Update , July 24 : The current Wiim Ultra wo n’t be getting AirPlay .

It pays to read the okay print . I know this , and yet sometimes in my rush to tell readers about the latest appliance , I omit to check my Assumption . Such was the case with the unexampled $ 329Wiim Ultra — the latestnetwork music streamerin Wiim ’s chop-chop extend collection of wireless hi - fi power train . I assumed — as did a phone number of my colleagues — that the Ultra ( which will start shipping soon ) is compatible withApple ’s AirPlay 2wireless streaming communications protocol . Why ? Because all of the company ’s former streamers , like the Wiim Mini , Wiim Pro , Wiim Pro Plus , andWiim Ampwork with AirPlay .

In fact , I ’d still retrieve this was the typeface if Wiim had n’t sent me the Ultra reviewers steer today in preparation for my full review ( derive shortly ! ) . As I ran through the immense leaning of supported features , I suddenly realized that neither Apple AirPlay nor Apple HomeKit were mentioned .

fear I ’d had a wit aneurism , I checked the original pressure release I had been sent for the Ultra ’s prescribed May 9 launching . No credit of AirPlay there either . Ruh - roh . Was I the only one who missed this seemingly massive omission ? Nope . As I said , plentyofothersitesmade thesame assumption .

So now I ’m baffled . Why would Wiim dump a major wireless music feature for its newest flagship streamer ? I finally line up the answer in ablog poston the official wiimhome.com website . The situation was in the first place published May 9 — the same day as the launching — but it was updated July 1 . Way down in the Highlights plane section , you ’ll now find this fundamental message :

“ Please note : Airplay certification is still pending , and while we do n’t have a definitive timeline , we chose not to delay the launching of the WiiM Ultra . If you primarily practice Airplay to pour music , we recommend waiting until it ’s endorse or looking at other WiiM products . — Wiim ”

Mystery clear . The Wiim Ultra did n’t dump AirPlay , but it ’s not going to be useable to the first mathematical group of Ultra buyers and we do n’t know when the equipment will receive the necessary software package update to enable it .

Frankly , I ’m less concerned with the Ultra ’s Airplay - certification - pending status than I am with the fact that Wiim did n’t communicate this post clearly from the outset . I ’m also very curious whyAmazon ’s Wiim Ultra intersection pagebears this very upsetting affirmation at the terminal of the feature inclination : “ line : This twist is antagonistic with AirPlay and can not function as an AirPlay receiver . ” That ’s go to freak some common people out unnecessarily .

I ’ve reached out to my Wiim contact for more information on the AirPlay situation , and will update this post as soon as I hear back .