Microsoft says it built a full mock airplane cabin to test Windows 11’s Shared Audio feature, which lets two people listen to Windows audio using two different Bluetooth devices. The company later turned the fake airplane setup into a short film set to show what goes on behind the scenes.
Shared Audio in Windows 11 uses Bluetooth LE Audio broadcast streams to transmit audio to two Bluetooth devices at the same time. You have to pair two Bluetooth devices, which can be speakers, headsets, or even hearing aids.
As long as both devices support Bluetooth LE Audio, which most newer devices do, you’re good to go.
Shared Audio is rolling out to all compatible PCs, and I’ve been using it for a while with my AirPods and Galaxy Buds. Shared Audio is quite impressive, and early feedback is also positive. Part of the credit goes to Microsoft’s Windows audio team, which tried to test the feature in different real-life scenarios, including on an airplane.
Marcus Ash, who leads Design and Research at Microsoft, says the company built a full mock airplane cabin to test the Shared Audio feature because it wanted the integration to be much more human than just “technical.”
In other words, Microsoft’s leadership hoped that testing Shared Audio on an airplane could help it understand the use cases and further refine the experience.
It did work, as Shared Audio is one of the finest releases from Microsoft. It’s as good as macOS’s Shared Audio feature.
In the clip, we have twins in Seahawks gear watching a movie on a Surface Pro and listening to the audio at the same time using the Shared Audio feature. The kids are inside the mock-up before the camera pulls back to reveal the crew and monitors.
Why Microsoft used a fake airplane to test a Windows 11 feature
Microsoft argues that it wanted to test Shared Audio in tight spaces where multiple people are sitting around, and there is potential background noise.
Microsoft could have tested Shared Audio using only its own tools, but instead, it chose to build a mock airplane cabin to recreate a real-life scenario.
“A lot of design and research is about getting closer to those real moments,” Marcus noted in an X post on July 11. “Observing, simulating, prototyping, and understanding the context around the experience. For this one, the team built a mock airplane cabin for user testing research, then turned it into a film set to help customers feel the experience with the right details.”
In March 2026, Microsoft responded to growing criticism of Windows with a new initiative called “K2,” which aims to improve the operating system by implementing feedback from consumers like you and me.
Microsoft says the effort is “really directly influenced” by feedback from Windows 11 users, and we are already seeing some early results, including faster Search without ads and a Start menu that feels more personal than ever. Shared Audio is another example of that approach.
It might sound odd to some of you, but it’s something users have been demanding for a long time. Some users feel that Microsoft is detached from reality and doesn’t know what consumers actually want. By building a fake airplane setup and testing Shared Audio under different noise conditions, Microsoft is actually trying to understand real use cases.
At the end of the day, this is what a “research” team at a corporation is supposed to do, after all.
