If You Love Apple AirPlay, You’re Going to Love This New Feature

Apple’s rolled out an exciting upgrade to AirPlay today and guests staying in select hotels can now use it to stream shows, play music, and more.

Starting today, Apple says guests staying in select properties from IHG Hotels & Resorts, including Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, Candlewood Suites, and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts can now use AirPlay on the television in their rooms.

Apple says the service is now available at more than 60 properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico with more coming later this year.

iPhone and iPad users who have access to AirPlay can now stream shows and movies, listen to music, view photos and videos, play games, or get a workout in on the big screen in their room. Here’s how it works.

How to Use AirPlay in Hotel Rooms

iPhone and iPad users staying in one of these resorts can connect to the compatible LG hotel TV in their guest room and the hotel’s Wi-Fi network by scanning the unique QR code on the screen with their device.

Once the device is connected, iPhone and iPad users can then share content on the television screen. Guests can pair multiple devices to the TV as well.

Apple notes that each QR code is unique to the hotel room which means the content being shared is only available to the user, no one else.

After checking out, the connection to the TV is erased which means future guests and hotel staff can’t access whatever was shared on the television.

In addition to only being available in select hotels, there are a few other caveats iPhone and iPad users need to be aware of.

AirPlay in hotels requires an iPhone XS or later running iOS 17.3 or newer. So users will need to make sure they have a compatible device running the latest software from Apple.

As for the iPad, it works with the iPad (6th generation or later), iPad mini (5th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation or later), 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation or later), 10.5-inch iPad Pro, or 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation or later) running iPadOS 17.3 or newer.