LG 2018 Smart TVs Finally Get Promised AirPlay 2, HomeKit

Its smartphone business may be tanking but LG's TVs still enjoy a mostly stable position in the market. In fact, some might say that LG treats its TVs better than its phones, pushing out more features faster even on older sets. That, however, almost didn't come to be for owners of its older 2018 smart TVs, at least until it received quite a massive backlash. It eventually changed its mind and the promised AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support for these two-year-old smart TVs are finally rolling out.

Half a year ago, LG promised that some of its high-end smart TVs from 2018 would be inducted into Apple's smart home and media streaming ecosystem. A few months later, LG seemingly reneged on that promise, prompting disappointed owners to rise up and demand that LG keep its word. It did and now it's finally happening, again a few months later.

Other LG smart TV owners might be wondering what the fuss is about over these two features. After all, LG has its own smart home and streaming ecosystems, mostly revolving around Android and Google services. Lately, however, LG has started to integrate Apple's equivalent services in an attempt to make its products more universal.

AirPlay 2, for example, would allow smart TV owners to stream media directly from their iPhone, iPad, or even Mac, something that would have previously required an Apple TV box. HomeKit, on the other hand, does the reverse and enables controlling the smart TV via the Home app on iOS and macOS or even through Siri.

LG is actually already late to the party, at least as far as these 2018 smart TV models go. Its peers and rivals like Samsung, Sony, and even Vizio have long added support for Apple's apps and protocols. And, yes, even to older devices.