HomePod HomePod pausing randomly using Airplay on 11.2.6

[ANDJOE]

Since upgrading to 11.2.6 I have had a lot of trouble playing music and podcasts from my iOS devices using AirPlay. HomePod will play audio for about 3 minutes then pause.
The first time this happens the iOS device shows that the audio has paused.
The second time this happens the iOS device still thinks it is playing.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Problem submitted to Apple.

 

[TrueBlou]

Can’t speak for 11.2.6, I’m on the 11.3 beta and it’s not happening to me.

What apps are you using for playback?

There used to be an issue with AirPlay pausing when you had a live wallpaper on your lock screen, but that was quite some time ago now, I’d have thought it would be resolved. Still, if you do happen to be using a live wallpaper, try getting rid of it just to see.

 

[ANDJOE]

Can’t speak for 11.2.6, I’m on the 11.3 beta and it’s not happening to me.

What apps are you using for playback?

There used to be an issue with AirPlay pausing when you had a live wallpaper on your lock screen, but that was quite some time ago now, I’d have thought it would be resolved. Still, if you do happen to be using a live wallpaper, try getting rid of it just to see.

Odd! No live wallpaper. Just using stock Podcast App and Apple Music.

 

[TrueBlou]

Strange. I don’t know if you have been already, but have you tried it while preventing the device from automatically going to sleep. Or has your screen been active all of the time?

It may be a bug in that firmware I suppose, wouldn’t surprise me. But if it is it seems to be fixed in the 11.3 firmware.

 

[ANDJOE]

Strangely, adjusting the Auto-Lock duration on my iPhone seemed to temporarily bring more stability... for about a day.
Unfortunately I’m now back to the audio feed cutting out when using Podcast and Music apps.
Frustrating that I seem to be the only one with this issue!

 

[TrueBlou]

Strangely, adjusting the Auto-Lock duration on my iPhone seemed to temporarily bring more stability... for about a day.
Unfortunately I’m now back to the audio feed cutting out when using Podcast and Music apps.
Frustrating that I seem to be the only one with this issue!

There is a (very) bizarre bug with AirPlay on 11.2, I’ve not checked it on 11.3 yet, but anyway.

If you use Apple Pay, or the Apple Pay screen is inadvertently triggered near an NFC reader then it will cause AirPlay to pause intermittently, or when the screen locks.

It’s an odd, random bug but the only thing that fixes it is restarting your phone whenever it’s occurred.

So, if your AirPlay is pausing intermittently, try restarting your phone and then start the AirPlay up again after the reboot.
Worth checking at least.

 

[ANDJOE]

I have restarted my phone. I even reset HomePod.
I have found slightly similar issues here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8276279 and https://www.reddit.com/r/HomePod/comments/7yg4v2/homepod_keeps_pausing_stopping_music/ and https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8285899.
Would ideally like to solve this outside of waiting for next SW update. In fact one of the posters on reddit mentions he still has this issue on a beta of 11.3.

 

[TrueBlou]

I have restarted my phone. I even reset HomePod.
I have found slightly similar issues here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8276279 and https://www.reddit.com/r/HomePod/comments/7yg4v2/homepod_keeps_pausing_stopping_music/ and https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8285899.
Would ideally like to solve this outside of waiting for next SW update. In fact one of the posters on reddit mentions he still has this issue on a beta of 11.3.

I’m on the latest 11.3 beta myself and I don’t have the problem. Which makes it all the more frustrating, if it was something we all encountered then we’d know for certain it’s a software issue and it’ll be fixed.

When it’s random like this and we’re not all experiencing it, of course it can still be software (and it probably is) but pinning it down is harder.

Do you have access to the betas? I was looking on the developer website earlier and it seems there’s possibly on for the HomePod too. There’s a beta profile which can be installed on the HomePod so that suggests a possibility of a beta firmware. I’ve not tried it myself because I’m not having any issues, so it’s a not broken, don’t fix it situation.

But if you can get them it’s maybe worth giving it a go

 

[ANDJOE]

Having dealt with this for over a week now I do think it happens when I am actively using the iOS device supplying the stream. If I start music or a podcast then set the device down, there is rarely a problem. If however I am doing ANYTHING else on my phone it seizes up.

 

[ANDJOE]

Has this improved on 11.3?

 

[ANDJOE]

The answer is no. Still a problem.