How to differentiate apple tv and other devices in airplay? - ios

Question

I am trying to connect apple tv through airplay, but the issue is some time if i connect any other external device like bluetooth or some other device it shows like device connected in window. So i want to identify which device is connected i have to enable only when apple tv is connected.
How can i identify whether it is apple tv or some other device?
This how i create airplay custom button
for (UIButton *button in volumeView.subviews) {
if ([button isKindOfClass:[UIButton class]]) {
self.airplayButton = (UIButton*)button;
button.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 23);
button.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
[self.airplayButton addObserver:self forKeyPath:#"alpha" options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew context:nil];
}
}
So the alpha always changes for button even some other devices gets connected.

Answer 1

I've had a look into this before, there's no easily provided way of determining whether the attached device is an Apple TV, there is a Airplay Picker which does this but the code/functions behind it don't seem to be available.
The best you can do it monitor for additional screens being added/removed and then showing your external content only when the screen has the capabilities to do what you need.
I have read somewhere previously that you can get the capabilities of an airplay device and use this information to detect an Apple TV but unfortunately I cannot find it at the moment. If I do find it I'll add a comment.
For now, your best option would be to use the concepts described in this guide
The code provided is in objective-c but its very easily converted to swift, here is the main part you should be looking at
- (void)checkForExistingScreenAndInitializeIfPresent
{
if ([[UIScreen screens] count] > 1)
{
// Get the screen object that represents the external display.
UIScreen *secondScreen = [[UIScreen screens] objectAtIndex:1];
// Get the screen's bounds so that you can create a window of the correct size.
CGRect screenBounds = secondScreen.bounds;
self.secondWindow = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:screenBounds];
self.secondWindow.screen = secondScreen;
// Set up initial content to display...
// Show the window.
self.secondWindow.hidden = NO;
}
}
Like I said you can code this so that it checks the device supports certain resolutions so you can rule out devices that wont support your UI
Some additional resources: https://developer.apple.com/airplay/