AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support will start to roll out to those with compatible LG TVs imminently.
We've known since CES 2019 that AirPlay 2 would be coming to selected TVs from Samsung, Sony, Vizio and LG as part of Apple's wider push into media streaming services such as Apple Music and the forthcoming Apple TV+. It has already rolled out onto Samsung TVs.
We first heard the news in a tweet from LG's Australian support team but official confirmation has now arrived from LG.
It'll only be 2019 TVs that can use the services, meaning that the barrier to entry is fairly high, but presumably, there is a technical reason why it isn't going further down the lineup. Of course, it could also be the case that LG wants to use it as a marketable feature and sees the upcoming Apple TV+ service as a way to market the newer sets to customers.
While the AirPlay 2 support is reasonably straightforward - you can AirPlay 2 anything to your TV that is compatible with AirPlay including videos, podcasts and Apple Music - the HomeKit support is a little more complex.
As part of Apple's push to get things ready for TV+, the Apple TV app has been coming to more platforms and is being rolled out to the TVs supported by AirPlay 2, too. The TV app will also be coming to Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, too.
You can add your LG TV to the Home app on your iOS or macOS device so you can control basic TV functions such as power, volume and switching source. You can also add your TV to scenes or automations as with other HomeKit accessories.
Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit will begin rolling out to owners of LG OLED and NanoCell TVs in more than 140 countries starting this week. LG has also been rolling out Amazon Alexa support to its 2019 smart TVs, too.
Update 24 July: Added official info from LG