Homepod always streams from my iPhone instead of getting the music itself

Question

Homepod always streams from my iPhone instead of getting the music itself

I have a family subscription to Apple Music. My HomePods are connected to the internet. But whenever I ask a HomePod to play a song, it streams it from my iPhone. I cannot stop this behavior. If I want music that I started playing to keep playing for my family after I leave the house, I can't... it's coming from my phone. If I turn off my phone before requesting a song from the HomePod, then the HomePod will correctly stream the song from Apple Music. This is a ridiculous work-around.

How can I make my HomePod stream music from Apple by default, rather than trying to pull it from my iPhone?

HomePod mini

Posted on Oct 22, 2021 10:02 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 23, 2021 11:24 AM in response to turingtest2

I have no automations of any kind. And the issue is that the music streams from my iPhone by default to begin with; the cutting off when I leave home is just a symptom of that initial problem.

My theory is that Apple tries to relieve their servers of load by using my network to stream music from my phone instead.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,352 points

Oct 23, 2021 3:24 PM in response to John Willoughby

The odd thing is that isn't how I've seen it work. If anything I've seen HomePod take over an AirPlay stream launched from the iPhone and cut the iPhone out of the loop, but I've never seen it go the other way. There is a feature that lets an iPhone control what is currently playing on HomePod, but if you initiate playback on the HomePod then the data should be coming from Apple's servers not your devices.

tt2

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2021 5:10 PM in response to turingtest2

I agree. It used to be as you describe it, but six months or a year ago (time has no meaning in a pandemic), the behavior changed. Or, more accurately, that's when I noticed that the behavior had changed. In the beginning, I didn't even realize that it was streaming from my phone until I happened to look at my phone while the HomePod was playing.

I have "Listen for 'Hey Siri'" turned off on my phone, but I wonder if the phone is still somehow interacting with the commands that I give the HomePod.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

274,352 points

Oct 25, 2021 4:01 AM in response to John Willoughby

If I start something playing with Siri on HomePod, and my iPhone isn't currently busy playing something else, then the volume control in control center connects to the HomePod so that I could use it to control volume, pause what is playing, etc. Effectively it becomes a remote control for the HomePod. I can't really test your behaviour as my wife doesn't care much for music, so I'm not walking out of the house while it is playing. Nevertheless I can drop into airplane mode and whatever I called up with Siri on the HomePod carries on playing. If yours really does stop, and there are no automations involved, then perhaps it is time to try Apple Support and see what they can suggest.

tt2

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

274,352 points

Oct 23, 2021 3:27 AM in response to John Willoughby

Check Home app > Automations to see if you have an automation active that pauses music when you leave the home.

tt2

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Homepod always streams from my iPhone instead of getting the music itself

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