Level 1

30 points

'Sorry there was a problem with apple music'

When I ask my HomePod to "hey siri, play some music." it replies "here is some music just for you" then there is a silence before it times out and replies 'Sorry there was a problem with apple music'.

The problem is intermittent and is temporarily fixed by removing the device from Home App and then re-installing it, but then the problem comes back randomly minutes, hours or days later.

Sometimes the problem goes away by itself for a little while.

The device is connected to the Internet because queries for "What's the weather like?" always succeed.

My HomePod Mini's don't seem to be affected.

Any ideas?

Posted on Sep 29, 2021 2:57 AM

Similar questions

38 replies

ct335i

Level 1

13 points

Jan 13, 2022 11:49 AM in response to emilio-lizardo

Weird .. good luck!

Alex_From_UK Author

Level 1

30 points

Oct 3, 2021 2:51 AM in response to carey126

I think you're correct about my issues being to do with using my HomePod as the default output for an Apple TV 4k.

However, this is a problem that I noticed for a few weeks whilst still being on iOS 15 - and didn't seem to me to be worse or better after the update to iOS 15.

Alex_From_UK Author

Level 1

30 points

Oct 14, 2021 11:39 PM in response to Alex_From_UK

OK, so this is my original thread and hopefully it'll get fixed by Apple now that a few users reporting the same problem.

As a few people have noted, the problem is to do with using your HomePod as the default audio output for an Apple TV. I believe the Apple TV goes into a deep sleep mode after a few hours of not being used, and doesn't get awoken properly by the HomePod that wants to coordinate the music that's playing with the onscreen graphics of the Apple TV.

The workaround solution to my case is to manually restart the Apple TV via the settings.

Yesterday I gave a really nice Apple helpline man all my logs for both my Apple TV 4K and my Apple HomePod, plus I wrote out a few timeline logs to help with reproducing the problem and also implementing the workaround solution. Here's one of them:

Case #01 - Friday, 8th October.

Apple TV hasn't been used overnight.

07:38:30 User ➡ HomePod: "Hey siri, play chill house."

07:38:35 HomePod ➡ User: "Chill house now playing"

07:39:05 HomePod ➡ User: "Sorry, there was a problem with Apple Music"

07:40:40 User ➡ HomePod: "Hey siri, play chill house."

07:41:15 HomePod ➡ User: "Sorry, there was a problem with Apple Music"

07:42:?? User turns on Apple TV 4K via the remote

07:42:40 User ➡ HomePod: "Hey siri, play chill house."

07:43:08 HomePod ➡ User: "Sorry, there was a problem with Apple Music"

07:43:30 User restarts Apple TV 4K (Settings ➡ System ➡ Restart)

07:44:50 User ➡ HomePod: "Hey siri, play chill house."

07:44:55 HomePod begins to play music

Dec 22, 2021 2:23 PM in response to Alex_From_UK

https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/

Restarting the ATV doesn’t fix the problem for me. Darn, I could put up with that kludge for a while at least.

I’m a bit mystified why disconnecting the TV from the ATV would make any difference - the TV is just a display. Has this really solved the problem? Did you make any other changes?

Dec 22, 2021 2:38 PM in response to S-Sorenson

Whoa. So, reading your post I tried it. Went into my ATV Settings/Audio Output and changed my default audio output to my TV speakers (my TV doesn’t have any, but the ATV doesn’t know that). Instantly, the Apple Music problem went away. Switched default audio back to my HomePod pair and the problem returned.

Prior to 15.0, HomePod minis could only be used as a temporary audio output. I don’t recall this being an issue with that configuration at that time — but under 15.0+, even that configuration triggers this bug.

This is a pretty embarrassing oversight. Apple QA is normally better than this — although they seem to have missed some really problematic bugs in the new Legacy Person feature. (Sorry for the OT).

ct335i

Level 1

13 points

Jan 13, 2022 8:55 AM in response to jonathanla7

As this issue has been bothering me (especially the frustrating I see with kids and wife not being able to use HomePods for Apple Music) and I was also annoyed with having to take the Apple speaker off as primary speakers on ATV and adding it back.

HomePods Mini not part of ATV, works fine without an issue.

I have been trying to isolate the issue to determine the cause.

Something I noticed lately was the HomePod failed to process Apple music requests from my wife and kids who were part of the Home App, however it works fine for since the last update with HomePod set a default speaker for ATV. ( I did have this issue previously but not lately since last update).

ATV - 15.2

HomePod 15.2

So I decided to review the Home app setting for my wife and kids and noticed "Show we on AppleTV" was turned off for wife and kids. I'm guessing when I reset in previously troubleshooting I did not enable them. Enabling to show on AppleTV, they are now able to process music request via HomePod without an issue. I've been testing this for nearly 5 days now and so far seems to work in my case.

Not sure if this is case for some of you but decided to share my findings. Good luck!

Alex_From_UK Author

Level 1

30 points

Oct 3, 2021 2:48 AM in response to jamesfromithaca

I think you might be on to something as I've got an Apple TV 4k linked with the HomePod. I'll try your procedure the next time there is a problem.

Dec 22, 2021 2:12 PM in response to Alex_From_UK

Where did you log the bug? Put a link to it here and we can all +1. I fully disconnected my TV from the Apple TV for speaker output. No problems now with Apple Music.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

'Sorry there was a problem with apple music'