OpenAI just published the results of its Codex Build Week. Second place went to AirBridge for Windows, a tool that captures live Windows audio and streams it to HomePods, Apple TVs and Macs over AirPlay.
The write-up says the idea started as "a stubborn everyday problem": AirPlay speakers all over the house, and no straightforward way to use them from a Windows PC.
We know that problem well. It is exactly why PC Nest Speaker exists. We started on the Google Nest version in mid 2025 and shipped the first public release in January 2026. It has been in customers' hands, through a dozen releases, ever since.
Same Problem, Different Speakers
Windows has never had a clean way to send everything you hear to a wireless smart speaker. Not Chrome tab casting, not Bluetooth, not the Google Home app. Every built-in route either grabs one app, adds seconds of delay, or drops the connection.
AirBridge solves that for Apple speakers. PC Nest Speaker solves it for Google Nest, Nest Audio, Nest Mini, Chromecast and Cast audio groups. Both capture the full Windows mix and push it over your own Wi-Fi, with nothing going through the cloud.
So if you read the Build Week post and thought "I want that, but I have Nest speakers", you are in the right place. See how PC Nest Speaker streams full PC audio to Nest →
Where the Two Differ
1. How Much Delay You Hear
AirPlay is built around buffering. It trades speed for smoothness, which is fine for music and rough for anything with a picture. AirBridge's answer is a browser extension that delays the video to catch up with the audio.
We took the other road: make the audio fast enough that the picture does not need fixing. PC Nest Speaker uses a custom receiver on the speaker itself and a direct local stream, so there is no cloud hop and no browser layer.
Typical PC Nest Speaker delay:
200–300ms
Depending on your Wi-Fi and speaker setup. Good for music, video, calls and casual gaming.
2. Delaying the Picture Only Works in a Browser Tab
Slowing the video down to meet the audio sounds clever, and inside a browser tab it does work. The catch is that a browser extension can only touch web video.
- It cannot delay a game
- It cannot delay Spotify, VLC, Plex or the Netflix app
- It cannot delay a Teams or Zoom call
- It cannot delay the Windows desktop itself
Everything outside the browser is still out of step. So we fixed the audio first. If the audio arrives fast enough, there is nothing to patch. Why audio delay happens and how we keep it low →
3. Keep Your Monitor Speakers On, In Sync
Most people do not want to switch their PC speakers off when they cast. They want the monitor speakers and the Nest in the next room playing together, like one big system.
Turn that on with any wireless speaker and you get an echo, because the PC plays first and the speaker plays a beat later.
PC Nest Speaker has a built-in Sync Mode. It measures the delay to your Nest and holds your PC speakers back by exactly that amount, so both play at the same moment. There is a one-click measure, a calibrate tool where you nudge two pings until they merge into one, and it keeps adjusting itself as your Wi-Fi changes. See Sync Mode and the other features →
Credit Where It Is Due
AirBridge is a good piece of work, and a Build Week podium is a real achievement. The multi-speaker support and per-room delay calibration are the right ideas.
It just answers the question for Apple speakers. PC Nest Speaker answers it for Google speakers, and has been doing it in production since January.
At a Glance
| AirBridge for Windows | PC Nest Speaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Speakers | HomePod, Apple TV, Mac | Nest Audio, Nest Mini, Chromecast, Cast groups |
| Protocol | AirPlay | Google Cast, custom receiver |
| Video sync approach | Browser extension delays web video | Low enough delay that nothing needs delaying |
| PC speakers on at the same time | Not mentioned | Yes, with Sync Mode |
| Multi-room | Yes | Yes, Cast groups and stereo pairs |
| Cloud account needed | Voice control uses GPT | No, 100% local |
| Available today | Demo | Yes, since January 2026 |
Final Thoughts
It is good to see the "Windows to smart speaker" problem getting attention. It has been ignored for years.
If your house runs on Google Nest, you do not have to wait for a HomePod port. You can stream PC audio to Google Nest speakers right now, with a free one-hour trial and no account.
Got Google Nest speakers? This is the Windows app for them.
Download PC Nest SpeakerFree one-hour trial. No account. Everything stays on your network.