Hey Siri, play LBC Radio.

Hi mandruff,

To clarify, this is when attempting to prompt HomePod to play audio via Siri? Or are you passing audio off from your iPhone or other Apple device as outlined below?

• Play audio on HomePod using an iOS or iPadOS device - Apple Support

If this is via Siri, does it seem to understand other commands better, or does it have difficulty understanding you at all?

Some additional details will help us determine our next steps to better assist you.

Cheers!

We appreciate the update mandruff,

From here, let's go ahead and be sure to try the steps under "Set up voice recognition" and "If Siri doesn't recognize you" at: Set up voice recognition on HomePod or HomePod mini - Apple Support

While we know that Siri is currently recognizing your voice, these are great general troubleshooting steps that can be completed when Siri isn't working properly.

Let us know if that helps.

Have a lovely day!

I have exactly the same issue, as does a friend of mine. Whatever apple says, this is not an issue on your end, it's a common issue with Siri. I've given up and now listen to LBC on my Amazon Echo since Alexa has no issue following simple commands.

Yes, for radio stations, it's usually necessary to open the TuneIn app and search for the radio station you're after, then use the exact title used by TuneIn to identify the station. I saw "LBC UK" and "LBC London" as similar stations in this case.

The precise TuneIn station title 'string' is also necessary to find the station when searching for media to play in a Home Scene - then you can simply "Hey Siri, [Scene Name]".

Thanks. The work around of "Play LBC UK" rather than "Play LBC Radio" has resolved it for now.

It doesn't change the facts that:

(a) "Play LBC Radio" via Siri has worked for the last few years, and only stopped working within the last month.

(b) Amazon echo has zero problem with following the command "Play LBC Radio"

(c) I'd imagine 90%+ of users would say "Play LBC Radio" not "Play LBC UK"

(d) Having to open up the TuneIn app, search for the radio station you want then extract the precise string it uses prior to making a request to Siri is not exactly likely to win Apple any usability awards.

It's perfectly absurd. Even if you specifically ask to play "in music", it still manages to play in Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for the workaround, but it's just embarrassing, and I'm no tech novice.

yeah LBC is playing up again. Works for a few months then stops again. No idea why. I’ve got to say Apple HomePod is seriously more trouble than it’s worth. It’s expensive… I have four and pay family subscription to Apple Music too at £17 per month. I’m ready to ditch it purely because I cannot ever guarantee it’ll work. I sometimes spend 20 mins trying to get things going only to give up and listen to my iPhone. Apple really do need to get this sorted.

Difficulty understanding all commands. Plays something similar but not what is requested

Yep. Siri's misinterpretation of requests happens all the time - goes with and without saying.