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For streaming in the home office, I have. I got sick of draining my iPhone battery streaming from it to the HomePod when my Echo Dot can play SiriusXM natively w/o need of the phone. SXM also doesn't repeatedly cut out, or need multiple attempts to start/stop like it does on HomePod.
So far so good with the new OS. No lags, drifting with sync... so far. Maybe they finally fixed this silly thing that has been problematic since version 15.
Interesting, mine is even worse with Tahoe / Home OS 26. Before it would fail to connect, or say it was connected when it wasn't. Now it does that AND just stops playing every couple hours. Forget Siri, all I want is a simple AirPlay speaker and it can't even do that.
Mine wouldn’t connect to my iPhone 17 Pro Max.
I then tried to cast my iPhone with my M4 Mac Mini after updated to Mac OS26 and it worked.
I then came across a YouTube video that showed how to do a soft reset on the iPhone, it worked!
That didn’t last long.
It just cut out on one speaker again.
It has reconnected though at the moment.
☹️
I then tried to cast my iPhone with my M4 Mac Mini after updated to Mac OS26 and it worked.
I then came across a YouTube video that showed how to do a soft reset on the iPhone, it worked!
That didn’t last long.
It just cut out on one speaker again.
It has reconnected though at the moment.
☹️
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What I can’t stand is that they have still not given us an option to turn the damn shuffle off by default. It’s so annoying when you tell it to play an album and it constantly defaults to a shuffled tracklist. Even now on HomePodOS 26.
Even when AirPlaying from a phone, it’ll automatically shuffle whatever you’re listening to, you always have to go back and turn it off.
Even when AirPlaying from a phone, it’ll automatically shuffle whatever you’re listening to, you always have to go back and turn it off.
I've not had this problem. When i tell my homepod to play an album (or a playlist I created) it plays them in the correct order, everytime.
Well I’m out. The HP minis have always been one of the worst Apple devices I’ve owned. Slow and unreliable. A remote UI with massive lag. Sound has never been all that great with punchy little bass and pokey highs, leaving a lack of mids for a truly empty sound stage. Makes sense for having an 8 year old watch processor. I was expecting a nee model to improve matters but that never came. Now with OS 26, they are bottom rung. Which tracks given how Apple rolls. New model will handle OS 26/27 just fine. The first gen minis? Well… LOL.
Every new OS has tanked it’s performance by adding new features I have no need for. Playing music has always been spotty. The nee bug in OS 26 b3 is corrupted buffers which produce squelches and blips in some uploaded tracks that survives reboots.
It was really nice of Cook to cut off the exit strategy of using an iPad as a homekit hub though. Using my M4 iPad Pro to control Siri is palpable compared to the mini. Instant from “Hey Siri.”
They also removed Home controls from macOS which I don’t know how it didn’t lead to a riot. Offloading it to “Scenes” should have been the realization that Apple is on fumes regarding real innovation and now wedging corporate interest even above UX.
This company actually used to be about quality because their CEO almost bankrupted TWO companies in his pursuit of the perfect PC. The new CEO has heart palpitations over shaving 23 cents off every iPhone sold.
I don’t even care if they release a new one. Their walled garden is starting to feel like a jail.
Every new OS has tanked it’s performance by adding new features I have no need for. Playing music has always been spotty. The nee bug in OS 26 b3 is corrupted buffers which produce squelches and blips in some uploaded tracks that survives reboots.
It was really nice of Cook to cut off the exit strategy of using an iPad as a homekit hub though. Using my M4 iPad Pro to control Siri is palpable compared to the mini. Instant from “Hey Siri.”
They also removed Home controls from macOS which I don’t know how it didn’t lead to a riot. Offloading it to “Scenes” should have been the realization that Apple is on fumes regarding real innovation and now wedging corporate interest even above UX.
This company actually used to be about quality because their CEO almost bankrupted TWO companies in his pursuit of the perfect PC. The new CEO has heart palpitations over shaving 23 cents off every iPhone sold.
I don’t even care if they release a new one. Their walled garden is starting to feel like a jail.
I've never ventured into the HomePod/Home Pod Mini waters, but am considering them.. I currently have an Amazon Alexa in almost every room of the house. It used to work great for "whole home audio", but it's been pretty hit or miss lately. And Amazon has started displaying ads on the Show version - quite annoying.
I am waiting for the new version to drip my toes. I've been following this thread and reading up.
I am waiting for the new version to drip my toes. I've been following this thread and reading up.