Amazon’s own TVs will support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit

Amazon’s first in-house TV may be a showcase for Alexa, but that doesn’t stop the company from supporting anyone else’s ecosystem. According to The Verge, Amazon has unveiled plans to add support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 and Homekit for high-end omni and budget 4-series Fire TV sets that are now available. You can use AirPlay 2 to cast content from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, but HomeKit integration can be the most significant – yes, you can use Siri to control Amazon TV as part of your wider smart home network. Amazon will only say that support is coming “soon”.

The TVs themselves start at $ 370 for the 4-Series, offering the usual Fire TV integration with 4K and HDR support in sizes from 43 inches to 55 inches. The omni set, meanwhile, delivers Alexa-friendly remote-area microphones and (on the two largest models) Dolby Vision HDR. They start at $ 410 and range from 43 inches to 75 inches.

Expansion is not a complete shock. The Insignia- and Toshiba-produced Fire TV Edition set received AirPlay and HomeKit support in July. We add that Apple and Amazon are relatively warm. Amazon Echo speakers have been streaming Apple music since 2018, for example, Prime Video integrates with the Apple TV app. Amazon has a strong incentive to include AirPlay and HomeKit to prevent competition between sets that rely on Android TV and Google Assistant.

As observed by The Verge, there is no mention of the Apple platform coming on add-on media players like the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. For now, you’ll need to buy hardware like Apple TV or modern Roku devices to bring AirPlay and HomeKit to those non-built TVs.