Is there a way to pair a homepod to the apple tv such that it persists? Im finding waking the atv from sleep I have to reselect audio out preference back to the homepod to get it working again.
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How to persistently pair a homepod to atv?
- Thread starter dugbug
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At least it is little easier now to swipe down on most apps to reveal the audio output selection. But it is irritating to need to do this.
Pulling down has always worked. It just doesn’t work in YouTube. Holding the play/pause button on the home screen or in the tv app works. Now it’s more of a hassle because now you have to deselect the tv as an audio source if you want to be able to change the volume with the remote.
Im not sure it’s working as designed. I have two HomePods setup in a pair for my tv and never ever use them for anything else like answering calls or even asking Siri anything. They’re just speakers for my TV. I have the paired HomePods set as the Audio output in settings, but have never once heard any of the UI clicks or anything from them. And I’m finding that I always have to swipe down and select them as the option.
I’m sorry, but you’re incorrect. HomePod was never designed to be used as a sound bar replacement. It doesn’t have a center channel for dialogue. So when there’s a lot of background noise dialogue can sometimes get very muddled. Not a big deal to me. I just use the remote and ask what was said. Almost all the services I use do the CC when you ask what was said.
AirPlay is working the way AirPlay was designed to work. AirPlay disconnects automatically after a period of inactivity. Try AirPlaying from your iPhone or iPad to your HomePods. Pause after a bit. Wait like 10-15 min or longer. You’ll see that at some point AirPlay has disconnected. Every once in awhile AirPlay won’t disconnect from tv to HomePod, but it’s a glitch that’s not supposed to happen.
BTW, AirPlaying from tv to HomePod was still in beta until September 24, 2019. As far as I’m concerned it still should be. It doesn’t work flawlessly. We should be able to set it up once and never have to do it again. I do use Siri to make/answer calls. But after I’m done it should be smart enough to reconnect to the tv. I bought a new TCL Roku smart TV in September. My last tv was a Vizio from 2012 and the speakers sounded fine. This new TV has terrible speakers. So I disabled them in the settings. Now I’m using my HomePods full time so I understand your frustration.
It may not be working how you want, but it is working as designed. I don't think Apple's ever suggested hooking them up for watching TV. AirPlay is intended to be an ad-hoc connection, rather than a permanent one.
If Apple made a HomePod Home Theater (either a center channel or a L/C/R bar), that was wired properly for a persistent connection, I'd be all over that.
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