SharePlay comes to Mac in latest macOS Monterey beta

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in macOS edited October 2021
Apple is continuing work to bring SharePlay capabilities to Mac, with the first beta version of macOS Monterey 12.1 incorporating the screen sharing feature that debuted on the company's other major platforms this week.

SharePlay


Issued to developers on Thursday, the first macOS Monterey 12.1 beta release includes support for SharePlay, Apple said in a post to its developer website.

SharePlay enables Apple device users to stream movies, TV, music, their screens and other media during a FaceTime video call. Users can also view shared content on Apple TV while chatting on an iPhone or iPad.

The feature was initially slated for launch with iOS 15, but Apple pushed back release. After multiple beta rounds, SharePlay debuted this week with iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1 and tvOS 15.1.

A number of Apple apps support the feature, including Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Fitness+, and Apple is allowing developers to integrate SharePlay experiences into their iOS and Mac apps.

In its announcement today, Apple says developers can build SharePlay experiences across its platforms without relying on the SharePlay Development Profile by using the GroupActivities entitlement. More information can be found on the SharePlay for Developers webpage.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,771member
    I know all the bloggers are feigning outrage that this feature is arriving late, but be honest my AI peeps…how many of you are seriously missing this in your life? How many of you will actually use SharePlay more than one time? 

    I know, I know, I can already hear the Georges out there saying “just because you don’t like something, blah blah blah”. But I have many people in my circle of all different ages, backgrounds, and whatnot, and not a single one of them has ever expressed an interest in this feature or dismay at having to wait for it. 

    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
  • Reply 2 of 12
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,663member
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Japhey
  • Reply 3 of 12
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,771member
    22july2013 said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    MacsWithPenguins
  • Reply 4 of 12
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,663member
    Japhey said:
    22july2013 said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Your response with both kind and humble, which is appreciated. You are probably a likeable person in real life.
    MacsWithPenguinsJaphey
  • Reply 5 of 12
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Japhey said:
    22july2013 said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Even that is hardly worth get excited for, other apps have had this functionality for years.  I'm sure Apple will deliver a nice implementation, but meh, it's old hat.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    crowley said:
    Japhey said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Even that is hardly worth get excited for, other apps have had this functionality for years.  I'm sure Apple will deliver a nice implementation, but meh, it's old hat.
    You've been able to share your screen through iMessage for years. SharePlay isn't sharing a video stream of your screen which someone else watches, though. It's far, far more than that.

    Ultimately, it lets developers write their applications in such a way that events in the application can be shared between multiple instances in a synchronized way. They used a painting application as an example. Each person gets their own cursor, and they add brushstrokes. Each person's brushstrokes are added locally and sent to all other instances of the application in the call at the same time.

    You know how Google Docs allows multiple people to be editing a document at the same time? SharePlay is that, but for client-side applications rather than web applications.

    Synchronizing media playback is just the first-party application using the technology. I'm interested in it, because my significant other and I haven't seen one another in person in over a year thanks to the pandemic. We used to meet up on roughly a weekly basis to watch movies together.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    zimmie said:
    crowley said:
    Japhey said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Even that is hardly worth get excited for, other apps have had this functionality for years.  I'm sure Apple will deliver a nice implementation, but meh, it's old hat.
    You've been able to share your screen through iMessage for years. SharePlay isn't sharing a video stream of your screen which someone else watches, though. It's far, far more than that.

    Ultimately, it lets developers write their applications in such a way that events in the application can be shared between multiple instances in a synchronized way. They used a painting application as an example. Each person gets their own cursor, and they add brushstrokes. Each person's brushstrokes are added locally and sent to all other instances of the application in the call at the same time.

    You know how Google Docs allows multiple people to be editing a document at the same time? SharePlay is that, but for client-side applications rather than web applications.

    Synchronizing media playback is just the first-party application using the technology. I'm interested in it, because my significant other and I haven't seen one another in person in over a year thanks to the pandemic. We used to meet up on roughly a weekly basis to watch movies together.
    I haven't heard that before and Apple's developer site only talks about media: https://developer.apple.com/shareplay/
  • Reply 8 of 12
    TomDubTomDub Posts: 1member
    Can SharePlay be used like Spotify Connect to control Apple Music from iPhone while , say , iPad is plugged into Hi Fi system and playing Apple Music through HiFi ( Highest Res Apple Music needs iPad plugged direct to Hi Fi). Don’t say like Apple remote as this only works from OS to Mac and even then only works on Playlists and not streaming selection. 

  • Reply 9 of 12
    cjgarrisoncjgarrison Posts: 4member
    Japhey said:
    I know all the bloggers are feigning outrage that this feature is arriving late, but be honest my AI peeps…how many of you are seriously missing this in your life? How many of you will actually use SharePlay more than one time? 

    I know, I know, I can already hear the Georges out there saying “just because you don’t like something, blah blah blah”. But I have many people in my circle of all different ages, backgrounds, and whatnot, and not a single one of them has ever expressed an interest in this feature or dismay at having to wait for it. 

    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    Ok grampy… still using corn cobs and Sears catalogs?  These “bloggers” you’re mocking are already using less capable solutions to interview others, review movies, games, etc and we’ve used this countless times before it was out and while it’s still in beta.  Before the pandemic, did you think video conference calls were a niche gimmick, too? 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 10 of 12
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    crowley said:
    zimmie said:
    crowley said:
    Japhey said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Even that is hardly worth get excited for, other apps have had this functionality for years.  I'm sure Apple will deliver a nice implementation, but meh, it's old hat.
    You've been able to share your screen through iMessage for years. SharePlay isn't sharing a video stream of your screen which someone else watches, though. It's far, far more than that.

    Ultimately, it lets developers write their applications in such a way that events in the application can be shared between multiple instances in a synchronized way. They used a painting application as an example. Each person gets their own cursor, and they add brushstrokes. Each person's brushstrokes are added locally and sent to all other instances of the application in the call at the same time.

    You know how Google Docs allows multiple people to be editing a document at the same time? SharePlay is that, but for client-side applications rather than web applications.

    Synchronizing media playback is just the first-party application using the technology. I'm interested in it, because my significant other and I haven't seen one another in person in over a year thanks to the pandemic. We used to meet up on roughly a weekly basis to watch movies together.
    I haven't heard that before and Apple's developer site only talks about media: https://developer.apple.com/shareplay/
    On that page, if you scroll to the bottom and hit the "Watch the videos" link, the first video in the list is titled "Build custom experiences with Group Activities". In it, they show off an application called DrawTogether. Starting at 9:50 m:ss, they cover how to send and receive arbitrary data. In the case of DrawTogether, it's strokes drawn on the canvas, which are shared between the devices as they are drawn.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,771member
    cjgarrison said:
    Japhey said:
    I know all the bloggers are feigning outrage that this feature is arriving late, but be honest my AI peeps…how many of you are seriously missing this in your life? How many of you will actually use SharePlay more than one time? 

    I know, I know, I can already hear the Georges out there saying “just because you don’t like something, blah blah blah”. But I have many people in my circle of all different ages, backgrounds, and whatnot, and not a single one of them has ever expressed an interest in this feature or dismay at having to wait for it. 

    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    Ok grampy… still using corn cobs and Sears catalogs?  These “bloggers” you’re mocking are already using less capable solutions to interview others, review movies, games, etc and we’ve used this countless times before it was out and while it’s still in beta.  Before the pandemic, did you think video conference calls were a niche gimmick, too? 
    Ok, so you? You are excited for SharePlay? Thank you for sharing. And no, I’ve never thought video conferencing was a gimmick. In fact, I’ve been begging for Apple to include it in a pro version of the Apple TV for years. 

    Grampy, lol. That’s a first. I’m probably younger than you. 
  • Reply 12 of 12
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,771member
    22july2013 said:
    Japhey said:
    22july2013 said:
    Japhey said:
    So, I’m seriously wondering…who is actually excited for SharePlay?
    The article says "SharePlay enables Apple device users to ...[share]... their screens".

    I will be using that feature every week to help my friends and family every week, remotely.
    Ok, that I can definitely understand, and I can’t believe I forgot about using SharePlay for that. I guess I meant for the media sharing over FaceTime that they’ve been touting for 5 months. I just don’t know of anybody who’s even remotely interested in doing that, and I wanted to take the pulse of the AI readers.
    Thank you for the response. 
    Your response with both kind and humble, which is appreciated. You are probably a likeable person in real life.
    Thank you. I have my days. 
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