- Apple TV Links Directly to Your iTunes and iCloud Accounts
- Specialized Apple TV Programming Is Available
- Apple TV Utilizes AirPlay to Wirelessly Link Your TV with Your iOS Mobile Device
- What Comes with the Little Black Box Known as Apple TV
Apple TV Utilizes AirPlay to Wirelessly Link Your TV with Your iOS Mobile Device
For many dedicated Apple users who have acquired a vast library of iTunes purchases, Apple TV offers a new way to enjoy that content within a home or office. However, perhaps the most interesting feature that Apple TV offers is its compatibility with Apple’s AirPlay feature that’s built into the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch’s iOS operating system.
As long as your iOS mobile device is connected to the same wireless network as your Apple TV, just about anything that appears on the screen of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch can simultaneously be displayed (mirrored) on your HD television set. How this feature works varies based on the content being viewed.
For example, if you’re watching a TV show episode or many iTunes-acquired movies on your iPad, for example, by tapping on the AirPlay icon that’s displayed on the iPad’s screen, you can switch from viewing that video content from the iPad’s screen to seeing it on your television set at anytime (and switch back again with a single tap).
There are some limitations to this capability based on copyright issues related to the content. For example, if you rent a movie from iTunes, it can be transferred to your Apple TV device, your Mac, or your iOS mobile device, but can only be stored and viewed on one device at a time. However, any home video footage you shoot and edit yourself on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac can be streamed to your television set using Apple TV as the conduit.
The AirPlay feature also comes in handy when playing many games on your iOS mobile device, or if you use Keynote to make a presentation. Likewise, if you have digital photos stored on your mobile device, you can stream them to and view them on your television set, even if they’re not part of your iCloud Photo Stream. Thanks to Apple TV, the link between your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac and your HD television can be wireless.
For Mac users, while AirPlay isn’t available, it is possible to stream content from a Mac to your television set (via Apple TV) using OS X’s Home Sharing feature in conjunction with the iTunes 10.6 (or later) software that needs to be running on your iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air, for example.