HomePod Stupid playback issues with HomePod/Music iOS

[moondad]

I’ve bought a pair of HomePods that I’m using in a stereo pair.

Firstly, Spotify doesn’t AirPlay reliably - it has weird stereo issues, whereby most of the sound will be on one channel, or they’ll desynchronise so the right channel is delayed by a few hundred milliseconds. Not all the time, but frequently enough to make it a problem.

OK - so I resign myself to having to use Apple Music until that situation is resolved.

But it turns out there’s a really stupid issue with AirPlay from the Music app: gapless playback doesn’t work. In 2020. So, if I’m listening to an album like The Wall, it’s interrupted with a break in between every song. However, if I say “Hey Siri - play The Wall by Pink Floyd” it plays it back seamlessly. So, despite having an up-to-date version on both my 8 plus and the HomePods, the synchronisation between them is really poor. I really don’t want to be restricted to having to talk to Siri every time I want to play an album properly.

Surely I can’t be the only one with this issue?

 

[malcky77]

I don't airplay/stream anything from any of my apple devices....I prefer to start music playing on the HomePod by asking Siri to play whatever I want, then once its started playing some music and I want to play something else, I would then use the control centre of the "I" devices to connect to the HomePod, which of course opens the Music App to do whatever you want.......I do it this way just to make sure the HomePod IS the source of the music playback and not being streamed/airplayed from the phone/iPad etc.

 

[moondad]

*Update* I’m getting the same problem intermittently when streaming direct to HomePod too. This is pretty shoddy.

 

[moondad]

Another infuriating thing is the way that the Home app UI works - if I tap on the HomePod icon to... oh I dunno... do something crazy like check the settings, or skip the track, whatever, it pauses playback. This is irritating enough without the fact that it takes about 3 seconds to do so, and tapping it again doesn’t stop the process. Because of course everyone should realise that the obvious way to get to all the useful features requires you to hold your finger on the icon 🙄

 

[malcky77]

Not sure if its a streaming issue or not........I personally have never had a problem playing music on any of the 4 HomePods I have in the house.....but as mentioned, I always make sure the HomePod is actually the source of the music and NOT being streamed from anything.

 

[moondad]

Not sure if its a streaming issue or not........I personally have never had a problem playing music on any of the 4 HomePods I have in the house.....but as mentioned, I always make sure the HomePod is actually the source of the music and NOT being streamed from anything.

Do you have them configured in stereo pairs?

 

[malcky77]

@moondad , No my 4 HomePods are in different rooms as single units.

Experiment to try see if it is a streaming/airplay issue or not by making sure your HomePods are the source of the music playing by asking the HomePod Siri to start something on your music list.....then use your phone's control centre to connect to the HomePods to then start your pink Floyd album you've mentioned before and see if the issue you have still happens?

 

[Bogstandard]

To my ear, the mics get confused if you have a second sound source playing the same content simultaneously. The volume varies. Also, the touted soundstage which is inaudible to me when the hpod is solo, jumps around.

 

[boltjames]

But it turns out there’s a really stupid issue with AirPlay from the Music app: gapless playback doesn’t work. In 2020. So, if I’m listening to an album like The Wall, it’s interrupted with a break in between every song. However, if I say “Hey Siri - play The Wall by Pink Floyd” it plays it back seamlessly. So, despite having an up-to-date version on both my 8 plus and the HomePods, the synchronisation between them is really poor. I really don’t want to be restricted to having to talk to Siri every time I want to play an album properly.

Surely I can’t be the only one with this issue?

You need to stop the habit of using your iPhone as the music source. Use your voice and Siri to initiate HomePod and start it playing something. Then grab your iPhone. Swipe down from the top right to bring up Control Center and tap the Music brick. You will get a list of all connected devices including the HomePod. Long-press the HomePod in Control Center and it will launch the Music app and from that point forward everything you navigate to on the iPhone will be controlling Apple Music and not the library on your iPhone. Solves that problem.
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*Update* I’m getting the same problem intermittently when streaming direct to HomePod too. This is pretty shoddy.

Intermittent problems with what? Gapless playback on a gapless album or something else? When using Siri or when attempting it from your iPhone (the root of your issue)?
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Another infuriating thing is the way that the Home app UI works - if I tap on the HomePod icon to... oh I dunno... do something crazy like check the settings, or skip the track, whatever, it pauses playback. This is irritating enough without the fact that it takes about 3 seconds to do so, and tapping it again doesn’t stop the process. Because of course everyone should realise that the obvious way to get to all the useful features requires you to hold your finger on the icon 🙄

When you are in the Home app and want to get to the settings for a device, you need to long-press that device to get to the settings and it won't pause the music. Long-press. It's your friend.