Amazon’s new TVs will support Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit in the near future

Both are still unavailable on standalone Fire TV streaming devices.

Amazon is now producing its own televisions, and the company’s Omni and 4-Series Fire TVs were released on October 27th. Amazon is making another last-minute announcement as the 4K HDR sets begin to reach customers: it plans to add support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit features “soon.”

AirPlay 2 allows you to stream content from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to your TV. The Omni and 4-Series TVs will also be able to be controlled by Siri or the Home app, making them easy to incorporate into smart home routines.

AirPlay 2 and HomeKit are already available on some of Amazon’s “Fire TV Edition” TVs from Toshiba and Insignia. Surprisingly, the company’s standalone Fire TV streaming devices, including the recently released Fire TV Stick 4K Max, have yet to receive these features. I’m not sure if that was done on purpose, but it’s odd that Amazon is ready to announce support for its brand-new TVs on day one but hasn’t said anything about AirPlay 2 coming to its less expensive devices. (AirPlay 2 is supported by both Roku players and Roku TVs.)

The Fire TV Omni series TVs have better picture quality than the other two lines, as well as built-in far-field microphones for hands-free Alexa voice commands. The 65-inch and 75-inch models support Dolby Vision HDR, but smaller 43-, 50-, and 55-inch models with HDR10 are also available.

In the coming days, we’ll share our thoughts on Amazon’s first self-branded 4K TVs.