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How to Use Your HomePod as a Speaker for Your Apple TV
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Some sources are just very quiet, like HBO on the ATV for instance.
There's actually one other way which is:
- Start playback of a video such as through an app or the TV App
- Scroll down from the top of the remote
- Scroll over to Audio
- Select the HomePod Device from that list.
I made some specific notes on how exactly HomePod interacts with the Apple TV here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...diately-evident.2105162/page-16#post-25798694
I wish all apps would follow that standard. DirecTV Now doesn't use it.
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Yeah, it's the lack of volume on airplay videos that is killing me.
I would definitely consider this if I could use HomePod for all my devices. I understand why they didn’t include AUX or any physicals inputs. HomePod is really a smart speaker, not for a home theater. If the beamforming speakers and bass are as good as I’ve heard they are, then this seems like it could be very usable in a small space.
Umm. Did you try? If something is playing on my Apple TV and I press the top of the HomePod (Play/Pause), it pauses. Another press, it plays again.
If I ask Siri (through HomePod) to pause, it pauses. Ask to play, it plays.
Ask to set volume, it sets volume.
That, to me, seems like I’m “controlling playing in some way using HomePod”.
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do you unplug your refrigerator?
You don’t leave your fridge, microwave, tv,etc... plugged in? You need to learn to relax man.
I will not be buying a second one until this gets fixed. I REALLY don't think two will do it. I may return during my 14 day window. This was going to be my primary use. Ugh. It's not good.
There are numerous stories and comments about the abilities and limitations of a HomePod as used for audio while watching TV/movies.
I really can’t understand wanting that device for that purpose. It’s designed to produce room filling sound for music, it just doesn’t seem suitable. I haven’t seen Apple mention it as a purpose or possibility. It’s great tech that allows HomePod to tune for, and spread around, any given room, but it is still so directionless for use in a home theatre. Apple could make few adjustments to allow for multiple HomePods to be arranged and tuned for home theatre use, or make another soundbar-esque addition to the lineup. But they haven’t done it yet, and haven’t signalled that they intend to.
If you really are considering using HomePod(s) as a home theatre, please reconsider and look into sound bars with subwoofers or other 3.1 audio setups. There are many excellent options that will sound so much better, and be more flexible by working with your other audio/video inputs.
I really can’t understand wanting that device for that purpose. It’s designed to produce room filling sound for music, it just doesn’t seem suitable. I haven’t seen Apple mention it as a purpose or possibility. It’s great tech that allows HomePod to tune for, and spread around, any given room, but it is still so directionless for use in a home theatre. Apple could make few adjustments to allow for multiple HomePods to be arranged and tuned for home theatre use, or make another soundbar-esque addition to the lineup. But they haven’t done it yet, and haven’t signalled that they intend to.
If you really are considering using HomePod(s) as a home theatre, please reconsider and look into sound bars with subwoofers or other 3.1 audio setups. There are many excellent options that will sound so much better, and be more flexible by working with your other audio/video inputs.
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That's not true. You can definitely control playback with commands like:
"pause"
"resume"
"go back 2 minutes"
"go to 15 minutes"
It’s in the article, but this wasn’t a shortcut I knew about. I’ve got a Bluetooth speaker we use and this seems like a much better way to hook in.
There is something called “reference level”. The Home Pod will never come close to it. I use my JBL 590 towers for movies. Those get to 115 dB.
I want it to replace my TV speaker for a number of reasons besides audio quality.
- If the HomePod is aware of the audio that is playing through your TV it will be significantly better at noise cancelling. It hears you much much better while watching TV. Additionally it can’t be accidentally set off by someone saying something on TV that resembles “Hey Siri”.
- When you say “hey Siri” it reduces the TV volume so that I can issue a command without talking over the TV.
- I’m able to issue Siri commands for playback on the Apple TV hands free without looking for a remote. (Play/Pause/Skip/etc - and I expect more in the future)
- On my TVs, Apple TV doesn’t control the TV volume through HDMI-CEC (for no apparent reason), so the HomePod being connected means I can control the volume through iOS remotes and the Apple TV remote (and as mentioned before, with my voice). You can also set volume to a specific percent instead of just up and down.
- When connected, the Apple TV and the HomePod merge to form one device in AirPlay 2, which makes it easier and more streamlined to select a target for music and other audio.
- Audio quality isn’t actually a huge step up from TV speakers since it’s very mono and flat, but there is certainly more bass. It takes some getting used to but it’s rather pleasant.
Yes you can.
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Yes but there is a substantial amount of lag with system sounds and games at the moment. Videos and music play fine.
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Not currently, but I am very much hoping Apple comes up with a solution soon. The automatic disconnecting (which also happens if you ask the HomePod to play music) really makes use with Apple TV a bad experience - especially for the less technical people in my family.
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I think this is just something Apple will need to fix since Music is SIGNIFICANTLY louder. It’s pretty irritating to get blasted with noise anytime I switch from TV to music.The audio volume is so low using when using apps in Apple TV. I crank the volume up to max, and it's not really very loud. This is my one disappointment with homepod. Not sure why this is the case. Grrr.
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I read someone was using it with an Apple TV 3 with no problems.
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They will work in stereo as Apple TV speakers, if you’re talking about all TV audio then no that will never happen. As it stands there is quite a bit of lag when using AirPlay with normal audio sources, I don’t think they are able to stream laglessly without having software on both ends to synchronize the video.
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Maybe TVs will eventually output sound wirelessly.
Leaning towards Sonos Playbar until then.
I want something does both tv and music and is simple. Don’t care as much about voice part and Alexa can always be added to sonos.
I use atv a lot. But also have consoles and TiVos in the House.
Leaning towards Sonos Playbar until then.
I want something does both tv and music and is simple. Don’t care as much about voice part and Alexa can always be added to sonos.
I use atv a lot. But also have consoles and TiVos in the House.
I’d say about 85%-90% volume for what I would consider normal TV watching. When playing music an equivalent would be 45% for the same volume.
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This is absolutely not true - you can issue many playback commands by voice to the HomePod.
HOWEVER this is not supported in all video playing Apps - only the native Apple player seems to be able to handle these commands. For example when using MrMc, Infuse, and VLC the HomePod will spit out errors when you issue playback commands. It’s possible MacRumors tested with one of these apps.
I think this is probably something developers who use non-native video players will be able to implement soon with a little effort.
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I believe that’s because most music has a lot of dynamic range compression so that it sounds louder all the time, where as movies use a much wider range, so whispered conversation scenes are much quieter than gunfights. Anyway, have you tried using the “reduce loud sounds” option on the Apple TV?
[doublepost=1518323479][/doublepost]How’s the delay with apps?
The problem exists even with “reduce loud sounds” on. It’s really an issue with the firmware that Apple will need to fix. I’m sure it won’t take long.
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It’s absolutely terrible - around 5 seconds, and this is on a 5ghz 802.11ac network with sub-1ms latency.
They implemented something that plays Apple TV system sounds immediately and in sync, but when running games it is awful, literally unusable. And even with synced video when you pause the video, audio will still keep going for 5 seconds.
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Why not just switch off the main circuit breaker for your home when you leave in the morning? That way you'll be assured that nothing is using power, whether plugged in or not.
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I couldn't get the HomePods to fit in my ears, so I've got them shoulder mounted on the top of a special backpack frame that's got ten 12v car batteries mounted on it. I get terrific battery life, but it's a little tricky getting through doorways.
Indeed. I'm realizing now that I actually wish the HomePods had an aux input (HDMI or maybe coax digital?) so that a "stereo" pair could go with a TV and handle all audio (I do most of my watching via Apple TV, which they'd work with, but it'd be nice to have a way to also connect something like a game console).