HomePod Don't buy HomePods. Seriously.

[Burger Thing]

I am quite disappointed about the reliability of the Homepods. I had to decommission already one HomePod Gen2 1.5 years after purchasing it and one more 2 year old HomePod Mini 2. The issue has been always the same. The HomePods go rogue. They start or stop playing music at random moments. When I brought back the Rogue HomePod Gen 2 to an Apple shop I was told these are know Touchpad issues.

Now another one (HomePod Gen 2, connected to an Apple TV) seem to have the same issues. My wife just called me, saying that the HomePods (I have 2 connected on stereo connected to an Apple TV) start/stop playing music randomly.

This is frustrating and simply unacceptable. Sound devices (I wouldn't call them smart speakers because of the lack of smartness of Siri) should not fail within such a short time periode.

It's not nice if you wake up at 3am because in the living room the speakers are playing song from the own playlist.

I will just change to a traditional sound system or Googeln speakers instead.

I have 13 (!) HomePods in our household. 3 Macbooks, 3 iPad, 3 pair of HomePods and 1 Mac Mini.

Happy New Year.

 

[dwrufus53]

I am quite disappointed about the reliability of the Homepods. I had to decommission already one HomePod Gen2 1.5 years after purchasing it and one more 2 year old HomePod Mini 2. The issue has been always the same. The HomePods go rogue. They start or stop playing music at random moments. When I brought back the Rogue HomePod Gen 2 to an Apple shop I was told these are know Touchpad issues.

Now another one (HomePod Gen 2, connected to an Apple TV) seem to have the same issues. My wife just called me, saying that the HomePods (I have 2 connected on stereo connected to an Apple TV) start/stop playing music randomly.

This is frustrating and simply unacceptable. Sound devices (I wouldn't call them smart speakers because of the lack of smartness of Siri) should not fail within such a short time periode.

It's not nice if you wake up at 3am because in the living room the speakers are playing song from the own playlist.

I will just change to a traditional sound system or Googeln speakers instead.

I have 13 (!) HomePods in our household. 3 Macbooks, 3 iPad, 3 pair of HomePods and 1 Mac Mini.

Happy New Year.

My HomePod minis (x4) are functioning perfectly. Same with my 0G full-size HomePod. I stream music from my phone my MBA and my iPad, and some are tied to AppleTVs, again, all working without exception. I also have a household full of Apple devices (Macs, iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, etc).

BTW, there is no HomePod mini 2 yet. Maybe it will be out after the first of the year.

 

[kitKAC]

I am quite disappointed about the reliability of the Homepods. I had to decommission already one HomePod Gen2 1.5 years after purchasing it and one more 2 year old HomePod Mini 2. The issue has been always the same. The HomePods go rogue. They start or stop playing music at random moments. When I brought back the Rogue HomePod Gen 2 to an Apple shop I was told these are know Touchpad issues.

Now another one (HomePod Gen 2, connected to an Apple TV) seem to have the same issues. My wife just called me, saying that the HomePods (I have 2 connected on stereo connected to an Apple TV) start/stop playing music randomly.

This is frustrating and simply unacceptable. Sound devices (I wouldn't call them smart speakers because of the lack of smartness of Siri) should not fail within such a short time periode.

It's not nice if you wake up at 3am because in the living room the speakers are playing song from the own playlist.

I will just change to a traditional sound system or Googeln speakers instead.

I have 13 (!) HomePods in our household. 3 Macbooks, 3 iPad, 3 pair of HomePods and 1 Mac Mini.

Happy New Year.

I have 4 OG HomePod's and two Mini's that work great. However, one time I did have one HomePod randomly play music late one night (which at the time, I assumed was coming from my neighbours house). While it hasn't happened again in the years that have passed, I still have automations on every HomePod to reduce the playback volume to minimum levels at 11pm and then another to restore the playback volume in the morning.

 

[Burger Thing]

I have 4 OG HomePod's and two Mini's that work great. However, one time I did have one HomePod randomly play music late one night (which at the time, I assumed was coming from my neighbours house). While it hasn't happened again in the years that have passed, I still have automations on every HomePod to reduce the playback volume to minimum levels at 11pm and then another to restore the playback volume in the morning.

That is a good idea. I will try the same. I hope it works better than of of my wake up automations in the bedroom which is supposed to play something at a specific low volume level but most of the time it plays it way too loud. I am not really impressed about Homekit, Airplay, etc in general. I have posted several examples here about stuff which doesn't work properly or not reliably.

 

[throAU]

I am quite disappointed about the reliability of the Homepods. I had to decommission already one HomePod Gen2 1.5 years after purchasing it and one more 2 year old HomePod Mini 2. The issue has been always the same. The HomePods go rogue. They start or stop playing music at random moments. When I brought back the Rogue HomePod Gen 2 to an Apple shop I was told these are know Touchpad issues.

Not sure why you're seeing this, but i have 5 homepods in this house (1 OG from like... 2017/2018 and 4 minis) and have not seen this.

One of my OG units; used to have a pair - died (started hearing static "pops" from time to time whether it was playing audio or not, but it still "worked") - could have been caps on the way out, could have also been that the power cable had been chewed by the kitten, but outside of that they've been reliable.


I never use the touchpad on them. 99% is streaming music from phone, asking it to play stuff, or setting timers/getting the weather.

 

[Burger Thing]

Not sure why you're seeing this, but i have 5 homepods in this house (1 OG from like... 2017/2018 and 4 minis) and have not seen this.

One of my OG units; used to have a pair - died (started hearing static "pops" from time to time whether it was playing audio or not, but it still "worked") - could have been caps on the way out, could have also been that the power cable had been chewed by the kitten, but outside of that they've been reliable.


I never use the touchpad on them. 99% is streaming music from phone, asking it to play stuff, or setting timers/getting the weather.

Same. The only time I ever use the Touchpad is to stop music. But apparently it is an issue.

 

[Burger Thing]

Thread update: just watched the season finale of Stranger Things. 2 HomePod Gen 2 as main speakers and 2 HomePod Minis connected to an Apple TV, 3 metres next to a Router.

Within the last 30 min the 2 HomePod Gen 2 stopped playing and I had to reselect them for the sound output.

Gosh, HomePods, Airplay, Homekit is such an effing mess. I could kick myself that I just didnt install a Sony or Samsung 5.1 Soundsystem and instead used this crap.

 

[kagharaht]

Using HP as a sound system for the TV screen is really a terrible idea. The thing was never designed to be used that way in the first place. I do agree the HP is a huge disappointment and I was a sucker for buying so many and trying to make it work for whole house music. Oh well, I've never bought another one and never will again.

 

[dwrufus53]

Using HP as a sound system for the TV screen is really a terrible idea. The thing was never designed to be used that way in the first place. I do agree the HP is a huge disappointment and I was a sucker for buying so many and trying to make it work for whole house music. Oh well, I've never bought another one and never will again.

For me, the HomePods paired with Apple TV is working almost flawlessly. I had one issue after an internet outage that caused me to have to delete and re-add one HomePod (of a stereo paired set). I've had this setup for quite a while now, and am very happy with it.

Obviously, you have to do what works for you. And voting with your wallet is, in fact, the appropriate action. But for me, it works great and I am planning to expand the setup into both the bedroom and office television setups.

 

[Burger Thing]

For me, the HomePods paired with Apple TV is working almost flawlessly. I had one issue after an internet outage that caused me to have to delete and re-add one HomePod (of a stereo paired set). I've had this setup for quite a while now, and am very happy with it.

Obviously, you have to do what works for you. And voting with your wallet is, in fact, the appropriate action. But for me, it works great and I am planning to expand the setup into both the bedroom and office television setups.

2 HPs connected in Stereo works fine most of the time. Unless one of your HPs started to have Touchpad issues and is sensing ghost touches - see postings above.

Usually I have problems with HPs when using them as a "whole apartment music solution." Example, this morning. I have a scene which I like to run when preparing breakfast for my family. It selects HomePods from the living -, dining room and kitchen and it supposed to play a playlist. It started playing but then a few seconds later it stopped again. I had to physically tap the HomePods in the kitchen to resume playback. It happened 3 times. After that it played fine.

Things like that is the opposite of what made Apple popular: "It just works". Not with HomePods and Airplay, I am afraid.

 

[Burger Thing]

Using HP as a sound system for the TV screen is really a terrible idea. The thing was never designed to be used that way in the first place. I do agree the HP is a huge disappointment and I was a sucker for buying so many and trying to make it work for whole house music. Oh well, I've never bought another one and never will again.

Yes, but it is tempting. A cableless solution which connects natively with Apple TV. Remember, Apple offers a selectable default playback channel via HomePods within Apple TV.

 

[erihp]

2 HPs connected in Stereo works fine most of the time. Unless one of your HPs started to have Touchpad issues and is sensing ghost touches - see postings above.

Usually I have problems with HPs when using them as a "whole apartment music solution." Example, this morning. I have a scene which I like to run when preparing breakfast for my family. It selects HomePods from the living -, dining room and kitchen and it supposed to play a playlist. It started playing but then a few seconds later it stopped again. I had to physically tap the HomePods in the kitchen to resume playback. It happened 3 times. After that it played fine.

Things like that is the opposite of what made Apple popular: "It just works". Not with HomePods and Airplay, I am afraid.

its because everyones network configuration and capabilities are all over the place. apple unfortunately got out of that business when it was becoming crucial the network was able to support their upcoming features.

fwiw i have zero issues with wired airport express airplay 2 multi-room playback. occasionally the wireless homepods are a little lost, but those work fine most of the time too.

 

[Burger Thing]

its because everyones network configuration and capabilities are all over the place. apple unfortunately got out of that business when it was becoming crucial the network was able to support their upcoming features.

fwiw i have zero issues with wired airport express airplay 2 multi-room playback. occasionally the wireless homepods are a little lost, but those work fine most of the time too.

While I agree about the AirPort Express (I loved mine) I don’t even think network configuration is to blame for some issue. Example: very often I want to stream and play music from my Mac Mini. I want to use the connected speakers and stream at the same to a pair of HomePod Minis connected in stereo. When I go to the Music App and click the AirPlay Icon, I have to deselect the HomePod Speakers and the Mac Mini first and then reselect them in order to have them properly playing music. They are selected on by default by they won’t play anything until said steps.

Then in the morning running an automation using the HomePods. Sometimes the programmed volume level is not respected. The HomePods seems to use a random volume.

There are a lot of bugs when you dwell deeper into these things. Frustrating, really.

 

[erihp]

While I agree about the AirPort Express (I loved mine) I don’t even think network configuration is to blame for some issue. Example: very often I want to stream and play music from my Mac Mini. I want to use the connected speakers and stream at the same to a pair of HomePod Minis connected in stereo. When I go to the Music App and click the AirPlay Icon, I have to deselect the HomePod Speakers and the Mac Mini first and then reselect them in order to have them properly playing music. They are selected on by default by they won’t play anything until said steps.

Then in the morning running an automation using the HomePods. Sometimes the programmed volume level is not respected. The HomePods seems to use a random volume.

There are a lot of bugs when you dwell deeper into these things. Frustrating, really.

ah, yes, fully agree. trying to play from macos is a horrible experience.

and yes homekit integration beyond basic commands is also a joke.

sad really. because it could be great.

 

[stocklen]

Though this wont help you....

I am in the same situation. I have several HomePods in the house and for a while now I almost give up on using them for all but the most basic of Siri commands and even then they mess up.

Im fed up with them not responding... or saying the patronising .'hmmmm something is taking too long' etc etc or just doing the wrong thing.

Nowadays I tend to resort to my Apple Watch or iPhone in order to issue Siri commands at home - it quicker and far more reliable.
Ive no idea why the HomePod Siri experience is way worse or even different to that which we get on the Phone or the Watch but it is.

I guess new HomePods will be far more capable but I dont relish the prospect of having to replace them all in order to get a decent experience.

 

[Chopper read]

I bought two HomePods just before Christmas. I had them paired to an Apple TV wifi (non ethernet non Thread). They weren't very stable, one would stop working or ones volume would stop being paired to the other. I put this down to the wifi. Fortunately I already had an ethernet port plumbed into the wall so I purchased a ethernet Apple TV and they have been super stable since, as they are connected to the Apple TV via Thread and that Apple TV wired in so super good connection.

 

[macaddiict]

I had (4) of the 1st Gen homepods die right out of the 1 year warranty

The mini's were such a downgrade in comparison to the full size that I bought (3) 2nd Gen homepods and only one is still alive

I get that these are powerful, compact speakers and I notice they run warm. But I expected Apple to solve the reliability issues by the 2nd generation.

I've replaced the 2nd gen dead homepods with a mix from Bose and JBL... if you spend HomePod-money with those companies, the products are pretty great and work for everything except Siri.

I have a Sonos system in another home, and until the recent platform debacle would have said they were perfect.

 

[MBAir2010]

my HomePods get worse by the day, could be the internets/wifi I have?