Amazon adds AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to two Fire TV Edition TVs

Amazon said on Wednesday that a free update will add support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to two of its Fire TV Edition TVs. The features will be available on the 2020 Toshiba 4K UHD Smart Fire TV with Dolby Vision and the 2020 Insignia 4K UHD Smart TV before they are available on Amazon’s less costly Fire TV sticks and set-top boxes.

AirPlay 2 should work the same on these exact TV sets as it does on Apple’s own Apple TV, allowing you to stream audio and video from your phone, tablet, or computer to the big screen and control playing from your device. You’ll need to enable HomeKit in your TV’s settings under Display & Sounds > AirPlay & HomeKit > Set Up, and then add it as a device in the Home app to integrate with Apple’s smart home ecosystem, HomeKit. You can use Siri to turn your Fire TV on and off, control the volume, and switch inputs once it’s been added.

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The addition of AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to Fire TVs (and, perhaps, Fire TV sticks) should make utilizing the TVs with Apple devices even easy. Apple already has a relationship with Amazon’s devices: in 2019, the Apple TV Plus app was released for Fire TVs.

It’s a far cry from how the two businesses interacted just over five years ago, when Amazon prohibited competing gear like the Apple TV (and Chromecast, and Nexus Player) from its marketplace, claiming that only media players that “interact successfully” with Prime Video should be sold. The two businesses have now reconciled and come to an agreement that allows Amazon to circumvent Apple’s 30% App Store commission by using its own in-app payment system. Things are looking up now. If you have an iPhone and a Fire TV.