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HomePod HomePod Mini can’t turn on/off light strip that all other HomePods and iPhone can

AJTC

AJTC

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2012
237
449
As the title says I’ve got a HomeKit light strip which uses my HomePods and Apple TV as a Home Hub. My original HomePods and Home app can turn it on and off but when I ask the Mini to turn it on or off it says it has a problem with one device and to make sure it’s on the same network with remote access enabled.

So I checked that the Mini is on the same network as the other HomePods and it is. Remote access is enabled. I’ve re-setup the Mini. I’ve unplugged the light strip and the Mini loads of times. I set up the light strip as an accessory again in the Home app.

Nothing seems to make the Mini control this light strip. The Mini has no issue controlling all my Philips Hue lights. It’s just this one light strip and it doesn’t make sense to me.

Is there anything else I can try or have other people had this issue?
 
AJTC said:
As the title says I’ve got a HomeKit light strip which uses my HomePods and Apple TV as a Home Hub. My original HomePods and Home app can turn it on and off but when I ask the Mini to turn it on or off it says it has a problem with one device and to make sure it’s on the same network with remote access enabled.

So I checked that the Mini is on the same network as the other HomePods and it is. Remote access is enabled. I’ve re-setup the Mini. I’ve unplugged the light strip and the Mini loads of times. I set up the light strip as an accessory again in the Home app.

Nothing seems to make the Mini control this light strip. The Mini has no issue controlling all my Philips Hue lights. It’s just this one light strip and it doesn’t make sense to me.

Is there anything else I can try or have other people had this issue?
Click to expand...
I have an issue that manifests in a different way but I suspect both problems may be due to a bug in HomeKit 14.2 (assuming all of your homepods are updated to 14.2).

In my case I have a LIFX light strip that connects over WiFi. It is often slow to update in the home app on my iPhone and regularly shows as unresponsive. What I found is if the light strip becomes unresponsive I can quit the home app, open the LIFX app (without actually doing anything in the app), then reopen the home app and the light strip is immediately responsive.

I suspect the bug is a problem with how HomeKit communicates with some devices over WiFi. I’ve stopped trying to control this lightstrip with my homepods because it is too unreliable (I haven’t tested to see if this only affects some homepods).

In your case you could also try changing which HomePod is in which room. If the problem persists with the same HomePod in a different location it may be a fault with that unit. If the problem transfers to the second HomePod that is repositioned in the room as the homepod that originally showed the problem it may indicate a WiFi connectivity issue from that location.
 
Calumma said:
I have an issue that manifests in a different way but I suspect both problems may be due to a bug in HomeKit 14.2 (assuming all of your homepods are updated to 14.2).

In my case I have a LIFX light strip that connects over WiFi. It is often slow to update in the home app on my iPhone and regularly shows as unresponsive. What I found is if the light strip becomes unresponsive I can quit the home app, open the LIFX app (without actually doing anything in the app), then reopen the home app and the light strip is immediately responsive.

I suspect the bug is a problem with how HomeKit communicates with some devices over WiFi. I’ve stopped trying to control this lightstrip with my homepods because it is too unreliable (I haven’t tested to see if this only affects some homepods).

In your case you could also try changing which HomePod is in which room. If the problem persists with the same HomePod in a different location it may be a fault with that unit. If the problem transfers to the second HomePod that is repositioned in the room as the homepod that originally showed the problem it may indicate a WiFi connectivity issue from that location.
Click to expand...
AJTC said:
As the title says I’ve got a HomeKit light strip which uses my HomePods and Apple TV as a Home Hub. My original HomePods and Home app can turn it on and off but when I ask the Mini to turn it on or off it says it has a problem with one device and to make sure it’s on the same network with remote access enabled.

So I checked that the Mini is on the same network as the other HomePods and it is. Remote access is enabled. I’ve re-setup the Mini. I’ve unplugged the light strip and the Mini loads of times. I set up the light strip as an accessory again in the Home app.

Nothing seems to make the Mini control this light strip. The Mini has no issue controlling all my Philips Hue lights. It’s just this one light strip and it doesn’t make sense to me.

Is there anything else I can try or have other people had this issue?
Click to expand...
To add. The WiFi connectivity issues may be due to your WiFi router operating on two wave bands (5 & 2.4). It seems that many devices won’t work with 5. I don’t know how homepods and HomeKit devices negotiate which band they will use.

If you can’t solve the problem you could try turning off the 5 band on your WiFi router. My reasoning here is your lightstrip may be connecting to your router over 2.4 but your HomePod communicating over 5.

Do be careful that this doesn’t cause new problems with other devices though.

I hope that the introduction of thread will help to eliminate these connectivity issues since each device will be able to talk to other devices without relying on your WiFi router or Bluetooth range.
 
Thanks for the replies. The HomePods are all on the 5GHz network.

I removed the light strip from the Home app and readded it. Now if I say turn on/off the light strip to the HomePod Mini it says it has a problem with one device and to make sure it’s on the same network with remote access enabled but then straight after the light turns on/off so it worked anyway.

The original HomePods are only 3 meters away from this HomePod Mini and they don’t have this problem. They turn it on and off with no issue.

I also made sure it’s definitely just the Mini lighting up when Siri gives the error message and turns the light strip on/off anyway.

It definitely seems to be a bug but since everything is on iOS 14.2 could it be chip specific? In the sense that the A8 works fine but the S5 has the issue?
 
I’ve also had issues with the minis that don’t occur with the original HomePod so yes there could be device specific bugs. I think we will have to wait for 14.3 to see if it squashes some of these initial bugs.
 
I’m having the exact same issues. I added a HomePod mini to my bedroom where I have have 3 SYLVANIA Smart+ can lights grouped as 1, a SYLVANIA Smart+ bulb in a lamp, and a smart outlet. I have confirmed the HomePod mini causes the issues, when it’s plugged in it plays music fine, controls the outlet fine, and answers anything fine but makes the bulbs almost completely unusable.
A lot of times she’ll give me the message about network and access but then the lights will come on 10-20 seconds later. It also causes issues from my phone and in the HomeKit app, the bulbs all become very unresponsive. I unplug the HomePod, and less than a minute later everything is back to working great. Getting pretty frustrated and not sure what else to try. Even my original HomePod in the kitchen has trouble connecting when the mini is plugged in.

i do believe even when my phone and the HomePod have this issue my Apple TV does not have trouble controlling the bulbs.
I did find that my regular HomePod was on 2.4ghz and mini was on 5ghz. Switched the mini to 2.4ghz and things were still bad or worse. Wifi strength is not the issue, phone sitting on the nightstand gets well over 300/Mbps on 5ghz and usually pretty high on 2.4ghz. Getting 50-75 right now.
 
@AJTC What brand is the light strip you are having problems with?

You mentioned you had Philips Hue lights that are NOT having issues, and others in this thread are having issues with some other brands too that DO NOT have a dedicated hub/bridge.....so I wonder if there is products that are HomeKit enabled that are wifi only (as in, NO dedicated hub/bridge) that are seeing some sort of teething problems when there is a HomePod mini in the mix?
 
The light strip is Ledvance. I got it on sale but it’s usually the same price as the Philips Hue light strip so not exactly cheap.

apps.apple.com

‎LEDVANCE SMART+ Bluetooth

‎With the LEDVANCE SMART+ Bluetooth app, you decide how you want to use all products in our SMART+ Bluetooth family (OSRAM or LEDVANCE branded). Enable our products to control them with Google Home app or Amazon Alexa app. For both options the respective smart speaker is required. You can also...
apps.apple.com

That’s the app but I don’t use it because it’s pretty bad.

I don’t think it’s connecting over WiFi either because setup doesn’t involve selecting WiFi, just adding an accessory in the Home app. I think it’s connecting over Bluetooth with any Apple Home hub it can find close by like the Eve Smart plug does. It’s right next to a HomePod Mini and 3 meters from a stereo pair of HomePods and an Apple TV so one of those is usually the connected Home hub when I look in the app. I haven’t actually seen the Mini selected as the Home hub yet.
 
I believe LEDVANCE and SYLVANIA use the same technology for a lot of their stuff since both HomeKit lines are called Smart+ as well. I’ve now switched to unplugging my HomePod mini other than to listen to music. Debating on returning or waiting for an update from Apple right now.
 
@AJTC You mentioned that you think the Lightstrip is connecting over bluetooth rather than wifi....and that you have a Eve smart plug that also connects via bluetooth.......so, does your Eve smart plug work as expected with the HomePod mini?
 
malcky77 said:
@AJTC You mentioned that you think the Lightstrip is connecting over bluetooth rather than wifi....and that you have a Eve smart plug that also connects via bluetooth.......so, does your Eve smart plug work as expected with the HomePod mini?
Click to expand...
I just checked and the Eve smart plug works fine with the HomePod Mini.
 
iOS 14.2.1 resolved this for me. I unplugged the light strip after the update and a few mins after I plugged it back in I asked the Mini to turn it on/off and it did straight away.
 
Since the HomePod update it’s been better but I still get the make sure you are connected message from time to time and no response. Also when it does work it’s still not as fast as asking Siri on my phone or full size HomePod.
 
i have had issues with homepods after updating them on several occasions. What I found was the homepods (regular and mini) needed to be restarted after the update to work properly. By restart I mean unplug, leave for 10 secs and then plug back in. I don’t know if this is a homepods issue or something to do with my wifi, but if you are having problems it’s at least worth a try. My homepods and all devices are now working solidly across the house.
 
I'm having the same issues with 14.3 on the mini, using the SYLVANIA 74521 Smart LED Flex Strip.

Initially the mini wouldn't control them at all, now after 14.3 it will but it takes a good 20-30 seconds....after it says it didn't hear back from them.

That is the single HomePod Mini....the stereo pair I have in the bedroom still won't control the strips at all.

The regular full size HomePods still control them all just fine and almost immediate.
 
AJTC said:
iOS 14.2.1 resolved this for me. I unplugged the light strip after the update and a few mins after I plugged it back in I asked the Mini to turn it on/off and it did straight away.
Click to expand...
Hi!

I have purchased the Homepod Mini and the iOS 14.3 does not solve anything. Lights (Ledadvance/Sylvania) do not work with Homepod Mini but they works with my iPhone. The eve smart plug works fine. I think the bug continues...

My question is, dont you have any problem now with the new update? It is fustrating, as @CowboyDude38 says, It seems the homepod mini didnt resolve the problem...

Regards!
 
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Hi All,
I’m facing similar issues since I upgraded my 2 HomePods mini to 14.4.
Siri cannot reach most of my HomeKit devices, but it does when using my HomePod (regular) or my iPhone. After moving minis around my home I can confirm is not a WIFI connection issue.
Only sometimes works using Siri on minis. But maybe it’s just around 1 out of 10 that it works. What I saw is that HomeKit WIFI devices work pretty well, but is not case if devices have Bluetooth HomeKit connection (most of my devices). Just to provide you some more information.
It is so frustrating see how minis fail again and again , and how HomePod (regular) an iPhone work successfully.
I’d tried to reset the minis several times (factory reset), and the issue persists.
Any idea, any help will be very appreciated.
Thank you.
David.
 
David16 said:
Hi All,
I’m facing similar issues since I upgraded my 2 HomePods mini to 14.4.
Siri cannot reach most of my HomeKit devices, but it does when using my HomePod (regular) or my iPhone. After moving minis around my home I can confirm is not a WIFI connection issue.
Only sometimes works using Siri on minis. But maybe it’s just around 1 out of 10 that it works. What I saw is that HomeKit WIFI devices work pretty well, but is not case if devices have Bluetooth HomeKit connection (most of my devices). Just to provide you some more information.
It is so frustrating see how minis fail again and again , and how HomePod (regular) an iPhone work successfully.
I’d tried to reset the minis several times (factory reset), and the issue persists.
Any idea, any help will be very appreciated.
Thank you.
David.
Click to expand...
Hi,

I finally changed my two bluetooth bulbs for a couple that works with wifi. No problem at all. I dont know what apple is doing with it... The 14.4 now has broken the handoff between my iPhone and the homepos mini (other bluetooth issue...)

Sorry man, I hope Apple fix it!
 
hertor said:
Hi,

I finally changed my two bluetooth bulbs for a couple that works with wifi. No problem at all. I dont know what apple is doing with it... The 14.4 now has broken the handoff between my iPhone and the homepos mini (other bluetooth issue...)

Sorry man, I hope Apple fix it!
Click to expand...
Hi again to everyone,
Finally I found a workaround!! And it really works with my Bluetooth devices.
As I mentioned, I have 2 HomePods mini in 2 different bedrooms, so I created 4 shortcuts (2 actions for each light, ON & OFF), and that’s all, it works with no failure.
I guess HomePod mini is trying to use Bluetooth to turn on/off the light and it’s not possible due to some constraints. With this workaround, Siri sends to iCloud my shortcut that I’m saying, analyze it and comeback to my home to proceed with the execution. And to do that, uses my AppleTV, therefore it works!
Hope anyone facing this issue can use this workaround to “fix it”.

Best regards,
David.
 
David16 said:
Hi again to everyone,
Finally I found a workaround!! And it really works with my Bluetooth devices.
As I mentioned, I have 2 HomePods mini in 2 different bedrooms, so I created 4 shortcuts (2 actions for each light, ON & OFF), and that’s all, it works with no failure.
I guess HomePod mini is trying to use Bluetooth to turn on/off the light and it’s not possible due to some constraints. With this workaround, Siri sends to iCloud my shortcut that I’m saying, analyze it and comeback to my home to proceed with the execution. And to do that, uses my AppleTV, therefore it works!
Hope anyone facing this issue can use this workaround to “fix it”.

Best regards,
David.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for posting this. The shortcuts have made it work consistently. It was still hit and miss for me until I added the shortcuts.
 
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Can u explain how to make and activate shortcuts? I have HomePod mini and Ledvance smart plus RGB light /bluetooth version/. No way to control it via mini. Via iPhone works well.
 
darkheroz said:
Can u explain how to make and activate shortcuts? I have HomePod mini and Ledvance smart plus RGB light /bluetooth version/. No way to control it via mini. Via iPhone works well.
Click to expand...
Apple support explains that very well. Besides that, you can also check lots of YouTube videos related with Shortcuts creation. It’s pretty simple.
 
shortcuts via HomePod mini work ONLY if iPhone BT is on and in lamp range. BT on Mini don't work with lamp without iPhone.
 
I sure wish they would get this fixed in the next update....I'm having trouble keeping my two paired up as well...it keeps dropping out one speaker.
 
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