HomePod HomePod Setup w/ 12.2 does not do Stereo Pair

[BarrettF77]

I'll clarify as many will read and say I'm wrong.

First off I updated from 12.1.3 yesterday on all but 1 that required a factory reset. 3 of the other units had issues with frequently requesting my Apple ID password for my iTunes info. So I opted to restore all 6 HomePods in 3 different rooms to their factory default. (Note: I've attempted this by unplugging and then holding down for the 3 beeps successfully and also by removing from HomeKit App and letting them reset this way too)

The issue is I can set them up in a Stereo Pair, but they WILL NOT operate in a stereo pair if you tell them to play music in one room where 2 of them are. Only one will. If you un pair and repair the two, the end result is the same. After several hours of pulling from my IT background I threw in the towel this morning and reached out to apple.

Evidently I've exhausted every option they had prior to even speaking with me and Sr. Support has now escalated the case to their Engineering Dept. So if you have some issues do not uninstall and try and re-setup for the time being and avoid the mistake I did. Seriously disappointed with Apple and their lack of QA these days. Development 101 guys... Cmon

 

[BarrettF77]

I read some older forum posts and evidently resetting and then restarting the wifi network or router can fix it and oddly enough that seems to have addressed it for the interim.

 

[BarrettF77]

Updating again. 12.2 doesn't work externally on 12.2 for stereo pair.

Apples software has seriously became crappy. Waiting on their engineering team again....

 

[BlankStar]

Really sucks reading this. Can only tell that 12.2 didn't introduce any issues here... Keep this thread updated please, want to know how it evolves.

 

[BarrettF77]

Was yours already in a stereo pair prior to going onto 12.2?

 

[BlankStar]

Yeah, since iOS 11.4 when they introduced stereo pairing.

 

[chabig]

I can set them up in a Stereo Pair, but they WILL NOT operate in a stereo pair if you tell them to play music in one room where 2 of them are.

This is a bit confusing. Can you clarify? Two speakers in a stereo pair will always be in the same room.

 

[BlankStar]

This is a bit confusing. Can you clarify? Two speakers in a stereo pair will always be in the same room.

He said he has six homepods, three pairs in three rooms. When he wants a pair to play, only one homepod will start to play instead of two.

 

[BarrettF77]

I have 3 sets of pairs or 6 HomePods across 3 rooms.

So the home app will show the icon for the two being paired. When playing music from the iOS device it would send content to the selected pair.

BUT, if the volume can be different on one home pod from another in “the stereo pair” which shouldn’t be possible. If you give a command to the stereo pair like play music, only one will play. When giving HomePods a command they will all light up as though they are all trying to take the command. Which a stereo pair should have a master that handles everything and a slave that is driven by the master. Does that clarify?

I also love when I talked to Apple support, just like in the store” they always claim that’s the first they are hearing of this issue. As though all trouble cases come through one representative. Fairly certain there aren’t HomePods coming from factory with 12.2 installed on them yet. But there could also be something on my end as a variable. But from Timecapsule to the devices and emails, everything is Apple and no third party items. So it’s either something to do with my account or it’s to do with the OS. 6 HomePods would not all fail at once unless the software bricked them. And it has not.

 

[chabig]

I would think that if they aren't operating as a pair, they are not a pair. Perhaps unpair them in the Home app and try again.

 

[BarrettF77]

I would think that if they aren't operating as a pair, they are not a pair. Perhaps unpair them in the Home app and try again.

I’ve done this 8 times or more. Hard reset from unplugging. Resetting by removing from home app. Pairing by proximity and holding it close to the homepods, pairing by using the plus icon in the home app and adding this way. Adding them as a stereo pair, setting them up individually and then making them a stereo pair. Restarting the WiFi. Every possible combination I can think of or supper suggested I have tried. Renaming them in a different room.

12.2 is just a pooch in so many ways. I will re-attempt with beta 2 of 12.3 if they address the palm rejection as maybe the setup from the phone is the issue. Not really sure. But as someone who works in IT software development, this is outright shameful the lack of QA that went into this release all in the name of keeping the things like news and the new beats Pro a secret that weren’t in the beta releases. When you add things that aren’t previously widely tested you start to run into issues and that’s exactly what’s happened here with apple.

 

[xodh]

I have had the same experience as you OP, since upgrading to 12.2 from a pre-existing stereo pair.

Prior to upgrade they were rock solid stable. Like you I have factory reset and removed them from Home, then reinstalled them, and rebooted the router.

That provides for a temporary fix, but had to repeat the whole process earlier today.

One other anomaly observed is that when the "stereo pair", were operating independently (despite showing in Home as a pair?), when asked the time via Siri, simultaneously but independently reported totally different times?

I have also had to re-input my password several times via the Home app. Never had to do that prior to 12.2?

 

[BarrettF77]

So this is proof this may not be account specific and may indeed be OS related.

Thanks for sharing

 

[chabig]

I still think something is weird with your setup. What if you leave four of them unplugged? Do the remaining two operate paired? I would think the most common situation is for people to have just two HomePods operating in a pair (as I do). Perhaps the problem only shows itself when there are more than two.

You mentioned: hard reset, and removing from the Home app. Those seem like extreme methods.
Try pairing just two at a time, leaving the rest unplugged. Unpair them using the "approved" method before repairing them.

1. Launch the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Long press on the HomePod pair.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap "Ungroup Accessories".
5. Tap Ungroup to confirm that you want to ungroup the two HomePods.

After they are ungrouped. Try grouping them again:

1. Long press on the HomePod pair.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap "Create Stereo Pair..."
4. Tap the second speaker
5. Verify the correct left and right speaker and you're done

 

[BarrettF77]

I still think something is weird with your setup. What if you leave four of them unplugged? Do the remaining two operate paired? I would think the most common situation is for people to have just two HomePods operating in a pair (as I do). Perhaps the problem only shows itself when there are more than two.

You mentioned: hard reset, and removing from the Home app. Those seem like extreme methods.
Try pairing just two at a time, leaving the rest unplugged. Unpair them using the "approved" method before repairing them.

1. Launch the Home app on your iPhone.
2. Long press on the HomePod pair.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap "Ungroup Accessories".
5. Tap Ungroup to confirm that you want to ungroup the two HomePods.

After they are ungrouped. Try grouping them again:

1. Long press on the HomePod pair.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap "Create Stereo Pair..."
4. Tap the second speaker
5. Verify the correct left and right speaker and you're done

Yes, all good suggestions and this has also been tried. I’ve had 3 pairs in operation since 11.4 when this was enabled. Zero issues to date. Only when we got into the 12.1.3 and 12.2 releases have any issues cropped up. And there have been no new devices or network changes made.

And good point on u plugging and having only two. That also didn’t change the issue either. Believe me, this one has me trying everything I can think of. And if it had been where only two of these could be in my house at one time, I’d have already been on the phone with apple asking for a refund of them as that would be like saying you can only have two iPhones on a family WiFi network or something.

 

[chabig]

Are you near enough to an Apple store that you could carry two of them in to demonstrate how they don't pair? Mine have never given me problems, never required re-pairing, and never failed to update. Asking for your iTunes password is probably normal behavior for new devices as well as for devices that are factory reset.

 

[BarrettF77]

The closest to me is 45 min away and that's 90 min out of my day I don't need. In the same way there are things you are very skilled and competent at, IT is my bread and butter and even when I called senior support and the engineers came back I had already tried every single troubleshooting step they have in their playbook. So going to the idiot bar (pardon my French but they really aren't that helpful nor are they going to be better equipped) isn't pertinent in this situation. Besides, they would need my environment to capture everything, which all the diagnostic information has been provided to the engineers. If a replacement is merited, then we are talking 6 devices in total all having a failure at the same time. Which is mathematically unlikely to have a failure at the same time. In 20 years of being in IT, I've never seen once a instance where 6 computers all fail at one time unless there was a software component at play that was changed on all at the same time.

But again, good ideas. I simply don't think demonstrating this in a store would do anything more than showing them the same issue I could by video and emailing it. Except I'm not out gas and time.

 

[chabig]

I understand about your IT expertise. I'm an expert in my field too.

You said, "In 20 years of being in IT, I've never seen once a instance where 6 computers all fail at one time unless there was a software component at play...." But these six speakers have more than just hardware and software in common--the same person set them up, and they are all running on the same network.

And that is why I think the Apple store might be a good idea. I am not at all placing blame. You think you've tried everything, but what if your expertise caused you to miss something so simply obvious that you didn't even notice? It could happen. If you let the "Genius" try to pair two of your speakers, it removes you from the picture. Assuming they don't pair, the word of the Apple Genius that they don't work is going to carry more weight than yours. Apple might even want to "capture" your devices for analysis, or even just refund all six.

Also, taking them to the store does remove them from your environment, as you said. But have you considered that putting them on another network might be a good troubleshooting step? Can you take them to a friend's house (who lives closer than the Apple store) and try them there?

I just thinking out loud and tossing ideas around. I know there have been times in my career that I've missed the obvious.

 

[BarrettF77]

I think in the above scenario that if these had never been setup or working before then there would definitely be some merit to all of these. But given I've managed to set these up several times initially on previous OS's and never had a hiccup then that would remove the potential for it being my apple router which is still on the latest version of 7.7.9 FW.

The selling point with apple has always been "it just works" and it "simply isn't" so the point about there being an error in how I'm doing it would also imply the process is difficult, which it isn't. You hold it by the device, it asks to pair, you say yes and then enter your password. Second device, it asks again for the room, automatically says do you want to stereo pair and then the rest of the process is the same. That simple of a process shouldn't require anything extraordinary.

If it comes down to me having to take these to a store I'm simply inclined to just ask for a refund and part ways. I pay a premium to have an apple logo on my things as many of us do. And if they are simply unable to provide this, then it is what it is and maybe apple isn't the fit for me any longer. I don't believe that's the case here. But they have certainly not delivered with other issues un-named here in 12.2 and 10.14.4 so there are several items I've found that have cropped up in this release all likely due in part to Apple needing secrecy prior to the event last Monday and therefore these final releases had different code groups truncated into a final release and it hasn't panned out as planned.

I'm fairly confident 12.3 will be a much more solid release and it's likely going to take until then to get resolved as I've experienced an issue before like this 5 years ago that was FW related on a 27" iMac that caused image tearing and audio screeching from the speakers. I had to sign a NDA from Apple to get a pre-release fix and it sure enough addressed it.

 

[nierensieb]

...

Just wanted to let you know I have the exact same problem as you do and am rooting for either Apple getting their... stuff right or you finding a solution. It is definitely not a singular issue you are experiencing.

My three Homepods weren't exactly stable before, often loosing connection to the internet or taking forever to respond to voice commands, which makes me think the problem might be they don't work together with my router and/or wifi-settings. And 12.2 amplified whatever the problem is.

 

[BarrettF77]

Ya I've had to restart the network too at times or unplug the HomePod because they got confused and weren't pinging like they should on the network. I get that stuff happens, but it's been just getting increasingly worse over the last year.

I've also sent an email to TCook@Apple and will see if we get the executive relations dept involved. I'm firing on all cylinders with this issue currently. And have put the ball back in the engineer's court to verify they have indeed performed what I have in setup w/ 12.2. Apple naturally pushed back on this a bit, but we also need them to verify a baseline too because just blaming the customer w/out knowledge that Apple has indeed tested this is kinda moot.

 

[BlankStar]

Take two homepods to your neighbors or friends, set them up on their wifi, see what gives?

 

[BarrettF77]

Take two homepods to your neighbors or friends, set them up on their wifi, see what gives?

I’m still waiting on Apple to get back to me. If it gets to the point that I need to unplug and transport these things, then they are all getting unplugged and returned.

I’m kinda over the lack of support from Apple on this stuff and with the price drop today in these they are either king that with the inclusion of HomeKit coming to TVs which could be why the stereo pairing got broken in the first place, or they are seeing this as a failed product and to clear inventory.

It’s been a week and a half that I’ve waited on engineering now and their support has been pretty poor I must say. The next few months will be very telling if I start to break my apple ecosystem apart the same way I did when I switched from PC to Mac 15 years ago.

A lot of faith has been lost under Timmeh and the lack of quality products and especially software. These speakers are very capable. But Siri is probable the most idiotic AI assistant on the market. It’s the sound quality that has kept me with them.

I’ll update once more feedback has occurred.

 

[burgman]

I’m still waiting on Apple to get back to me. If it gets to the point that I need to unplug and transport these things, then they are all getting unplugged and returned.

I’m kinda over the lack of support from Apple on this stuff and with the price drop today in these they are either king that with the inclusion of HomeKit coming to TVs which could be why the stereo pairing got broken in the first place, or they are seeing this as a failed product and to clear inventory.

It’s been a week and a half that I’ve waited on engineering now and their support has been pretty poor I must say. The next few months will be very telling if I start to break my apple ecosystem apart the same way I did when I switched from PC to Mac 15 years ago.

A lot of faith has been lost under Timmeh and the lack of quality products and especially software. These speakers are very capable. But Siri is probable the most idiotic AI assistant on the market. It’s the sound quality that has kept me with them.

I’ll update once more feedback has occurred.

What WiFi system are you using? Mesh, single router, or another setup? My Xfinity Modem with xPods has a major problem with my IOS devices, no problem with my Windows, IoT devices. Also no probelms with IOS after I returned the xPods.

 

[nierensieb]

FWIW I did take both my HomePods with the same problem as the OP to my parent's house and got the same problem there.
Just now however I deleted my whole home from the Home App and set it up from the beginning (so not just the HomePods but the whole Home app) and was successful with the stereo pairing. The two things are actually playing in stereo as I type.
Might be worth a shot, though I don't know how long this fix will last.