HomePod HomePod General Performance

[JWreck]

Morning. This is still a little in the anecdotal stage, but I’ve become increasingly frustrated by our HomePod’s behavior and I’m looking to see if anyone else is having similar issues or if I need to push Apple for a replacement?

Over the last month or so, the performance of the HomePod (placed in our living room - central to most of the house) has degraded. A short list of issues at a very high level:

- It seems to not hear what we say a lot of times now.
- When it does hear, it can take a long time to process the request
- It has been asking who is talking more frequently
- Playing individual songs or artists is met with mixed results - usually Siri asking me to wait, then saying “got it” and it actually never playing.

I’ve turned it off and back on several times, ensured it’s getting strong WiFi signal (I run an Ubiquiti setup with multiple APs and never have issues), and try to rephrase my commands, all with not much luck.

It is currently on iOS 13.3.1, and so is my
iPhone 11 Pro Max.

 

[BF1M]

I think it's an issue with the latest software. Our HomePods have been asking who we are more and more lately as well. The multiple user support hasn't worked all that well since being introduced. The random "Who is speaking please" was always common but it's gotten much worse since 13.3.1

There are a bunch of known HomeKit issues right now according to Apple. Just another day in iOSland.

 

[BlankStar]

If you ask me, they should skip iOS14 this summer, and keep ironing out all the kinks out of iOS 13. For all I care in a year for now, we'll be running iOS 13.9.1 or something, but at least stop introducing too much new features until all the current features are rocksolid.

My HomePod in the livingroom is 3 meters (10 feet) from the WiFi access point and more than often Siri would say she doesn't have internet or acts like she's connecting to a 56k-modem and needs loads of time to process simple requests. Sometimes she even says she has no internet when I ask to turn on/off a light, yet successfully completes the task.

All of this behaviour wasn't the first months (year?). She used to work like a charm and really fast. Sad to see though, cause I absolutely love the sound quality.

 

[BF1M]

I have been saying something similar for years. Instead off yearly updates full of issues, how about every two years with all the kinks ironed out?

Apple has been on a treadmill for the last few years with their software. Introduce 5 new things, break 10 old things. Forward and back, forward and back.

 

[Itinj24]

Awful lately. Among those already mentioned, both my HomePods would play as a stereo pair when not set up as such. Siri on my iPhone would pick up my requests when standing a couple feet away from the HomePod and the iPhone is down on the counter and locked.

 

[JWreck]

Glad to know I’m not alone but surely if everyone was having as bad of an experience as me/us, there would be more chatter? Which leads me to...what can be done other than waiting? Apple call? Return it?

 

[BF1M]

Glad to know I’m not alone but surely if everyone was having as bad of an experience as me/us, there would be more chatter? Which leads me to...what can be done other than waiting? Apple call? Return it?

Calling them is a waste of your time. Returning it is up to you. You can just wait it out for them to fix it. They never ever admit how big and widespread a problem is. Of course the update that fixes this will break two other things...

 

[I7guy]

FWIW, I’m not seeing any of this on iOS 13.3.1.

 

[BF1M]

A few other things I've noticed....

...alarms are yet again broken. Adding them via Siri work but using Home doesn't. You can't make changes to existing alarms either...

...it's asking who this is almost every time you talk to it. Then if you ask it to do a simple task it suddenly remembers...

...this one is nitpicking but when using AirPlay to the HomePod the progress bar for whatever song you are playing is screwed up. The song will start at 0:00 but the progress bar starts at X:XX. It seems to be keeping a running time tally of all you have been playing that session..

 

[citysnaps]

FWIW, I’m not seeing any of this on iOS 13.3.1.

Same here with both of my HomePods, located at opposite ends of the house. Also running a Ubiquiti network as the OP is.

 

[DocMultimedia]

The last two software updates for HomePod have made my paired HomePods/Apple TV a miserable experience. I ask Siri to do something and it sits for two minutes thinking about it. Every 10 minutes or so one HomePod will drop audio, and then the other one will as well, or they both start playing again. Totally inconsistent. Using the remote to turn up the volume works about half the time (display on screen shows it...but nothing happens), and other times it will only work when asking Siri to do it. So many other really strange quirks lately. I'm really frustrated. I never plan to buy another HomePod at this point, even if they come out with smaller/cheaper ones. I beg them to get this stuff working.

Six months ago I wasn't having any problems and I loved my HomePods. Those days are over. I'm wondering if there is a way to revert to the original OS that shipped on them and will dig around the web.

Sorry. Rant now over. I'm just so pissed right now as I try to watch Mythic Quest.

 

[I7guy]

A few other things I've noticed....

...alarms are yet again broken. Adding them via Siri work but using Home doesn't. You can't make changes to existing alarms either...

...it's asking who this is almost every time you talk to it. Then if you ask it to do a simple task it suddenly remembers...

...this one is nitpicking but when using AirPlay to the HomePod the progress bar for whatever song you are playing is screwed up. The song will start at 0:00 but the progress bar starts at X:XX. It seems to be keeping a running time tally of all you have been playing that session..

No problems with alarms and Siri recognizes my voice immediately.

Just reading another post, but now can't find it, who said the HomePod was having issues until they restructured their wifi network. Maybe the way your wifi network is configured in some way is causing the issues?

The HomePod runs well on 13.3.1.

 

[BF1M]

Maybe the way your wifi network is configured in some way is causing the issues?

Maybe. It was working well enough before. I'm tired of having to diagnose expensive equipment; change things around. As someone else said in another topic "It's home automations, it should be set and forget."

I think they'll get there, if anyone can it's Apple, but man, they are taking the long way and losing people's trust along the way.

 

[JWreck]

Maybe. It was working well enough before. I'm tired of having to diagnose expensive equipment; change things around. As someone else said in another topic "It's home automations, it should be set and forget."

I think they'll get there, if anyone can it's Apple, but man, they are taking the long way and losing people's trust along the way.

Yeah I’m hard pressed to believe it’s my WiFi network. I’ve had the same configuration for he entirety of my HomePod ownership and only recently has the HomePod started to have these crippling issues.

 

[dotme]

Yeah I’m hard pressed to believe it’s my WiFi network. I’ve had the same configuration for he entirety of my HomePod ownership and only recently has the HomePod started to have these crippling issues.

What happens if you ask Homepod to perform some simple tasks that don't require personal requests? Things like "Hey Siri, set a timer for 30 seconds"

Is that request handled quickly and without fuss? If not, and you've tried a reset, could be a bad mic - and hardware replacement would be the next step. If it is handled okay though, then the issue may be communication between Homepod and your iPhone, which is part of the mix with personal requests.

When people say "It's your WiFi" they may not be referring to capacity as much as configuration. If WiFi routers are configured to isolate ethernet, 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks and filter some of the protocols that pass between them, unpredictable things can happen. Making sure Homepod and iPhone are both connected to the same SSID, no filtering etc, would be another troubleshooting step you might try. Also, a reset network settings on the iPhone may kick things back into position.