I can not set HomePod as the "default audio output from my Apple TV 4K WITH 14.2 and HomePod is also 14.2 and iOS is also 14.2

Power cycle your router, HomePod and Apple TV, then try again. See Set up home theater audio with HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support.

tt2

I was experiencing this issue too. Both of my Homepods and Apple TV were in one room under HomeKit yet they still wouldn't come up to set up as the default audio output. All I did was move my Homepods to a different room, then moved them back and now the problem is resolved. Hope this helps.

You might try using the ATV-4K Remote instead of the "Default Audio Output" setting. On the Remote press and hold the TV button until the control panel shows up, then select the AirPlay-2 icon and select your paired HomePods (or a single one) from the displayed list.

It took me frustrating ages to find this method for my ATV-HD. See <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202809#appletv>.

Very strange. Are all three (2 HomePods and ATV-4k) in the same "Room" in Home app on your iPhone?

Set up home theater audio with HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support

Also everything needs to be on 14.3 now

Hey everyone I was having this issue and I went through all of the checks and nothing was working for me so I called Apple and they told me about another option. Some of you mentioned about holding the home button on your remote till you get the menu to select your HomePod for the audio and that worked but only some of the audio would come from my HomePod other apps would still play from the tv. Apple told me about this other trick:

when you are inside an app and playing something that (defaults) to the tv speakers, swipe down from the top of your remote and a menu will come up on the top, toggle over to audio and you can select the home pod from that menu for that app. I haven’t tested this yet so I don’t know if it will remember this for the future but it does work.

you can swipe down on the remote on your phone or the Apple TV remote with the track pad both work!

i hope Apple fixes this, it’s kinda silly honestly.

AliDJames wrote:

I only want 1 HomePod mini in my living

No problem. You can choose whether or not to AirPlay to the HomePod mini whenever you use your Apple TV. You just cannot setup the HomePod as the default audio output for it.

tt2

Update your tvOS and HomePods to 14.3

I have this same issue. It’s weird, if I hold the home button on the ATV remote down it allows me to change to the HomePods but it doesn’t show up as a Default Audio option. However, what’s really weird is even using the option of holding down the home button some apps (Peacock for example) it still doesn’t work.

That is the case - the Apple Support page explains that the default Home Theatre function only works with the original Homepods - not Homepod Minis. Hopefully a future update will fix that but for now you will need to use Airplay to use the Homepod Minis.

They've removed the feature completely if you upgrade your Apple TV HD to 14.2 - I've only have TV speakers for it now - all Apple products and no connectivity - it's like they are forcing me to upgrade - now I'm seeing it doesn't work even for the 4K!

This is infuriating. I can't set my HomePod pair as the default audio despite trying everything. I choose it as the default option on the Apple TV but it changes itself back to tv speakers if I play anything other than an Apple TV+ show. I can't choose them as the default on my iOS devices because I get a spinning wheel, then nothing changes.

They work as a stereo pair for music, but just refuse to be the default output for my tv.

I just found this on Apples setup page for Apple TV 4K using HomePod for default home theater audio:

“ * Home theater audio doesn't support HomePod mini or other AirPlay 2-compatible speakers. Learn how to use AirPlay to stream audio from your Apple TV to these types of speakers.”