within the last few years, but works on MacBooks, iMacs, the Mac Mini, and the 2017 iMac Pro. MacOS Monterey also added a number of capabilities including the upcoming SharePlay, Live Text options, and more.

There are several important differences that make AirPlay a different choice from Bluetooth:

As previously mentioned, the list of AirPlay 2 sender devices is fairly short, comprising mostly iOS devices (they’ll need iOS 11 or later) and Mac computers (MacOS 10.13 or later) — it won’t work on any devices made before 2011.

The list of receiver devices, on the other hand, is growing rapidly, and by our count includes many brands of wireless speakers and A/V receivers , plus a growing selection of TV brands (if you don’t count Roku TVs, which are offered by several different manufacturers). AirPlay 2 has been expanding its reach in the streaming world as well, thanks to Roku device support.

Here are just a few of the companies that already support AirPlay 2 on some of their products:

As you might expect, this is likely just a small fraction of the companies that plan to add Airplay 2 support to their products eventually. Plus, some existing apps and products can be updated to support AirPlay 2, in addition to newly developed apps and products. A recent example comes from Bose, which added AirPlay 2 to its SoundTouch wireless speakers, some of which are now six years old.

So, if you have some swanky, Wi-Fi-enabled B&W speakers, don’t throw them out the window just yet!

If you have compatible devices, using AirPlay 2 is very easy. Start playing your audio or video, then look for the AirPlay icon, a screen-like rectangle with an arrow in front of it. Sometimes the AirPlay icon is hiding behind a settings or streaming option, but it’s often right there on the player.

When you bring AirPlay up, it will automatically detect any available devices that work with AirPlay 2, and list them. Choose one (such as your smart TV), and your media will automatically start streaming on that device. Select AirPlay again to stop when you’re ready.

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