Apple Releases HomePod Software 15.4

[ric22]

My HomePod has been an unplugged paper weight for months, maybe I'll give this update a go and see what happens. I tried working with Apple about it and they will not offer a recall. Very bothered my $350 smart speaker had an 18 month lifespan.

Try walking it into a couple of Apple stores.

 

[ScottM62]

My paired stereo HomePods have been a nightmare for a long time, with one channel dropping or cutting in and out while playing Apple Music. So far so good on 15.4.... and hoping that this post doesn't jinx it.

 

[EchoplexSE]

If they didn’t fix the bug where it falsely states that my password is incorrect no matter what I do, I might be very tempted to sell my HomePod minis

I was having this issue on my OG HomePods but not my minis, so flipping annoying. I did a factory reset on them and haven’t had the issue since and it’s been at least a month. I’d give it a try ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[String]

My mini is pretty good and certainly worth the £99 I paid.
The music quality is of course not up to more expensive units but is perfectly acceptable. I have an appletv connected to an external amp and large speakers for music.
I use mine for HomeKit using Siri to switch my heating off and on, listening to radio programmes and audiobooks where it excels.

 

[ric22]

I played 30 minutes of music last night, and 15.4 behaved well on my pair of OG HomePods. The only irritating glitch remains how the HomePods pause and skip songs out of synch, with one going before the other. Let's see how long before 15.4 starts spewing out all the usual errors...

 

[B/D]

Are lossless buffering issues fixed?

 

[ric22]

An evening of playing background music on my HomePods tonight at about 45% volume... they pop and fart as much as ever on 15.4, and do the 15 second pop consistently. They certainly dislike some songs more than others.

 

[ric22]

Are lossless buffering issues fixed?

I didn't experience this. How fast is your wifi, and how close are they to your router? I found mine sensitive to distance from my router, and are now 5 feet away!

 

[ric22]

An evening of playing background music on my HomePods tonight at about 45% volume... they pop and fart as much as ever on 15.4, and do the 15 second pop consistently. They certainly dislike some songs more than others.

Just replying to my own post here: I found a way to stop the 15 second **** up. Transfer the playing music across to my phone, then back to the HomePod. It doesn't do it any more, at least in that session.

Does everyone else with a pair of OG HomePods find one pauses and changes songs before the other? A fraction of a second to a few seconds out of synch. My left HomePod (closer to the router, for what that's worth) is always ahead of the other.