Apple → iPhone4 with iOS 6 using AirTunes with 1st Gen AppleTV

It has been a while since I did it, but there was a time when I could stream audio (not video, of course) from my iPod or iPhone using my AppleTV as an AirTunes speaker. This is a 1st gen AppleTV, so AirPlay isn't even part of the picture here.

Now, even though I can control the AppleTV using the Remote app on the iPhone, it doesn't recognize it as an AirTunes device and I'm not provided with the option to stream audio. I can say with certainty that I have not had success since upgrading to iOS 6, although I don't recall if I used it to stream to the AppleTV while I had iOS 5 installed. It has honestly been quite some time since I have tried.

Has anyone else had any luck with what I'm trying to do here? One thing I need to double check is whether AirTunes streaming through the AppleTV directly from iTunes on my iMac still works. I'll try that when I've got a moment to do a bit more testing.

I haven't tried it from my iPhone but I just tried it from iTunes and my 1g ATV did show up as an airtunes speaker. If Airplay is supported, the device shows up in iTunes as a monitor icon. If it is AirTunes it shows up as a speaker icon.

AirTunes is still in AirPlay, it hasn't changed so it should work. I would check on whether or not the iMac can do it, if it can't then obviously there is a problem. Restarting the ATV may fix it.

Just a side note... I think it's called AirPlay now whether it's just audio or audio and video.

Correct, airtunes is now just part of the stack.

Yes, but on the original AppleTV, it's still called AirTunes.

That's 'cause they haven't pushed any updates.

Yup. And I suspect they're done with that platform.

For certain, but $99 for a newer model isn't that bad especially since it has more capabilities.

I don't have personal experience from the 1st gen ATV but from what I hear from friends it is a PITA to keep it connected to the network. Theirs is down more than up.

I agree, the $99 current gen is very nice. A rare, sensibly priced product from Apple.

Your 1st gen ATV should definitely still be able to stream audio. If power-cycling the ATV doesn't work try power-cycling your router. Airplay/Airtunes relies on bonjour (zeroconf) in order to show the airplay icon and sometimes the router will break that connection after a time.

If they are having that much difficulty keeping it connected to the wireless network it is most likely a wireless issue (interference). I used to take calls about these all the time and never had any with connection issues unless there a bunch of interference.

Probably. It was ages ago. I am sure they have now moved to a more current model of the ATV.

My ATV2 is rock solid now. I used to have issues waking it up so I just set it to never sleep. Even that may be okay now with several iOS updates since I had the problem. The wake from sleep problem was likely Bonjour related. The latter is very weak on Windows.

I finally got to testing this a bit more. I can access the ATV as an AirTunes speaker from iTunes on the iMac, but even power cycling the equipment doesn't impact the iPhone issue. Still no option to use it as an AirTunes/AirPlay speaker from the iOS6 iPhone environment.

Oh well... it's not the end of the world, but would have been handy.

How are the devices connected? I have seen routers that won't let bonjour cross from wireless to ethernet. So if the ATV is connected via ethernet try connecting via wi-fi instead.

It's all wireless.

It just occurred to me that my wife hasn't upgraded from iOS 5 yet on her phone. I should see if it works on hers.

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I am having the exact same issue and I'm starting to think it's just a software limitation.

No, sorry. If you figure it out please post back here, and I will as well, of course.