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Apple Releases HomePod Software 18

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Alongside iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Apple today released new HomePod Software 18 that's designed for the HomePod and HomePod mini.

HomePod-2-and-Mini-feature-1.jpg

The HomePod Software 18 adds the option to choose a Home Hub rather than having HomeKit select one automatically, a useful feature for people with multiple HomePods and Apple TV models.

There is a new SharePlay feature, allowing multiple people to share control of what's playing on a HomePod through Apple Music. To use the feature, bring an iPhone close to another iPhone to add songs to a playlist and control playback.

AirPlay now supports Spatial Audio, providing an immersive audio experience with Dolby Atmos when using AirPlay to stream audio from an iPhone or iPad to the HomePod. Apple's release notes:
Software version 18 introduces SharePlay so you can share control of your Apple Music playlist on iPhone or iPad and guests can contribute to what’s playing on HomePod. This update also includes bug fixes and stability improvements.
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HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌ software is installed automatically on the ‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌ unless the feature is disabled‌‌‌‌, but the ‌‌‌‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌ can also be manually updated in the Home app by tapping on the More button, choosing Home Settings, and then selecting the Software Update option.

Article Link: Apple Releases HomePod Software 18
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/16/apple-releases-homepod-software-18/
Just idly wondered what version my HomePod mini was on. (The answer was 17.6 (21M71)) Suddenly realised that just by looking in Home, it started downloading 18! Fully downloaded. It's not something I use that much except to hold together everything else. Have just allowed it to apply the update.

Heigh-ho - my own lack of attention.

All done - now 22J357.
 
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dannyyankou said:
Well, yes! I couldn’t manage my HomePod alarms on my iPhone without updating to the HomePod to 18.0. But my first gen HomePod wasn’t eligible for beta updates. It was driving me crazy.
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Same, although I was holding off because when I updated my AppleTV to the beta of tvOS 18, lots of my HomeKit stuff, specifically my LIFX lights, stopped responding. It was a mess. I’m extremely hesitant to update everything today because I can’t confirm if that’s been fixed.
 
Both sets of OG and mini updated to HPsoftware 18 but since then I get no sound of any of them :(
edit: mini started working again after force restarting all my devices. Still no luck with the OG though; I can restart them but no sound comes out of it
 
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DinkThifferent said:
The update we have all been waiting for!
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It's funny. Some of you like to think you're being very clever with absurd posts. But you're only showing your desire to hate and demonstrate ignorance.

I have multiple devices that can act as a HomeKit hub. Up until this update, the choice of which device to use as a hub was up to Apple's algorithm, whatever that may be. Sometimes it chooses a device which isn't the best one to use as a hub. To force a change, I have to disconnect all the potential hubs and the carefully plug them in to force the desired device to be the hub. Some of the plugs are in hard to reach areas, so I have to add multiple HomeKit plugs to power off the devices remotely. This happens not infrequently.

With the new feature of being able to select with device I want to be the hub, my life became easier and I can now remove the HomeKit plugs.

So, for me, this update is really welcome. You aren't as clever as you think you are.
 
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HomePod software updates have been buggy af. Think I’ll wait for the next release.
 
Polinsky said:
With the new feature of being able to select with device I want to be the hub, my life became easier and I can now remove the HomeKit plugs.
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I can't even get this bit to work, the menu with the toggles isn't there. All devices updated to v18, yet still it's deciding which device will be the hub.

did you get it working ?
 
After all these years I think the OG HomePod purchase is the one I regret the most. It didn't help that they discontinued it a few months after I bought it. Now I kind of feel trapped with it.

Also, the fact that there is no Home App on TVOS still is deeply frustrating. The Apple TV is such a wonderful product but it could be a whole lot more.
 
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abatabia said:
HomePod updates take forever. Mine has been downloading for 2 hours.
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Mine took several attempts and power cycles over two days. (The RC was made available last week.) The download meter never really moved, so it was hard to tell if anything was happening. After several hours nothing changed. That happened a few times. I was about to do a reset with my Mac when it finally worked.
 
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verdi1987 said:
Mine took several attempts and power cycles over two days. (The RC was made available last week.) The download meter never really moved, so it was hard to tell if anything was happening. After several hours nothing changed. That happened a few times. I was about to do a reset with my Mac when it finally worked.
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Reboot your iPhone or the HomePods? Or both?
 
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verdi1987 said:
Mine took several attempts and power cycles over two days. (The RC was made available last week.) The download meter never really moved, so it was hard to tell if anything was happening. After several hours nothing changed. That happened a few times. I was about to do a reset with my Mac when it finally worked.
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This update cycle has been truly odd. I’ve got an older mini that I went to update from 17.6 to 17.6.1 so it could then go to 18 before today (super quick to get RC when not everyone is trying to update) and it would just sit there in update requested. I rebooted twice and finally gave up and went to sleep. I woke up and it’s still in update requested. I go about my business for a few hours and then come back to it having updated. I never did see it go through the normal rigmarole but it did. Then I update to the RC and it was super fast like normal. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
verdi1987 said:
Mine took several attempts and power cycles over two days. (The RC was made available last week.) The download meter never really moved, so it was hard to tell if anything was happening. After several hours nothing changed. That happened a few times. I was about to do a reset with my Mac when it finally worked.
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Then again I’ve had such bad luck with software maybe I should hold off.
 
QuarterSwede said:
This update cycle has been truly odd. I’ve got an older mini that I went to update from 17.6 to 17.6.1 so it could then go to 18 before today (super quick to get RC when not everyone is trying to update) and it would just sit there in update requested. I rebooted twice and finally gave up and went to sleep. I woke up and it’s still in update requested. I go about my business for a few hours and then come back to it having updated. I never did see it go through the normal rigmarole but it did. Then I update to the RC and it was super fast like normal. 🤷🏼‍♂️
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Mine won’t download just spins and spins. I’m going to ignore it. Nothing much in this update anyway. Just annoying.
 
abatabia said:
Mine won’t download just spins and spins. I’m going to ignore it. Nothing much in this update anyway. Just annoying.
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I really want to decide which is a homekit hub as one of my ATVs it loves to pick has issues with being a hub for some reason, HomeKit just becomes unreliable. I miss being able to disable that. This update adds that ability back. But my Apple TV 4K is taking over 30min to download this and refuses to on Ethernet (update bug is still there where it’ll say it’s not available to download when Ethernet is plugged in). Funnily the oldest, an HD, updated in 5 min on WiFi.
 
QuarterSwede said:
I really want to decide which is a homekit hub as one of my ATVs it loves to pick has issues with being a hub for some reason, HomeKit just becomes unreliable. I miss being able to disable that. This update adds that ability back. But my Apple TV 4K is taking over 30min to download this and refuses to on Ethernet (update bug is still there where it’ll say it’s not available to download when Ethernet is plugged in). Funnily the oldest, an HD, updated in 5 min on WiFi.
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Guess they’re just slammed today.
 
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