A late hotel stay highlighted Google ’s Chromecast but was missing Apple ’s AirPlay altogether . Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
If your family is divided between two ideological camp , it can be a never - ending source of anxiousness . No , I ’m not talking about the split between Democrats and Republicans . I ’m let the cat out of the bag about the far more serious schism between Apple and Android users when it come to institutionalize cognitive content from the belittled of screens to the biggest .
In family where all members convey an iPhone , the worldwide solution to casting cognitive content to a tv set is Apple’sAirPlay engineering science . Whether plant in asmart TVor accessed via anApple TVor other compatible equipment , AirPlay lets Apple products screenshare or play content from apps on the bragging screen in the home .
A recent hotel stay highlighted Google’s Chromecast but was missing Apple’s AirPlay altogether.Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
For an all - Android house , the same thing can be done usingGoogle Cast(previously know as Chromecast built - in ) , either baked into a smart boob tube or using an Android TV / Google TVstreaming devicelike the Nvidia Shield or the newer and more economicalOnn 4 K Proas a go - between .
For the naive : AirPlay only works with Apple machine . Google Cast is a turn more receptive , baked into the operating system on Android but also available at the covering stage on Android and iOS gimmick and in web browsers .
But when some folks have Android and others have Apple ? Oh , the humanity !
Mine is just such a syndicate . I use an iPhone . So do my kid . My married woman , who reluctantly made the switch from her Blackberry to an Android phone years ago , is more reluctant to shift technology yet again . I have tried to nudge her toward the technological bulk , but we ’ve been doing the marriage thing for 25 years , and I know which hills I ’m willing to die on . This is n’t one of them .
So we have both anApple TV 4Kand an Nvidia Shield 2019 connected to our aging LG OLED TV — which does n’t do AirPlay or Google Cast on its own in any respect .
And when the four of us end up on the sofa together for a cycle of “ Oooh , let me show you the coolest thing I saw the other mean solar day , ” it inevitably becomes a battle of remote control as we exchange between devices .
Thankfully , this admittedly blue - stakes warfare will soon be a thing of the past — at least in hotel elbow room .
At the recentHitec 2024 tradeshowin Charlotte , N.C. , Samsung and LG showed off new reading of their hospitality idiot box — the tv set that hotels instal in guest rooms — and each company bragged about its new built - in cast capabilities via AirPlay and Google Cast .
Sidebar : If you ’re scrape your pass in confusion because ( a ) have n’t we had built - in casting on TVs for old age and ( b ) has n’t hotel TV casting also been around for a while ? You ’re right on both counting .
The answer are : ( a ) hospitality TVs are unique model sold only to hotel and standardised companies , and they often imprison behind consumer curing in terms of features and specifications , and ( b ) while Google Cast has been in hotel for several years ( and often via third - party devices or HDMI dongle , which adds price and complexness for hotel ) , AirPlay backup has been very spotty .
Samsung and LG ’s announcements are a mark that things are about to get much just .
Despite still postulate a dongle for Google Cast , Samsung has announced itshotel tv will be AirPlay - compatible , and LG — whichintroduced AirPlay on hotel TVs in 2023 — has indicated that the Hyatt hotel chain will be the first to get its newGoogle Cast - capable models .
So , public security at last ? Yes , but frankly , the whole situation remain somewhat ridiculous .
If only there were a engineering built for cross - platform casting . One that would just solve regardless of which twist was in your pocket , or which telecasting was install in your hotel elbow room .
Oh , look , there is : It ’s calledMatter Casting .
Developed in tandem with Google , Apple , and a legion of other major tech companies , Matter molding uses the clear - source and royal line - freeMatter connectivity standardto provide a vulgar cast political platform for virtually any gadget . And it ’s not just a banner in hunting of participant .
Apple already supports Matter via its Apple Home app . Several of its devices can act as Matter hubs , and HomeKit — Apple ’s impertinent home platform for third - company accessories — is topic - compatible .
Google has been equally supportive . Its Google Home app works with Matter , and many of its smart devices ( speakers , displays , and Wi - Fi routers ) can act as Matter hubs .
As for getting Matter redact to look on home or hotel television ? There ’s a hint in the very last footnote onSamsung ’s press releaseannouncing the plus of AirPlay to its hospitality goggle box : “ Matter and the Home Connectivity Alliance ( HCA ) can be connected to SmartThings Pro . ”
Since SmartThings Pro is a feature that ’s built into these newfangled hotel TVs , there ’s hope that — one day — any gimmick will be able-bodied to regurgitate to these screen . And if Samsung enables it , there ’s a expert chance that the remainder of the manufacture will follow .
