HomePod Can I control Apple Music playing through a HomePod ONLY on MacBook and NOT iPhone/iOS AKA The Terrorist?

[NoHo]

For me, iOS is basically the Karen of operating systems. It can barely read or write, constantly goes all day with its velcro laced sneakers on the wrong feet, buys its kids rabbits every easter and I guarantee after half a dozen keystone lights will try and convince you Hitler, the artist side, deserves an unbiased second look.

I work from home on my MacBook (MacOS, the Dolly Parton of operating systems. A SAINT) and despite having one HomePiod Mini (The Ryan Reynolds of hardware -- boring as hell, but not problematic or creepy at least) in my office, I mostly listen through the Macbook speakers because my iPhone is basically a terrorist and has declared jihad at the budding friendshup between the MacBook and HomePod.

iOS is just a trainwreck to use with the stock music app. Searching just sucks and if you do manage to take a deep breath and actually get any results, chances are its going to tell you the song you're trying to play, that you just played a day ago isnt available. OR it will just say eff you simp, that songs for girls and then just skips to the next song. Search literally the easiest thing ever searched, Billie Jean -- Top Results (the default panel for some reason) gives you 80's Hit Essentials, a playlist where the song you want is somewhere, who knows, between 1-897, Billy Ray Cyrus Next Steps, Wyclef Jean: Behind the Boards -- ugh, i hate you.

When I'm working, my iPhone is strictly for texting and calls because MacOS is the Harlem Globetrotters to iOS's Washington Generals.

Whenever I do try and choose the HomePod speaker as the audio output, it plays whatever the iphone wants to play, depending on it's mood and mental health that hour. I deselect and reselect and will get it playing, but then I have to keep using the iOS Music app to play anything. Or it will give me that error "To play X, stop playing on another device" and I hit ok and it pops up immediately and I have to force quit the music apps on both.

There's probably a fix but I'm just not in the mood to go through resetting, resetting up, adding accessories, home hubs, etc for just one HomePod Mini -- especially when Macbook and HomePod work fine if iOS just killed itself.

Can I disable iPhone and iOS from using Music while I'm working? Other than just shutting my iPhone down, since I need it for texts and calls.

*Exhales* Wow, that felt good. Therapeutic. I feel less tense now after getting that all off my chest.

please help.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

From everything you wrote it sounds like your HomePod is auto playing music from your phone???

- First thing to try is turning off “handoff” and “transfer to homepod” in your iPhone settings.

- Secondly make sure you have your output set correctly on whatever device you’re wanting to use. Sounds dumb but MacOS is terrible with AirPlay for some reason.

As long as you’re not playing music from your iPhone to the HomePod purposely it shouldn’t do it just because. I will admit that AirPlay is more pissy and inconsistent using MacOS than iOS so I’ve resulted using iOS to AirPlay instead as it seems to maintain a connection much better when MacOS drops it after it my screen locks then I have to restart the whole computer. Apple ecosystem at its finest.

 

[B/D]

@NoHo

If you use Apple Music, dont Airplay. Is not necessary, and its a waste of resources and battery.

Instead, remote control the homepod from IOS control center (tap the Airplay icon, then tap "control other tv´s and speakers", and select the homepod card there) or the Mac Os music app (tap the Airplay icon within the Music app, and then in the "change to" section select the homepod card), play some content, and your homepod will handle the playback itself, from there, leaving your devices free. No battery consumption, no interruptions, no interferences. No madness.

After the playback is initiated, you can even turn off your Mac or IOS device completely. If you´ve done it correctly, the homepod will continue to play.

 

[pup]

If in iOS, you only select a device that can stream on its own (HomePod or AppleTV), then the target device will automatically become the streaming device and your iOS device will act as a remote. If you’re playing to multiple speakers/devices, then if you select a HomePod or AppleTV first, the same will happen, with the first device selected becoming the streamer. (I consider this a bug but I’m sure that Apple does not.) If you choose a non- streaming speaker first, and then a HomePod or AppleTV, then the iOS device will remain in Airplay mode and will be the device that streams.

That’s confusing, yes - also undocumented, as far as I know. Worse, the airplay interface is a mess and doesn’t make it clear what’s going on. But rest assured that if you’re only playing to a single streaming device that your phone is merely the remote. It’s automatic.

If you’re playing to multiple speakers, the way to tell if your phone is streaming or acting as a remote is by the icon of the selected group of speakers. The airplay icon (the old style speaker icon, not the new one nor the weird radiating pyramid) indicates that you’re streaming from the iOS device, and an AppleTV or HomePod icon indicates that you’re controlling that other streaming device. Another way to tell that you’re in remote mode, at least in the case of an AppleTV, is that you’ll lose volume control for that device. Why? No idea.

 

[pup]

The way to fix the confusion, btw, would be to have a tabbed interface in airplay, with a separate tab for each available streaming device on your network. Then it would be both intuitive and clear that when you select a particular tab that you are controlling that device, and any speakers selected under that tab will be playing from that device.