Airplay 2

[phenotypic]

Airplay 2

[ebaauw]

I was wondering whether in theory it would be possible to create some sort of server [...] which would expose the previously non AirPlay 2 compatible Play:1s as Airplay 2 speakers both within the Home app

In theory yes, but I don't think they've yet reverse engineered the Airplay 2 protocol. The abandoned airsonos project turns your Sonos zones into Airplay 1 speakers, see #21 (comment). I'm half considering integrating that into homebridge-zp.

If I were to buy a Play:5, I assume that it would appear in the Home app as a speaker without the use of your plugin.

It would appear in the Home app, but not in any other HomeKit apps. Airplay 2 is a different protocol than HAP (what HomeKit accessories talk).

is there a way for homebridge-zp to ignore certain speakers on a network?

No.
The way I read the (somewhat vague) blog, is that you can group other zones with the new (touch control) player, so that the Airplay 2 audio is played in multiple zones. I'm afraid you'd only see a single Airplay 2 speaker for your entire Sonos installation and you won't be able to control multiple rooms using Airplay 2. You'd still use need to use homebridge-zp for that, incl. the new Airplay 2 speaker as group coordinator.
I currently have a Sonos Connect hooked up to my mac mini server. Using Airfoil, the server exposes itself as an Airplay speaker, playing to the line-out. I configured the Connect to autoplay on line-in. Effectively, it acts as an Airplay 1 hub, allowing me to stream music from any Apple device to my entire home.

When AirPlay 2 is released, will the "speaker" option work rather than having to show them as fans?

No. As said before, Home doesn't use HAP to communicate with Airplay 2 speakers.

[phenotypic]

Thank you for your quick response!

It's a shame that the Airsonos project has been abandoned. I have it running on an old iMac at the moment simply so that I can Airplay music from YouTube to my Sonos speakers. But of course, Airsonos is just Airplay 1 so wouldn't work for playing music both through my Sonos speakers and the outdoor ones (unless I use iTunes on Mac). Any idea on when or even if someone would reverse engineer the AirPlay 2 protocol and release a server similar to Airsonos? (By the way I think it would be really cool if you did manage to integrate it into homebridge-zp!)

Yeah it's a shame all the Sonos play:1s would just appear as one Airplay 2 speaker but it looks like I might have to settle for just that.

I currently have a Sonos Connect hooked up to my mac mini server. Using Airfoil, the server exposes itself as an Airplay speaker, playing to the line-out. I configured the Connect to autoplay on line-in. Effectively, it acts as an Airplay 1 hub, allowing me to stream music from any Apple device to my entire home.

I was considering doing similar thing but instead running mikebrady's shairport-sync on a headless Raspberry Pi and using that so stream the music to my outdoor speakers but I would of course need to wait for Airplay 2 to be reverse engineered and made into a similar project for the Raspberry Pi so instead I think I'm going to go for the AirPort Express option as it will apparently support AirPlay 2 as said here.

No. As said before, Home doesn't use HAP to communicate with Airplay 2 speakers.

It's a shame they won't appear as a speaker service when AirPlay 2 is released but not to worry as it's no big deal! Any idea on whether this could possibly be fixed in the future?

Kind Regards,
Tom

[ebaauw]

Airsonos is just Airplay 1 so wouldn't work for playing music both through my Sonos speakers and the outdoor ones
I was considering doing similar thing but instead running mikebrady's shairport-sync on a headless Raspberry Pi and using that so stream the music to my outdoor speakers but I would of course need to wait for Airplay 2 to be reverse engineered and made into a similar project for the Raspberry Pi

You might want to check out Airfoil. It exposes itself as an Airplay speaker, forwarding the audio streams synchronised to a number of (Airplay or other) speakers. It includes Airfoil Satellite, which turns you computer or iOS device into an Airplay speaker (I suppose similar to shairport-sync).
Before Sonos, I used Airfoil to stream music multi-room, to an Airport Express and to two B&O Playmaker devices, using homebridge-music to expose this to HomeKit. The Playmaker is basically an Airport Express, with a better DAC, and with a B&O powerlink (speaker) connection. Didn't work as reliable as Sonos, though, and never got it working reliably over WiFi.

Any idea on when or even if someone would reverse engineer the AirPlay 2 protocol and release a server similar to Airsonos?

Not a clue. I won't be doing that (I hardly understand the Airsonos code).

I'm going to go for the AirPort Express option as it will apparently support AirPlay 2 as said here.

This almost sounds too good to be true. It would require a firmware update of the Airport Express, which Apple discontinued. I have one lying around (and even an older model), so I'll be monitoring this.
EDIT See also http://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/04/17/airport-express-no-longer-appearing-as-an-airplay-2-target-on-the-latest-ios-11-4-beta/.
Even then, it seems like Apple has delayed multiroom support for Airplay 2 once again. The latest iOS and tvOS betas include Airplay 2, but without multi room support.

It's a shame they won't appear as a speaker service

The problem is not with the Speaker service, in fact, with the right config.json setting, homebridge-zp and homebridge-music already expose the Speaker service. The problem is that Apple's Home app and Siri don't support the Speaker service (other than as part of a video doorbell). The do expose Airplay 2 speakers, but that has got nothing to do with HomeKit (and won't work with other HomeKit apps, unless they decide to implement an Airplay 2 client as well).