
Open Spotify on your phone and you will be able to see what is playing and even control it. This means that if you pop out, or even leave completely, the speaker will keep playing music.ĭid I leave the iron on? If you head out to catch a bus, and had left the music on, no problem.

Your phone will just be a remote control. The speaker will be streaming music directly from the Spotify library in the Cloud. If you are using a WiFi speaker at home with Spotify from your phone, and are playing from Spotify, then it will not be working the same as Airplay.


This is because of Spotify Connect, a system that is exclusive to Spotify that works across all Spotify devices. If you haven’t tried it yet, do - it’s really cool, and useful. on your laptop and phone at the same time), then you will have noticed that you can control the playback of one from the other. If you’ve ever used your Spotify account on more than one device (e.g. It is mentioned as an alternative to Airplay because although it too will use your WiFi network, but, it works quite differently. Spotify Connect is the leading music streaming service. Televisions often support this type of playback. This is the same kind of process and system as Airplay, and has all the same advantages and disadvantages. No Apple device? PC/Android users may see devices on their home WiFi labelled ‘DLNA’ speakers. It also means you cannot wander away from your WiFi area, and expect the music to keep playing. If you’ve got super speedy, ultra reliable home broadband then this shouldn’t matter however, it becomes a problem if your WiFi regularly suffers from slow speeds and connectivity problems. This is fine if you’ve got an iPhone and don’t plan on switching to Android any time soon, but those with gadgets made by other manufacturers won’t be able to make the most of Apple’s exclusive streaming technology.Īnother limitation of Airplay is that, unlike Bluetooth, it relies on a WiFi connection. The downside is that, like most Apple technologies, Airplay only works with Apple products for playing music. No sound quality is lost in transit, so when you select a song in Apple Music or an app, and select an Airplay speaker, you’ll hear it with the same resolution as the source recording. This is the same WiFi that connects all your household gadgets, from Apple TVs to Airplay-enabled speaker systems. It works by sending wireless audio over your home WiFi network. Airplay is a wireless streaming system created and owned by Apple.
