HomePods: no more "play everywhere", no AirPlay to multiple HomePods since 26.5

Tech Support
1

I have a weird issue going on since updating my HomePods to 26.5.

I currently own:

  • 2 HomePods 2nd gen, set up as a stereo pair
  • 1 HomePod mini in the same room as the above-mentioned HomePods (stereo pair)
  • 2 HomePod minis, set up as a stereo pair
  • 1 HomePod 1st gen, in the same room as the HomePod mini stereo pair

Yes, a weird setup. It has “happened” over the years… Long story…

My issue:

  • “Play everywhere” does not work anymore. The HomePod receiving the Siri request will start playing, all other HomePods light up, go dark, and do not play anything, no error message.
  • “Play X in room Y” does not work anymore. The HomePod receiving the Siri request will start playing, all other HomePods in the room light up, go dark, and do not play anything, no error message.
  • AirPlay to several HomePods does not work, only to one HomePod, no matter if I try to AirPlay from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Same behavior as explained above: I am able to AirPlay to one HomePod or stereo pair. When I select more HomePods, they light up, the AirPlay Screen shows a connection, the HomePods go dark, the connection is lost (no error message), the HomePod first selected will keep playing.

Rebooting the HomePods or other devices does not change anything. No network issues. The HomePods work fine on their own.

26.5 came with “network fixes” for HomePods. Well, I had no issues before. Now, I do have issues… :person_shrugging:

Anybody else experiencing this issue?

2

I just moved and had to reset my HomePod minis (4, in two pairs) to get them to respond approriately to play everywhere, three times, after the initial reset because I moved. 26.5.1

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3

Everything is working again.

So, what have I done?

  1. Yesterday, I reset the single HomePod mini and set it up as new (as @LisaSpangenberg has suggested - thank you! :slight_smile: ).
    I have not changed anything on or with the other HomePods.
    Unfortunately, the issues were not resolved immediately after the reset.

  2. I filed a report in Apple’s Feedback Assistant.

Whatever did the trick: today, everything is fine again. It may have been the reset trickling down in Apple Home, it may have been the feedback (I doubt it), it may have been the MPU karma. I don’t know. :slight_smile:

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