Working great so far. A long time coming but the fact I can have 2 Home Pods, TV and iMac speakers going at the same time is pretty cool.
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Apple Adds AirPlay 2 Section to HomeKit Site, Outlines Upcoming AirPlay 2 Speakers
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Working great so far. A long time coming but the fact I can have 2 Home Pods, TV and iMac speakers going at the same time is pretty cool.
I called AppleCare this morning and was lucky to end up talking to a support rep that was very familiar with HomePod. In fact, he said he was working from home and had two HomePods himself.
While he listened to me giving Siri voice commands to the HomePods, it was easy to replicate the issue I described above. It happened the first time I tried it. But then he suggested trying it again. To my surprise it worked correctly. In all, he spent about 20 minutes with me on the phone while I tried various commands:
"Hey Siri, raise the volume in the kitchen to 50%."
"Hey Siri, play Hotel California by the Eagles in the bedroom."
"Hey Siri, what is the volume level in the bedroom?"
"Hey Siri, what time is it?"
"Hey Siri, what is the weather like today?"
Etc, etc.
The informational commands (time, weather, etc.) all worked as they should. However, at one point I was in the bedroom and, after Siri responded with the information, she didn't resume the music in the bedroom (but music kept playing in the kitchen).
In all, about 1 in every 5 or 6 commands something went wrong. In fact, at one point, Siri literally responded "I'm sorry, but something has gone wrong."
So, clearly, AirPlay 2 *is* designed to work like the the Alexa/SONOS combo with regard to controlling music in multiple rooms. But, just as clearly, there are bugs. The Apple rep even agreed that there are bugs. He said he was typing up extensive notes and would submit them to the appropriate software engineering team.
He also suggested that server load, particularly yesterday, might be a factor.
I'm a bit more optimistic after my conversation with the Apple rep. Since I purchased my second HomePod at Costco I have 90 days to return it. We'll see how it goes.
Mark
While he listened to me giving Siri voice commands to the HomePods, it was easy to replicate the issue I described above. It happened the first time I tried it. But then he suggested trying it again. To my surprise it worked correctly. In all, he spent about 20 minutes with me on the phone while I tried various commands:
"Hey Siri, raise the volume in the kitchen to 50%."
"Hey Siri, play Hotel California by the Eagles in the bedroom."
"Hey Siri, what is the volume level in the bedroom?"
"Hey Siri, what time is it?"
"Hey Siri, what is the weather like today?"
Etc, etc.
The informational commands (time, weather, etc.) all worked as they should. However, at one point I was in the bedroom and, after Siri responded with the information, she didn't resume the music in the bedroom (but music kept playing in the kitchen).
In all, about 1 in every 5 or 6 commands something went wrong. In fact, at one point, Siri literally responded "I'm sorry, but something has gone wrong."
So, clearly, AirPlay 2 *is* designed to work like the the Alexa/SONOS combo with regard to controlling music in multiple rooms. But, just as clearly, there are bugs. The Apple rep even agreed that there are bugs. He said he was typing up extensive notes and would submit them to the appropriate software engineering team.
He also suggested that server load, particularly yesterday, might be a factor.
I'm a bit more optimistic after my conversation with the Apple rep. Since I purchased my second HomePod at Costco I have 90 days to return it. We'll see how it goes.
Mark
Although Sonos are happy to have old devices work with AirPlay 2 as long as there is one new Sonos device on the network. So it's possible.
my home kit has been janked up since 11.4, especially on the HomePod, things don't trigger or the wrong things do... its frustratingly odd.
Airplay 2 is all very nice & good, but I simply want to be able to send music etc. to multiple speakers from our iPads etc, just like, as you said, we've been able to do for years from iTunes on our Macs & Pc. My only fear is if they will discontinue Airplay 1 in some iTunes update.
Seems mine is really the HomePod. It triggers wrong things. And I noticed that it’s no longer listed as a hub.
I’ve tried resetting it multiple times with no progress
Yea, my only suggestion would be to unplug it for a while - like a few hours - and then try a reset again. Are all your devices on 11.4? Including the HomePod?
I tried unplugged over night. No help. Yeah I double checked and everything is 11.4 I even completely reinstalled every device in HomeKit.
Very strange. I’m sorry I don’t know if I can help much then. I feel your pain though as HomeKit has given me problems for the last couple months.
The thing is, Apple doesn’t make new products that can replace an AirPor Express- getting rid of year great speakers, that will likely last a lifetime, and high end receiver just to buy HomePods is not a likely approach.
No one has to get rid of their speakers. I have a nice 5.1 set up connected to a Denon receiver and an Apple TV. I have a HomePod in the same room. It seems like Apple has already made the decision not to support them and is moving on from the product line. I don’t know what to tell ya I guess.
I have the exact same setup, just with two HomePods for stereo sound. And in our bedroom, a second Denon receiver with a pair of speakers, and an AirPort Express with a TOSLink attach to the bedroom Denon. The living room is Denon is fed by the AppleTV as well as a direct MacPro audio out TOSLink. If listening to music in both rooms, iTunes on the Mac can simultaneously (in sync) play to both rooms (i.e. the Mac only version of AirPlay 2. And indeed the music cane played using the Remote app to control iTunes from our iPads/iPhones.
But, the Remote app is awful in the way it essentially does not support Apple Music, so it would be much better for AirPlay 2 via iOS devices to work with both rooms - specifically with the AirPort Express in the bedroom.
Nice, good setup. I like having all of the options and I use all of them. With Airplay 2, I feel like we need either an updated Remote app or something different to manage everything. The interface now through the Music app or Airplay in control center just feels messy.
I am finding it increasingly hard to believe that there is no device to fill the gap between Airplay 2 and an existing (old fashioned) stereo amp. I currently have two Sonos Connect: Amp that are powering indoor and outdoor speakers and would love something akin to the Airport Express to link them into my Apple ecosystem. Let's be honest - the Sonos app is a pile of ****. At the moment, I am using SonoAir app on my iMac and airplay 1, but a small update to Airport Express or a new device to fill that gap would be greatly appreciated. To be honest, I'd even buy a few new Apple TV's, if they supported stereo out, without an adaptor.
Exactly - the combination of getting rid of TOSLink from the AppleTV and AirpotExpress is another factor that is really killing us. Replacing receivers with ones that support AirPlay 2 is total non- starter.
I've been a critic of the decision the loss of control within the Remote App. Prior to the release of Apple Music, one would be able to control the "radio" selection within iTunes from the Remote app. Once Apple Music was released, we lost this feature within the Remote App. Kinda silly.
As for now, I'm content with using my Mac to control iTunes and my multi-room audio via Airplay. Been doing it that way for many years, some Apple users have no idea about this technology, it's simple and cheap to use. It works like a champ. Whole house audio is something I've learned I can't live without.