Homepod disconnects or stops playing music from itunes randomly

@Jim Norman

You are lucky that it is not affecting the Macs as it is the Windows users on the forum.

Good to hear it is going for you! :)

anyone know why the hey siri function not working on update 14.2

did that and I reset them both and still nothing

I checked al that as well and AppleCare had no idea

I think I found the issue. I have received my new HomePod

from Best Buy today. It came with 11.2.5 (I tested without updating to 13.4).

So far, I have been able to play music for over 45 minutes without it

disconnecting and showing the infamous "-". In addition, I downgraded

my Apple TV4 to 10.2.2. I have been able to Airplay music with no disconnects

on HomePod and Apple TV. My conclusion is there is an issue with the IOS

software and not iTunes. Hopefully, the next update resolves the issue. If

enough of us complain we have a better chance of them fixing the issue. Apple

HELP!

@Bryan Kinkel I got the replacement Home Pod. It's on version 11.2.5 straight from Apple. It does not miss a beat while streaming from Windows iTunes. Unfortunately, this version loses it's connection to the home network after an idle period. I have to unplug and plug it back in to get recognized. I had this same issue prior so I know it's a 11.2.5 thing.

I should have mentioned my PC is hardwired to the network (I even tried wireless from the PC with no luck).

I have not updated to 13.4.6 because I'm also convinced it's an iOS issue with the audio cut outs.

I have a variety of Airplay speakers/receivers throughout the house (Sonos, Denon, Bose and Apple). It's only the HomePod on the struggle bus. Bose had a "lag" issue at one point that was corrected very quickly via an update.

So again, I'm with you on the culprit being iOS. The speaker itself does sound "goodish" when it plays. There's just no reliability. Hopefully it's corrected in the next release.

I don't know why Apple even bothers with Windows versions of their software but, given that they did somehow manage to get iTunes in all its bloated glory (sort of) working on Windows, they should give this matter some attention as AirPlay capability is mainstream, not some forgotten feature being put out to pasture.

Could you elaborate on your EMF comment? Also, what is POE? I can understand the objections regarding the lack of connectivity (Bluetooth and Line input) but Apple makes no secret about this and there is logic to the design. Besides there's lots of Bluetooth speakers with standard inputs out there if that's what you need. Not sure what you mean about the lack of a data port. What would that be for? Also, the power cord is removable, apparently with some effort.

I hope you get this sorted out eventually.

I got a small proof of concept Windows app written. It sends 1% volume change to iTunes every 20 seconds. Then it waits 1.5 seconds before setting the volume back to the original value. The 1.5 seconds between changes is there to give iTunes time to notify AirPlay outputs and the iOS iTunes Remote app that there was an actual volume change. It may not be needed. But superstition.

And with a 1% change, you can't even tell anything happened with the volume.

I listen to radio stations via iTunes on my PC. I then push the audio via AirPlay all over the house throughout the day. And both the HomePod and AppleTV audio will cut out periodically. It sucks.

So I will let iTunes try to pump music to the HomePod all night with this little app running. If the HomePod is still cranking out music in the morning I will be thrilled.

But yeah, Apple should be fixing this in the low level networking stack.

To me the simple conclusion is not to buy any apple product until apple has done its job! it is not the users to do their job, but it is apples issue... just selling products won't be enough... they have to have a proper support, else wise the will loose customers...

Hey folks - Well it seems like all the latest 14.2 platform releases does not fix the Windows iTunes to HomePod/AppleTV dropout problems. For me, this is just the latest in series of "it should just work" issues and irritants with Apple products.

(I can't add my spouse to my Apple Home. So she can't control lights, etc from her phone. And changing my AppleID password seems to have freaked out the HomePod to the point where I have to reset it, etc. So that is the Saturday project. This stuff is basic.)

Several people have asked for the link to the Volume Adjuster program that has been discussed in this thread. I really appreciate the positive feedback on the software. It seems to work very well and I've received some very happy, sometimes joyous, emails.

So I'm posting the link here - hopefully it does not get removed or pulled by the mods.

This is for Windows only. It is a small program that periodically adjusts iTunes volume by 1%. This seems to keep the signal between iTunes and HomePod/ATV hardware alive.

http://www.loseyourmind.com/volume-adjuster-for-itunes.aspx

Peace. -- Bryan

[Personal Information Edited by Moderator]

Hey Folks - I updated the web page with some testing information. I added a chart with the various combinations of iTunes and tvOS that I have tested with. Bottom line, the iTunes to HomePod/ATV timeout issue still happens with the recent tvOS 14.2 release. I still have more testing to do with the latest version of iTunes. But I doubt 12.10.10 will magically fix it.

http://www.loseyourmind.com/volume-adjuster-for-itunes.aspx

Thanks for the support. -- Bryan

Bryan and Bumbeen have successfully figured out the issue and have released a patch, on behalf of Apple. Just install his app and you should be good to go.