AirPlay 2 removed from latest iOS 11.3 beta, hinting at further delays
Apple on Tuesday released iOS 11.3 beta 3 for registered developers to test on iPhone and iPad, and one surprising discovery found within the latest release was that the company has pulled the AirPlay 2 feature found on previous beta builds, hinting at further delays for the public release of the feature.
AirPlay 2 was originally scheduled for launch in September 2017 alongside the public release of iOS 11, however unfortunately like many Apple promises the release date was pushed back and the public have been kept waiting for AirPlay 2 since.
While Apple may re-add AirPlay 2 again in future beta builds, the removal today indicates that HomePod will not be getting multi-room or stereo pairing when iOS 11.3 ships to the public, meaning those looking to connect two HomePod devices to play audio together may have to wait longer than originally expected.
It was first reported in January by The Apple Post that HomePod would ship without multi-room audio support, with a footnote on Apple’s webpage confirming that the feature would be “Coming this year in a free software update, users will be able to play music throughout the house with multi-room audio”.