Explainer
Can you AirPlay to two devices at once? Audio yes, video no
AirPlay 2 will play audio on as many speakers as you like, but mirrored video goes to exactly one screen — what that means when you want the TV and your speakers at the same time.
Quick answer
For audio, yes: AirPlay 2 plays music to several speakers at once, and you tick each one in the Control Center speaker list on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. For video, no: screen mirroring goes to exactly one receiver, and picking a second AirPlay destination stops the mirror. To get the picture on the TV and the sound on your speakers at the same time, the box under the TV has to do the routing: an Apple TV 4K does it through its Audio Output setting, and an Xbox running Xbox Advanced AirPlay Receiver (Xaar) does it for Xbox households.
The short answer depends on what you are sending
AirPlay is two features under one name, and they count destinations differently. Audio AirPlay is the AirPlay 2 multi-room system: pick as many speakers as you like and the same music plays on all of them in step. Screen mirroring is a different mode: your iPhone, iPad, or Mac encodes its screen into one video stream and sends it to one receiver.
That is why the answer is yes for two speakers and no for two screens. The moment you pick a second AirPlay destination while mirroring, the sender ends the mirror and starts an audio session instead — the TV goes back to its idle screen and the sound moves to the speaker.
The question most people are really asking sits between the two: the picture on the TV and the sound on the good speakers, at the same time. AirPlay from the phone cannot do that, but the receiver under the TV can. An Apple TV 4K routes its audio to an AirPlay speaker natively through Settings → Video and Audio → Audio Output. If your box under the TV is an Xbox, Xaar does the same routing.
What AirPlay does with two devices
| What you want | Does AirPlay do it? | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Music or podcast audio on two speakers | Yes | Tick both speakers in the Control Center list. AirPlay 2 schedules playback at exact timestamps, so they stay in step. |
| The same mirrored screen on two TVs | No | Mirroring is one stream to one receiver. Choosing a second receiver replaces the first; it never adds to it. |
| Video on your own screen, sound on an AirPlay speaker | Plays, but out of sync | The speaker buffers audio for about two seconds while the video on the phone or Mac plays in real time. |
| Video on the TV, sound on a speaker | Yes, from the receiver | Mirror to one receiver and let it forward the audio: the Audio Output setting on an Apple TV 4K, or Xaar on an Xbox. |
Audio to many speakers: how to do it
Playing the same audio on two or more speakers is built into AirPlay 2. Any AirPlay 2 speaker on your local network shows up in the list, whatever the brand, and you can mix them.
- 01
From an iPhone or iPad Open Control Center, press and hold the audio card in the top right, then tap the AirPlay icon. Tick every speaker you want. Playback continues on all of them, and the volume slider under each speaker adjusts it on its own.
- 02
From a Mac Click Control Center in the menu bar, open Sound, and tick the speakers under Output. The Music app has the same list behind its AirPlay button, and there you can drag a separate volume for each room.
- 03
Keeping them in step Nothing to do. AirPlay 2 gives each speaker the same timestamped schedule and a declared latency, so every speaker plays each sample at the same instant. That precision is also why AirPlay speakers buffer audio before playing it, which matters next.
Why mirroring goes to one screen only
Screen mirroring is one session between one sender and one receiver. The sender captures its display, encodes it as H.264 video with the audio attached, and streams it to the receiver it was told about. There is no second slot: the Screen Mirroring list in Control Center is a single choice, not a set of checkboxes, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac alike.
Picking an AirPlay speaker while a mirror is running does not add the speaker to the session. It switches the sender into audio mode, which tears the mirror down. Your video now plays on the phone or Mac screen, only the audio leaves the device, and that audio arrives at the speaker roughly two seconds late because the speaker buffers it on purpose. Sonos owners describe exactly this gap between the mouth on screen and the voice from the speaker, with no setting on the phone that closes it.
A TV with AirPlay 2 built in does not solve it either. It can be the mirroring target, but it cannot, in general, send its own app audio out to AirPlay speakers.
The case you actually want: TV picture, speaker sound
Both halves are available at once if the decision moves off the phone. Mirror to one receiver, and let that receiver put the picture on the TV and forward the audio to the speaker. The mirror stays a single session; nothing on the sender's side changes.
On an Apple TV 4K this is a setting: Settings → Video and Audio → Audio Output, choose a HomePod or any AirPlay speaker, and everything the Apple TV plays, including mirrored screens, sends its sound there. If your living room is built around an Xbox instead, the same job is done by Xaar, the Xbox Advanced AirPlay Receiver. Full disclosure: Xaar is our app.
Xaar turns an Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S into an AirPlay screen-mirroring receiver with full AirPlay 2 speaker support. Your iPhone, iPad, or Mac mirrors to the Xbox as one stream; the console decodes the video in hardware and shows it on the TV over HDMI, and sends the audio to your AirPlay 2 speaker — Sonos and Apple HomePod both work. The TV needs no smart features and no AirPlay of its own.
- 01
Open Xaar on the Xbox While the app runs, the Xbox appears under Screen Mirroring on every iPhone, iPad, and Mac on the same local network.
- 02
Mirror to the Xbox Control Center → Screen Mirroring → pick the Xbox. The picture and its sound arrive at the console together.
- 03
Pick the speaker in Xaar's menu Press Y, open the output list, and choose your speaker. Discovery is automatic, there is no PIN or pairing, and Xaar remembers the speaker and reconnects to it next time it launches.
- 04
Switch on the lipsync delay It is a switch in the same menu. AirPlay 2 declares the speaker's latency, so Xaar knows how long the audio takes and holds every video frame back by exactly that much: lips match words. The lipsync trim row dials in the last few milliseconds, 1 ms per press, remembered for each output device.
Explainer
Can AirPlay send audio and video to two places?
The plain yes/no on routing a mirror's sound away from its picture, and each way it can be done.
How-to
Video on the TV, audio on a speaker: step by step
The full walkthrough for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, from the first mirror to a dialed-in lip sync.
What Xaar adds beyond the routing
Getting the sound onto the speaker is the headline. The rest of Xaar makes the setup feel like one home cinema device rather than three gadgets in a chain.
- Full playback control from the Xbox controller. X plays and pauses, the left bumper goes to the previous track, the right bumper to the next. The commands go straight to the player on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, so whatever is playing responds exactly as it would to its own controls.
- The speaker's own buttons reach the player too. Press pause on the Sonos or tap the HomePod and the video on the TV pauses with it.
- One volume, every knob. Change it in Xaar's menu, with the volume keys on the Mac, or on the speaker itself, and every control stays in sync — the Mac's own volume slider moves to match, and Xaar shows the Mac's volume on the TV.
- Perfect lip sync, adjustable to the millisecond. The lipsync delay is a switch; the audio buffer row covers the speaker's total delay from 250 to 2000 ms; the lipsync trim row goes from −500 to +500 ms in 1 ms steps and is remembered per device.
- Hardware video decoding. The console's decoder handles H.264 up to 1080p at 60 fps, and frames are shown on the sender's own timeline, so playback is smooth.
- One click between TV and speaker. The output list in the menu switches the sound mid-session, and the speaker is optional: with none chosen, the audio plays on the TV with the picture.
- Everything stays on your local network. No accounts, no analytics, no cloud, no ads. Xaar is a one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store, with no subscription and no in-app purchases.
Related guides
Guide
Mirror to the TV, hear it on a HomePod
The HomePod version of this setup, on an Apple TV and on an Xbox running Xaar.
How-to
How to AirPlay to an Xbox
Installing a receiver, finding the console in Screen Mirroring, and the fixes when it does not show up.
FAQ
Can you AirPlay to two devices at once?
For audio, yes: AirPlay 2 plays the same music to several speakers at once, and you tick each speaker in the Control Center list on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. For video, no: screen mirroring goes to one receiver only. To get the TV picture and speaker sound together, mirror to a receiver that forwards the audio itself — an Apple TV 4K through Audio Output, or an Xbox running Xaar.
Can I AirPlay video to two devices at the same time?
No. A mirrored screen is one video stream to one receiver, and choosing a second receiver in the Screen Mirroring list replaces the first rather than adding to it. This is the same on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and it applies to every AirPlay receiver, hardware or software.
How many speakers can AirPlay 2 play to simultaneously?
There is no small fixed number. AirPlay 2 was built for multi-room audio, and you tick every speaker you want in the Control Center list; they all play in step because AirPlay 2 schedules each sample at an exact timestamp. In practice the ceiling is your Wi-Fi, not the protocol.
Why does mirroring stop when I select a second AirPlay device?
Because screen mirroring and speaker audio are two different AirPlay modes, and a sender runs one at a time. Selecting a speaker switches your iPhone, iPad, or Mac into audio mode, which ends the mirroring session, so the TV goes idle and only the sound leaves the device. The speaker then buffers that audio for about two seconds, which is why video left playing on the phone or Mac runs ahead of it.
Can I mirror to the TV and play the sound on my speakers at the same time?
Yes, when the receiver does the routing instead of the phone. An Apple TV 4K sends its audio to a HomePod or AirPlay speaker through Settings → Video and Audio → Audio Output. An Xbox running Xaar does the same: mirror to the Xbox, the picture shows on the TV, the audio goes to your Sonos or HomePod over AirPlay 2, and the lipsync delay switch holds the video back so lips match words.