How to display overlay on Apple TV via AirPlay

Question

I am developing an iOS app that displays a video, e.g., a football game, on Apple TV via AirPlay. I want to display additional information, e.g., player stats, on the big screen while the video is playing.

I am aware of the Redfin approach, where they require the user to turn on AirPlay mirroring first. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable for us. We want it to be obvious to users on how to show the video.

We are currently presenting an AirPlay Route button before displaying the video to allow the user to set it up using the following code.

self.airPlayPicker = [[MPVolumeView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 50, 50)];
self.airPlayPicker.showsVolumeSlider = NO;
self.airPlayPicker.showsRouteButton = YES;
[self.view addSubview:self.airPlayPicker];

The Route button will show when there is an Apple TV around, allowing the user to turn it on. We then present the video with MPMoviePlayerController.

When AirPlay is turned on and the video is playing, in code, I see only one UIScreen, but two UIWindows. But both UIWindows have the same dimensions as the iPhone. When I add a subview to either UIWindow, the subview always shows up on the iPhone.

Has anyone figured out how to present an overlay on top of the video on Apple TV? How do I even find the view object where the video is hosted?

I am aware that MPMoviePlayerController is built on top of AVPlayer. Would using AVPlayer give us better control of the UI?

Answer 1

As far as I know, this shouldn't be possible. When using AirPlay without mirroring, only the URL of the video is sent to the Apple TV. It is then up to the Apple TV to actually play the media.

Mirroring is the way to do it.