I updated my four HomePod Mini’s to software version 14.4 today. Now when I call out “Hey Siri, turn up (or down) volume” Siri responds with “Sorry there was a problem adjusting volume”. I can still ask Siri from the time or temp just fine. I can also adjust the volume by using the +/- on top or the HomePod’s. Any thoughts out there?
HomePod mini, 14
janford and all the others. I called Apple today and the first level person person after listening to what I already did cut to the chase and had me reset one HomePod to factory defaults and reconfigure it. Siri still wouldn’t adjust the volume. I was then transferred to a senior advisor and he had me just tell Siri to play some music (from iTunes) and this time Siri would adjust the volume correctly. The way I was running my HomePods is through AirPlay via the SXM app on my iPad Pro 10.5. So we tried running the SXM app on my iPad Pro 12.9 and Siri was failing there also. Next we tried AirPlay via Apple Podcast on my MacBook Air and Siri failed here also. So the advisor asked about my home network and asked if I could reboot my network. I said I would do it later tonight and test Siri then. I report my results later.
janford and all the others. I called Apple today and the first level person person after listening to what I already did cut to the chase and had me reset one HomePod to factory defaults and reconfigure it. Siri still wouldn’t adjust the volume. I was then transferred to a senior advisor and he had me just tell Siri to play some music (from iTunes) and this time Siri would adjust the volume correctly. The way I was running my HomePods is through AirPlay via the SXM app on my iPad Pro 10.5. So we tried running the SXM app on my iPad Pro 12.9 and Siri was failing there also. Next we tried AirPlay via Apple Podcast on my MacBook Air and Siri failed here also. So the advisor asked about my home network and asked if I could reboot my network. I said I would do it later tonight and test Siri then. I report my results later.
Follow up: I watched the HomePods in HomeKit on my iPhone as I checked and unchecked Airplay choices on my Mac. The volume slider for the kitchen HomePods flashed on for a split second when I unclicked the bedroom HomePods in Airplay on my computer. And vice versa. Then! When I unclicked all the airplay choices but one the volume slider went on and Sybil... er. Siri responded to the change volume command. It looks like the HomePods like to be the only choice in Airplay in order for volume to work. Hmmm.....
I have the same issue since 14.4 update and made the same findings as you. AirPlaying to 1 device doesn't cause any issue, but if you start AirPlaying to 2 or more, asking Siri to change volume will fail.
I've also noticed that I can't ask Siri to "Play music in Kitchen too" when I'm AirPlaying from iPhone. It will fail. I guess this is related.
As you said, the issue is only when you're AirPlaying from iPhone, not when playing music through the HomePods directly.
I've just filled a bug report on https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/ (under tvOS category, since HomePods now use tvOS) and I suggest you guys do the same so that this issue can be fixed ASAP. As everybody in this thread said, this kind of issue is really frustrating! How can Apple break something like that without noticing it in betas?!
Restart the mini’s or reset them , this can be done from the home app
Open the Home App - go to the Room it’s in
Long press on the HomePod icon to bring up settings, scroll down to the gear icon, tap that, scroll to the bottom to Reset HomePod - then select Restart HomePod
To reset you might need to remove it then set up again if you removed it.
Try the restart first though.
Mine is working after doing the update..I did previously have an issue with the volume though but it’s not doing it when I just tested. It may happen again on mine!
Try the Restart on all 4, Ungroup them first if they’re paired.
See Reset HomePod - Apple Support for further instructions on Resetting HomePod to restore HomePod mini to its factory settings. If you have two HomePod speakers set up as a stereo pair, you'll need to ungroup the stereo pair before you can reset HomePod.
Hold off on the Reset for today so we can be sure no issues have arisen with this software update and Resets.
Restarting is better at this point. And you might also try just unplugging it for a few seconds
I’ve not installed 14.4 yet.
Open the Home App - go to the Room it’s in
Long press on the HomePod icon to bring up settings, scroll down to the gear icon, tap that, scroll to the bottom to Reset HomePod - then select Restart HomePod
Well after I turned off all my Apple devices then rebooted my home network and restarted everything the Siri issue is still there. So since this Siri issue ONLY started after the software updates on Tuesday. The facts at this point are: 1. Siri works fine on the HomePods when you just ask Siri to play music and the HomePod plays something random from iTunes. 2: Siri acts up when I push music to the HomePods via AirPlay. So my conclusion at this point is that the HomePod software 14.4 update has broken AirPlay. I have a “case” open with Apple from the work we did yesterday and I will be calling them back later to continue troubleshooting this issue.
Well I talked to another 2nd level Senior advisor at Apple yesterday. At this point Siri has many personalities like the movie “Sybil”. One of the many things we looked at was controlling the volume from within HomeKit as HomeKit “controls” the HomePods. In HomeKit if you long press on a HomePod in will bring up the control settings for that HomePod. As the advisor explained, if you are able to change the volume via the volume slider, then Siri should be able to also. The advisor and I saw the volume slider being both available and also greyed out. We saw this change when viewing HomeKit on 2 iPad Pros and a MacBook Air. The advisor thought the issue was with third party apps (we used SXM and Overcast, two well known apps), we also saw the same behavior when using Apple’s Podcast app playing “Apple News today”. Today I saw HomeKit showing my HomePods as being configured while they were clearly playing music, and when I looked at HomeKit on another device those “configuring” HomePods showed as playing, that’s the Sybil part of Siri.
Today I received two new HomePod Mini’s and installed them as a stereo pair in my downstairs office. After I had them installed and playing music I was able to have Siri turn the volume up or down. I then noticed that these two HomePods were running version 14.3 and were waiting to be updated to 14.4. I turned off automatic updates for now. So now I have proof that 14.4 causes Siri to loose the ability to control volume. I will be calling Apple tomorrow to update them on this problem.
Hi Vancouver22 again. I unpaired my 2 HomePods in stereo and then restarted all 4. After the restart I unplugged all 4 for a few minutes. I then plugged all 4 back in and didn’t recreate the stereo pair. The problem with Siri is still present. I’m going to call Apple is awhile and see what they may know.
Thanks for calling Apple. I found a tidbit of info. Rebooting my network made Siri volume work once. Then not again. And in only one room. I am playing music from my iMac Music app to two pairs of HomePod minis. As a test I played music from my iPhone. The Siri volume problem continued until... I unselected one of the HomePod pairs in Airplay. Then the Siri volume command worked! It will not work if I have both sets of HomePods selected but it will work if I only select one pair, doesn't matter which one. When playing from my iMac the Siri Volume command fails, no matter what Airplay I do or do not select. Not much help toward a solution but hopefully Apple with come up with something. (I'm janford, I logged in with my other account this time.)
I have an issue nearly same as here descriped.
I can't say, if it doesn't exist before Version 14.4, but i had read in a german forum, the issue appears with version 14.4.
When i use homepod mini to play music in an other room, which contains a airport express with airplay 2 everything works except to adjust the volume. the airport express is connected to a hifi, so for me is important, that i can change, without getting the phone or go to the hifi, the volume.
Does anybody solved this problem (maybe with a workaround) or is it really an issue of the software?
After updating my HomePod mini to 14.4 I am facing a issue with the LED’s . After activating the assistant the light stutters . Anyone else facing this issue too ? Please help me out with a solution . Thanks in advance !
Same. I have restarted, reset, unpaired, etc. several times. The most frustrating thing was it worked, briefly, on one of the pairs. Then the next time I asked Siri to change the volume I got the error "There was a problem..." Very frustrating. Hopefully Apple will fix this.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to Apple. Wow. All my devices show my HomePods as playing in HomeKit but with the volume control greyed out. Sigh. I have also seen the "configuring" behavior so apparently I have also met Sybil. Hopefully Apple will figure this out. But... wow.
HomePod Mini Siri Issue with v14.4 Update
