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Apple Releases 14.2 Software for HomePod With New Siri, Intercom and Home Theater Features

ErikGrim said:
Where do you check which network/band the Homepods are connected to?
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Assuming that you already have separate SSID on your router for 2,4/5GHZ, do the following.


Go to the Home app in your Iphone/Ipad. Tap on the Homepods. Scroll down to see the settings. Then tap the "speakers" tab. Now you´ll see the two units. Tap on the left one and then tap on the "Wifi address" card. The text will change to show you to which wifi band/network is connected. Then repeat the process on the right one.
 
ErikGrim said:
Yeah, router reports all homepods and Apple TV running at full 5Ghz ac speed (975Mbps). Still getting the crackling UI navigation though, even on the latest beta.
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Damn. Even tough I solved the speed problem changing the homepods to the 5GHZ band, I still gets the crackling sound on the UI. Annoying as hell.
 
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Can we confirm that IOS 14.3 solves the wifi speed issue when the Homepods are set as the default audio output of the apple tv?
 
I was able to select my homepods as default audio. Worked flawlessly for a few days but suddenly stopped working. Have tried resetting homepods AND ATV but keep getting error message that says “Apple TV couldn’t connect to ‘Living Room...’”. ATV and Homepods are in same room as each other. I’ve actually downloaded 14.3 betas for both ATV and Homepods but no luck. I have eero so cannot set separate SSIDs.

UPDATE: Worked with a specialist and re-reset everything. What we did differently than what I had done is reset the Homepods one at a time and before resetting the second one we set up a single HP as the default audio output for ATV (which we also reset). He also had me reset the HPs manually (as opposed to via the Home app)
 
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Ok, so I moved my HomePod to the TV and connected it via my Apple TV, went to Netflix then searched for Dolby Atmos, to bring up that content, but it was only showing 5.1 when I selected those titles, it was the same when I paused it.

i then contacted Netflix and they told me to go into my account settings and make sure I was streaming at high, not auto. It was at high but I flicked if from high to auto, saved then went back and changed it to high, then atmos suddenly appeared on my screen, and all atmos titles on Netflix now play as they should.

I then contacted Disney live chat and they advised that they don’t support atmos at the moment through homepods, hopefully the update will come, but atm don’t waste your time fiddling as it’s not working.
 
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BrentC001 said:
That would be a really neat feature to have along with all the other new audio features they've added.
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I honestly think that the sound would be very unbalanced and not very directional. The Homepods have 7 speakers, each with its own amplifier.

It also has advanced technologies like beamforming and spatial awareness which allow it to process 5.1 and Atmos sending the sound everywhere, detecting the presence of walls and objects near them in the process, whereas the minis have only 1 speaker and is much less powerful and directional (no beamforming and spatial awareness).

No comparison between them at all, really.
 
ErikGrim said:
Mostly. I can still get a soft click if I flick fast horizontally across a row of icons, but it's much better.
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Thats great, thank you.

So, just to be clear, the latest 14.3 solves the wifi speed issues on the ATV completely when Homepods are selected as the default audio output, correct?. Are you guys getting full speed again?.
 
B/D said:
Thats great, thank you.

So, just to be clear, the latest 14.3 solves the wifi speed issues on the ATV completely when Homepods are selected as the default audio output, correct?. Are you guys getting full speed again?.
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Getting about 80% of my cap, which is fine.
 
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Guys, this is very interesting. From this reddit thread (I quote).

"If the Apple TV is the source of the audio, and it’s defaulting to sending the audio to your HomePod, then the brand, model, and audio settings on the television should not matter. Which I have now attempted to explain to you several times.

As for how your Chromecast and PS5 interact with your television, that isn’t germane here and I have no experience with either of those, anyway.

If your television is anywhere between an audio source and the Apple TV and any audio outputs downstream of the Apple TV—such as a HomePod—then, the audio settings on the TV would matter.

If your TV is in no way an intermediary between any audio sources and your Apple TV (and thence the HomePod), then, yes, I am failing to understand what you’re concerned about".




"That's correct in theory, but in practice when I change the HDMI Input Audio format between PCM to Bitsream on LG settings, the audio quality on HomePod changes considerably and this is with HomePod set as Default Audio on Apple TV. That's why I used PS5 as an example too. So that I could understand what the HDMI Input Audio format is actually doing to the source devices, irrespectice if it's Apple TV or PS5 Etc. That's my Qs. Because what u said is not working in real life!"

This made no sense at all, right?... but I had to tried it. So I did. And... I quote myself from that very same thread:


Holy ****!. I just tried. I have a lg oled c8 (so no earc, just arc), and I have an Apple TV 4K linked with a pair of Homepods as its default audio output. I changed the audio settings of the TV from "internal tv speakers" to "HDMI ARC Automatic" (not PCM), and tested it with Peaky Blinders on Netflix (this show is not even Atmos, just regular 5.1).

Jesus. The Homepods can now go MUCH louder than before, dialogue is clear, powerful and defined, soundstage is MUCH improved, bass is not muddy anymore. Change it back to "internal speakers" in TV settings. Much worse.

Why is this even happening?. It shouldn´t be happening.

This is HUGE.
 
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