If you wish to use your iPhone or iPad to deal with audio playback out of your machine or to different gadgets which are a part of the Apple ecosystem (like an Apple TV, HomePod, or HomePod mini) or that assist AirPlay for streaming, Apple offers management by way of a media participant. You discover and swap amongst sources by way of the Management Heart and inside audio-playback apps. Nonetheless, as Apple has made the participant richer, it’s additionally made it extra sophisticated to grasp what’s happening.
Particularly, it may be exhausting to determine whether or not you’re streaming media out of your iPhone or iPad to a tool otherwise you’re controlling a tool in order that it’s streaming straight from a library on the native community or over the Web.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals: swipe to disclose the Management Heart after which press and maintain on the media participant lozenge within the higher proper nook. This reveals the complete media participant interface. On that first display, whichever machine you final managed seems within the media participant, usually with a thumbnail, playback controls, quantity management, and an icon to the suitable of the playback controls.
This icon reveals one of many following:
- An AirPlay icon you’ll be able to faucet to decide on a number of locations to stream audio out of your iPhone or iPad
- An icon for a tool or a set of gadgets indicating that AirPlay is already set to stream to different audio outputs
- An icon that signifies the machine that the media participant controls straight, akin to an Apple TV or HomePod icon
Beneath the thumbnail and above the title, iOS and iPadOS present the identify of the machine and AirPlay targets, if any. You may see on an iPhone:
- iPhone
- iPhone -> machine identify (or a number of locations)
- machine identify, like a HomePod’s identify
- machine identify, like an Apple TV’s identify
To modify among the many potential media gamers’ controls, faucet Management Different Audio system & TVs. This reveals a view with small lozenges for every energetic, potential goal with a transparent label as above. If there’s a present choice for a tool, you’ll be able to faucet the play button or pause button on the proper of its lozenge. You can even faucet any lozenge to pick it and make it the frontmost media participant that seems the subsequent time you deliver up Management Heart. This machine may be managed each in the principle Management Heart view and would be the controller proven in case you maintain and press on the Management Heart’s media participant lozenge.
I’ve observed that third-party audio apps may overlap the label in some views. With Castro, the labels overlap in the principle participant view, and I’ve to faucet the AirPlay or different icon to the suitable of the play progress bar to see the complete label, which seems on the high in that view, to ensure I’m controlling the right machine. Or, I’ve to faucet Management Different Audio system & TVs to see the label there.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a query submitted by Macworld reader Andrew.
Ask Mac 911
We’ve compiled an inventory of the questions we get requested most steadily, together with solutions and hyperlinks to columns: read our super FAQ to see in case your query is roofed. If not, we’re all the time searching for new issues to unravel! E mail yours to mac911@macworld.com, together with display captures as applicable and whether or not you need your full identify used. Not each query shall be answered, we don’t reply to electronic mail, and we can not present direct troubleshooting recommendation.
