Apple TV and HomePod have solved the home cinema setup with iOS 14.2
by Volker Weber
iOS 14.2 changes the HomePod game. If you have a HomePod, or better two HomePods, in the same room as an Apple TV, then iOS offers to create a Home Cinema setup. They all become part of only one AirPlay device for this room. If you play music, the TV stays off. If you watch TV, Apple TV sends the sound to the HomePods without changing the configuration. The TV screen gets turned on and off over the HDMI connection.
This may be replacing my Sonos TV setup.
Comments
When comes this screen? I‘ve updated all to latest tvOS version but didn‘t had this kind of setup.
How is the surround sound emulation compared to Sonos?
Only thing that bothers me: the assumption that the Apple TV is the only device generating sound. What about consoles?
Nice development. Does that only work for content streamed from the Apple TV itself? Or is the Apple TV capable to play all TV audio (i.e. also from sat antenna or other HDMI sources) to the Hompods? Wouldn’t that require the Apple TV to be connected to an HDMI ARC capable port? And could that work, since ATV would need to both receive the audio return channel as well as supply video, depending on it being the video source or just the audio target?
It seems that this works with ATV 4K only -.-
Mine is the ATV HD. With tvOS 14.1 it was possible to set the default output and now it’s gone. *grml* Apple
