Apple Finally Rolls Out AirPlay to Hotel Rooms

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Deployment of BYOD scheme will begin with 60 North America IHS Hotel & Resort locations, allows guests to port their own streaming services from their iPhone or iPad to their room's native LG smart TV

AirPlay feature on LG TVs
LG Senior Director of Home Entertainment Marketing Tim Alessi discusses Apple AirPlay at the LG press conference at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center during CES 2019 in Las Vegas Nevada on January 7, 2019 (Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2004, Apple introduced an exciting new technology, AirTunes, that let users of Apple devices stream music to third party gadgets.

Twenty years later, the legacy of that breakthrough, AirPlay, is finally serving one of its seemingly more practical real-world applications, with Apple announcing AirPlay support in the guest rooms of 160 IHS Hotel and Resort properties in North America. 

The IHS chain includes Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites and Avid Hotels. IHS has a list of its properties that support AirPlay on this page. 

The technology will enable users of Apple devices including iPhones and iPads to stream video from their own apps to LG smart TVs situated in IHS rooms. (LG started integrating support for AirPlay 2 in its TVs back in 2019.) 

Guests merely need to connect their Apple device to the hotel's WiFi network, then scan a QR code on their in-room television for authentication and setup. 

Apple first announced that AirPlay was coming to hotel rooms at its Worldwide Developers Conference last year, and the feature debuted with the introduction of iOS 17.3 earlier this year. 

The deployment of Apple's screen-sharing technology address a growing demand among hotel guests, who are craving more control of their media consumption in the age of personalized on-demand streaming ... and are often choosing vacation rental apps like Airbnb or Vrbo instead of hotels to gain that freedom. 

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!