Why do all my Homepods play the same music at different times after updating to IOS18? It doesn't happen in IOS17! There are more than 5 Homepods in my place. After I started to play for a while, maybe 3-5 songs, the audio does not sync anymore! It does like the delay time is a mess with the system!
HomePod, 18
still getting the sync issue on 18.1 anyone else ?
18.4 update. I gave up on an Apple Music subscription because of the sync issues, and went back to playing from the Music app on my Mac. I still had the false start issues, but not sync. I was hoping that 18.4 would fix those and I could go back to the subscription. I do miss being able to control volume and add/remove speakers from any device.
The false starts ended with 18.4, but now I'm getting sync issues. Still playing from my Mac. How's it going for those playing their own music through an Apple Music subscription?
False starts still gone. The sync issues appear to have been related to when the HomePods that were connected to the bedroom Apple TV (gen2) were added to the mix. The living room stereo HomePods went out of sync then. That might or might not have been because the Apple TV had not updated yet, but we rarely use that one, so I haven't reconnected them.
Is anyone able to confirm that Apple Music works without having to be resynced every few songs?
I had already disabled Dolby Atmos without improvement. I disabled Lossless and after 1 days full operation it was better. Using 1 Homepod Gen2 and 1 Homepod Mini stereo pair playing together all day without sync issues. Adding in 4 other Homepod Mini's did result in sync issues. I doubt Lossless is a significant quality loss when using Homepods but this would be a quality loss for uses using Apple Music through a hifi music streamer. For me being able to play our main room HP and Mini pair is a workable solution. Obviously there is a problem with HP's being able to stream more then 2 units with Lossless enabled and more then 3-4 unit with it disabled. At least for me. I'll update again after using the non-Lossless setting for a few days. Cheers!
Mine have both been disabled, and not enabled after I decided to give the Apple Music subscription another chance, and I'm still having lots of sync issues. Sometimes I can play for hours before I have to pause and sync. Other times, I have to do it every other song. But at least the false starts seem to be gone.
Very likely this issue has to do with Wi-fi coverage in your house.
In most Wi-Fi routers, you can check their admin interface to learn about the connection speed of any Wi-Fi device. This could be a step toward troubleshooting this. Find your HomePod's in the admin interface and see what connection speed they are on. You'd want to look at the following:
TxRate: (Transfer Rate). This should be a rate above 50 Mbps. Ideally something more like a few hundred Mbps to be sure there is plenty bandwidth to stream uninterruptedly.
Thank you.
Where would I find this with a Verizon FIOS router? (Yes, I am looking into a new router that is more configurable)
The only thing I can find under any of the HomePods and Minis is Phy Rate / Modulation Rate
72 Mbps. Nothing about TxRate in the manual, and an internet search didn't turn up anything other than upload and download speeds.
There does not seem to be any way to keep them in the 5GHz bands, but even when all the devices are connected there they still go out of sync. For example, while I was typing this, the stereo pair closest to me, and about 8' from the router, just went badly out of sync, with one several seconds behind the other. Usually the stereo pairs stay in sync, while the ones in other rooms are ahead or behind. This is a 100,000 square foot house, so range is rarely an issue.
The only way to force them to stay on 5GHz is to give the bands different names. I have a few devices that only run on 2.5GHz, and are a massive PITA to configure, so I'd rather not do that.
If they aren’t working as they should, a restart is your best option to resolve this. You can restart them via the Home App or unplug for 10 seconds to restart them.
Since 18.1 everything stable again. :)
Lucky you!
I still have the same problem after 18.2
I have disabled lossless and Dolby. That solved the problem for me.
Me too and I don’t get why Apple just can’t fix it. Why do we always have to find a workaround?!
Hi, it’s very frustrating. I made mine into a non stereo pair and left them like that for a few days then re paired them and so far it’s been ok. I have no confidence this will last though
Same here
Audio sync problem with multiple HomePod after update to IOS18
