Cannot airplay connect my iPhone to our HomePod because it paired to a different device on restart

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Level 2

159 points

Cannot airplay connect my iPhone to our HomePod because it paired to a different device on restart

It's taken me weeks to find out why we are having so much trouble connecting to our HomePod. We have three devices we use to play music on it via AirPlay: two iPhones and an iPad.

A typical scenario:

play something on my iPhone, then try to transfer it to the HomePod via Airplay: after a long time it times out. This with the phone two inches away from the HomePod, or even sitting on top of it.
unplug HomePod, then plug it in again. **Sometimes** this works, but lately it mostly fails.

Finally, I thought "Maybe it paired to some other device". So next failure, after power cycling it, I gathered all the devices, started playing music, then when I tapped the AirPlay button (not the HomePod, the icon button that opens a sheet with all the possible devices, I found that the HomePod was connected to a device that had been 50 feet away.

So obviously the source of my trouble is that once paired, even if the HomePod isn't doing anything, it will refuse to play music from another device.

So what is the solution? Can I make it forget about all but one device, then that device becomes the designated HomePod controller? This is all just so frustrating - that Apple won't even tell us "You can't play on this device, its paired to xyzzy device".

Posted on Jan 12, 2023 2:20 PM

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Answer 1

David Hoerl Author

Level 2

159 points

Jan 15, 2023 2:56 PM in response to Trish313

Trish,

Thanks for the response, but we already had those options on for all three devices. Now my wife has a different AppleID than I do - but as I mentioned above, the other day it refused to handoff to my phone even though it was connected to my iPad far away in another room (same AppleID)

We only have one WiFi network so that can't explain it. We note that all our devices are always connected to that WiFi network too.

Also, we have BlueTooth on all the time on all devices.

[I read the article you linked too, don't see anything helpful to us there.]

So maybe a test - how can I get the HomePod to "forget" my wife's iPhone. Then I can test if with just my two devices it works as it should.

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Answer 2

Trish313

Community Specialist

Jan 15, 2023 12:49 PM in response to David Hoerl

Hi David,

You should be able to handoff your music from any device connected to the same Wi-Fi network and signed into the same Apple ID as your HomePod without changing the home hub.

Be sure that handoff is enabled when you go to Setting > General > Airplay & Handoff.

Check out: Play audio from iPhone on HomePod and other wireless speakers - Apple Support.

Have a good one!

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Answer 3

Eric--F

Community Specialist

Jan 15, 2023 6:04 PM in response to David Hoerl

Hello David Hoerl,

Thanks for that. It might be best to reset the HomePod, then set it up again with your device:

Reset HomePod - Apple Support

Set up HomePod - Apple Support

Then, test playing music from your device, and then from a device your wife owns using her different Apple ID.

Thanks.

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Answer 4

David Hoerl Author

Level 2

159 points

Jan 16, 2023 6:43 AM in response to Eric--F

So a bit more. Now you have me looking in places on the app I hadn't known about.

I have T-Mobile Internet service using an ARC KVD21 interface - latest firmware.

I did a test this morning - power cycled the HomePod, then in the Home app saw that the WiFi was shown as active after ~half a minute.

Then I waited a few more min, looked again at the Home App, and the HomePad WiFi status had a line through it (assume this means its not connected).

Then I did that sequence over again, and when the WiFi is shown as "active", I could start it playing something from 50 feet away. But if I wait until the WiFi is marked as offline, then the request times out.

So the question becomes - why is the WiFi going "offline" on the HomePod? I have many other devices connected to it - alarm system, dish washer, thermostat - all of those are working fine.

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Answer 5

AnnieL2

Community Specialist

Jan 16, 2023 9:56 AM in response to David Hoerl

David,

To clarify, when you notice that your HomePod is no longer connected to Wi-Fi, is the same true for the device you used to set up your HomePod or is it the HomePod only that isn't connected? Are you able to reconnect or does it always take a power cycle?

Also, in the troubleshooting you've done, have you had a chance to restart your network hardware as well? If not, give that a try and see if changes anything.

Thanks.

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Answer 6

David Hoerl Author

Level 2

159 points

Jan 16, 2023 11:00 AM in response to AnnieL2

This is what is maddening - our iPhones/iPads never appear disconnected - we always see the connected icon in the top (with a strong signal). The HomePod always disconnects after a number of seconds. Other objects like security/thermostat never disconnect.

However, on reflection - we had an issue with our HP printer apparently going offline, so I wired it to the internet access unit (T-Mobile) and the issues went away.

There is something about the setup - HomePod to T-Mobile KVD21 - that appears to be the issue. But why just the HomePod? There must be something about the way the HomePod uses DHCP to get an address and keep it.

[Note: power cycling the KVD21 has no affect - have done that multiple times]

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Answer 7

K_Faith

Community Specialist

Jan 16, 2023 12:55 PM in response to David Hoerl

David Hoerl,

At this point, we recommend reaching out to Apple directly for assistance with resolving this issue here: Get Support

Cheers!

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Cannot airplay connect my iPhone to our HomePod because it paired to a different device on restart

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