MPVolumeView AirPlay Button Not Visible

Question

I have started using MPVolumeView in my app, however the Air Play button doesn't appear at all. Even though I have more than one Air Play device available to send my AVPlayer audio to on the network. These can be seen if checking Air Play from the Control Center for example.

Here is the code I have:

myVolumeView = [MPVolumeView new];
[myVolumeView setShowsVolumeSlider:YES];
[myVolumeView setShowsRouteButton:YES];
myVolumeView.frame = _volumePanel.bounds;
[myVolumeView sizeToFit];
_myVolumeView.autoresizingMask = UIAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
[_volumePanel addSubview:myVolumeView];

Pretty simple stuff. I have an AVPlayer that runs some music and that's it. Interestingly, if I select another Air Play device from the Control Center it forces the Air Play button to appear in app on my MPVolumeView, but it is kind of glitchy.

If in Xcode I click the Debug Hierarchy Mode button above the console I can see the Air Play button in my UI, however it's Alpha is 0.

Is your Apple TV connected via Ethernet? If yes, try wifi instead. — Joshua C. Lerner, Feb 03 '16 at 18:57
I have seen the same strange thing. The AirPlay button does not appear (even though my Apple TV 4 is online via Wifi). If I tap the AirPlay button in control panel, the button appears, but it disappears again when I hide the AirPlay Popover. Weird! Will keep looking. — bio, Jul 18 '16 at 11:08
Found a trick here to display permanently airplay button: https://stackoverflow.com/a/46787632 — raphael, Oct 17 '17 at 10:13

Chris Horsfield · Answer 1 · 2017-08-04T20:08:31.263

it's a complete and utter hack but it works

   MPVolumeView* airplayButton = [[MPVolumeView alloc] init];

   for (UIButton *button in airplayButton.subviews)
    {
        if ([button isKindOfClass:[UIButton class]])
        {
            [button addObserver:self forKeyPath:@"alpha" options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew context:nil];
        }
    }

Then in the observer

- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context
{
    if ([object isKindOfClass:[UIButton class]] && [[change valueForKey:NSKeyValueChangeNewKey] intValue] != 1)
    {
        UIButton *airplay = (UIButton *)object;
        [airplay setAlpha:1.0];
    }
}

don't forget to turn the observer off in the dealloc

- (void)dealloc
{    
    for (UIButton *button in _airplayButton.subviews)
    {
        if ([button isKindOfClass:[UIButton class]])
        {
            [button removeObserver:self forKeyPath:@"alpha"];
            break;
        }
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 14 '19 at 23:04

[Swift Version]

Create following functions:

    func fixAirPlayButton() {
        guard let routeButton = airPlayButton.subviews.filter({$0 is UIButton}).first else { return }
        routeButton.addObserver(self, forKeyPath: "alpha", options: .new, context: nil)
    }

    override func observeValue(forKeyPath keyPath: String?, of object: Any?, change: [NSKeyValueChangeKey: Any]?, context: UnsafeMutableRawPointer?) {
        guard let btnObject = object as? UIButton, let change = change else { return}
        guard let newChange = change[NSKeyValueChangeKey.newKey] as? Int, newChange != 1 else { return }
        btnObject.alpha = 1.0
    }

    func removeAirPlayButtonFix() {
        guard let routeButton = airPlayButton.subviews.filter({$0 is UIButton}).first else { return }
        routeButton.removeObserver(self, forKeyPath: "alpha")
    }

And use them when needed, example:

    let airPlayButton = MPVolumeView(frame: .zero)

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        fixAirPlayButton()
    }

    deinit {
        removeAirPlayButtonFix()
    }

MPVolumeView AirPlay Button Not Visible

2 Answers2