Tag: airplay

The MLB App Pisses Me Off

When I’m working at home I like to stream audio from my iPad to the HomePods in my bedroom office via AirPlay. Podcasts, music, sometimes radio, whatever.

The exception is baseball games. The MLB app for iOS lets you stream radio broadcasts for every game from every team’s local broadcast. If I use the speakers in my iPad it generally works all right. If I stream it to the HomePods… Not so much.

I set the iPad to AirPlay to the HomePods, then I open the app and connect to the Red Sox, WEEI broadcast and it doesn’t stream. It plays through the iPad speakers. Why? It also screws up the user interface so that switching back to the iPad (even though it’s actually coming through the iPad speakers) isn’t easy to do. You have to do a couple of extra swipes and taps before you can reconnect to the actual device that is already working.

A few process kills and a reboot and some magic tricks and eventually I get the app playing through the HomePods. Except that it isn’t. Instead of the live radio broadcast, which was streaming fine a second ago, it is playing television highlights from NESN. When I switch to the Boston Spanish broadcast it’s fine. When I switch to the opposing team’s radio broadcast it seems fine, when I switch back to the WEEI stream it’s NESN again.

I switch from my iPad to my iPhone and everything works fine. Thanks a pant load, MLB.

12/30 Random

Tomorrow is New Years Eve. I have to work. We never get NYE off. We get Christmas Eve off, but never NYE. Why don’t I ever put in for that day? I don’t know… I guess I’m just responsible. Idiot.

Speaking of work, late next week I am going to be issued a new computer. A laptop this time. 16+ years as a desktop user and I’m making the switch. Actually, we’re all making the switch. At least that’s the rumor. The company is going laptop across the board. I’m actually the last of my group to get one. No more trying to find an open desk when I travel between buildings.

Traveling between buildings is actually the issue here. I actually have to do it in order to pick up the lappy. I have to go to the building in Canton. I don’t want to. Not even a little bit. I haven’t been in a work building since March 13th and I was really hoping to stay out until I got that second dose of one of the vaccines. I have to do all sorts of health checks before I can walk into the building, and I have to wear a mask the whole time. It’s safe, I just don’t like it. I’ll only be in there for 15 minutes or so. Still… I’m freaking a little. Just a little.

Speaking of work things that don’t have anything to do with work, I’m sitting at my desk finishing up lunch, typing this little postie and listening to music. My iPad is streaming to our new pair of HomePod Minis. It’s a really sweet little setup. I set my entire iTunes library to shuffle. It’s been running since a bit before 9:00. If I leave it on for a few days it still won’t have repeated a file. It just played a song from a Boston music compilation CD (Pipeline!) by a great band called Christmas. I thought to myself, I wonder if they are on Apple Music. I brought it up and searched and… yeah, shoulda known better. Naming your band Christmas back in the ’80’s might have been a cool move. Naming your band Christmas in the ’20’s when no one goes to record stores anymore and everyone finds your music by searching in one app or another… not a good move.

The kids are coming over tonight. That makes me happy. The kids are spending New Years Eve at their dad’s. That makes me sad. It’s the price we pay for having them at our house Christmas morning, but it still makes me sad.

Okay, it’s 2:00 so I need to get back to work. Lunch time is over. Back to it, red head.

A New Flavor of Nerd

This is a picture of my television. See the image? It’s the MLB iOS app. I’m listening to the end of the Toronto vs Tampa Bay game (let’s go Blue Jays!).

The app is running on my iPad and while the audio is streaming to the TV via Airplay, it is also mirroring the image from the iPad screen. I’ve never tried that before, but it’s working pretty well. Of course the image is pretty static on this particular app, so I can’t say how much latency is affecting things.

Still… Cool, right?

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Telecommuting Trick – Apple Style

When I am working from home I like to listen to music.  For some reason, Richard Thompson (with and without Linda, and with and without Fairport Convention) seems to work for me while I work.  Not sure why.

Anyway, I have gotten into the habit of sitting at the dining room table while I work.  I don’t like wearing headphones for long periods of time so I don’t like to wear them while working all day.  I have a sweet Bose iPod dock that I had been using, but it isn’t something I can leave in the dining room and frankly I’m too lazy to hook it up and take it down all the time.

What to do?

I thought about streaming my iTunes Match account through our Apple TV.  Why not, the television goes through what is by far the best sound system in the house.  Unfortunately, it’s not in the same room as me when I work, and if I get a call I would have to run into the next room and shut it off before answering.  That’s a pain.

Ahh… but iTunes Match, plus Apple TV means… Airplay!

What I did today was send the music app (formerly known as the iPod app) on my iPhone through the Apple TV via Airplay.  That means the control of the music (volume, track, ect) is here in the dining room with me.  It also means that if the phone rings, the music is automatically paused!  Two proverbial birds, one proverbial stone!

Apple, you so cool!  Thanks!