Anyone who can help electronic-challenged ME with Apple TV/HomePod questions?

[ssledoux]

I got my Apple TV in a few days ago. I really haven’t messed with it a lot yet, but I am planning to get 2 homepod minis also.

I’m figuring setup won’t be a big deal, and I know it asks if you want to play your TV through the minis, but I’m assuming that is only when using Apple TV, correct?

Due to our wifi being limited and iffy, I will likely watch my regular TV on just the TV, saving Apple TV for anything I might stream through another service, and maybe playing music, doing videos from my phone, etc. So will that play through the homepod speakers?

And also, can I still use the HomePod speakers as normal with the ”hey siri” or will they be tied in to the Apple TV?

Sorry for so many questions - this is all new to me, and my husband is banned from my tech since he’s an android user. ;-p

 

[Bazooka-joe]

I got my Apple TV in a few days ago. I really haven’t messed with it a lot yet, but I am planning to get 2 homepod minis also.

I’m figuring setup won’t be a big deal, and I know it asks if you want to play your TV through the minis, but I’m assuming that is only when using Apple TV, correct?

Due to our wifi being limited and iffy, I will likely watch my regular TV on just the TV, saving Apple TV for anything I might stream through another service, and maybe playing music, doing videos from my phone, etc. So will that play through the homepod speakers?

And also, can I still use the HomePod speakers as normal with the ”hey siri” or will they be tied in to the Apple TV?

Sorry for so many questions - this is all new to me, and my husband is banned from my tech since he’s an android user. ;-p

You can stream anything to the HomePods from the Apple TV in my experience, because you just change the perimeter settings from TV to HomePods. As far as I know the HomePod speakers still work perfectly okay, using Siri even when connected to Apple TV

 

[mallbritton]

When you get the HomePods follow the setup instructions and make them a stereo pair. In the Home app make sure the ATV and the speakers are all in the same room such as the "Living Room" or "Family Room." Then you will be able use them as the default audio out for the ATV. If your TV supports it, in the Settings app on the ATV you might even be able to set the ATV as the audio out for your TV by using the Audio Return Channel. This Apple KB article can help you set that up: https://support.apple.com/guide/tv/set-up-apple-tv-atvb73e46488/tvos.

Once you have everything configured just use the HomePods as you normally would. You can use "Hey Siri" as normal.

 

[Dc2006ster]

I use my Homepods on my TV but also as external speakers on my Mac independent of the TV.

 

[viss]

Most TV’s have 1 or more HDMI arc ports. Hook up the ATV to that port and enable play tv audio in ATV settings>video&sound>audio output. The TV sound wil be from the homepods with this setting, also when watching on the TV itself.

 

[HDFan]

Due to our wifi being limited and iffy, I will likely watch my regular TV on just the TV, saving Apple TV for anything I might stream through another service, and maybe playing music, doing videos from my phone, etc

The apple TV requires a good network connection for almost everything. I would be sure to test it so you can return it before the return period ends if you have too many WiFi problems.

The workaround is to connect to it via ethernet.

 

[Boyd01]

The workaround is to connect to it via ethernet.

Seems like this has already been covered pretty thoroughly in the OP's other thread here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/what-would-i-need-ethernet-for-difference-in-that-and-wifi-only.2367759/?post=31675384#post-31675384

 

[ssledoux]

Got one HomePod mini set up. Gonna add a second, but just wanted to see how this is all gonna work first.

I’m not likely to be streaming much in the way of TV and movies, but I am planning to use Apple Fitness, and it seems like that is gonna stream just fine.

I do have another question - if I save certain workouts or whatever to my library, will that keep them from downloading every time? That may help me a lot with any streaming issues on overcast days, like today.