HomePod mini handoff not working correctly

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Level 1

10 points

HomePod mini handoff not working correctly

I don't even know where to start. HomePod mini is running 15.4.1 and I am having trouble with handoff from my iphone 12pro.

Sometimes I can get it to work, but not very often. I can either hold the phone close when music is playing, or use the handoff option from the control center and it will show sound is playing on my mini, but there is nothing! Other times the mini will be playing sound from my wife's iPhone 12pro, but she is 8 miles from home at work!

Just today when I tried handing off sound from my iPhone and I got audio (Dialogue) from a source I did not recognize! I opened the HomePod mini from my iPhone home app, and discovered it was playing audio from a TV show playing on one of my two Apple TV's that I last used 8 hours before! I was unable to get the audio from my phone to play on it.

The last time it worked was after a factory reset on the mini, but it was short lived and now is not working again.

It is out in my shop so it does not get used often but when I do need it I want it to work! I cannot return it as it has been too long since I purchased it. Very frustrated...

Please help me out Apple!

Posted on Apr 5, 2022 9:36 AM

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Answer 1

bgmeek

Level 4

1,201 points

Apr 28, 2022 2:48 PM in response to turingtest2

I'm confused. What are we really talking about? "Transfer to HomePod" vs. "Handoff"? Any difference? Does anyone really know what Apple's talking about? The words "transfer" and "handoff", as verbs, can be used as synonyms.

In iOS, the terms are casually lumped together under Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff > where we get two switches: Transfer to HomePod [Off | On] and Handoff [Off | On]. I hope that one of these literally means that the iPhone hands off or transfers the entire playback process from device A to device B. Apple Setting's blurb about the Handoff switch:

"Handoff lets you start something on one device and instantly pick it up on other devices using your iCloud account. The app you need appears in the app switcher and in the Dock on a Mac."

Apple Setting's blurb about the Transfer to HomePod switch:

"When playing media, bring iPhone close to the top of the HomePod to transfer what's playing."

I believe the latter to be a euphemistic description of establishing an AirPlay connection. Handoff sounds encouraging...

Can I please get, or see a pointer to, a technical description of what Apple means when using these terms as it relates to moving media content from iPhone to HomePod? Movement of playback between speakers only via AirPlay [2]? Moving the task of streaming the content from its source (say, Apple Music) from the iPhone to the HomePod -- so that the HomePod fully takes over the Apple Music app's stream & playback work, allowing me to shut down my iPhone while now listening to the HomePod?

Does HomePod support Handoff, or simply Transfer to HomePod using AirPlay?

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,222 points

Apr 28, 2022 4:08 PM in response to bgmeek

When I handoff playback from my iPhone to my HomePods I can turn off the phone or stick it in airplane mode and playback continues. In some cases the same can happen with AirPlay. If HomePod can take over fetching the data from source it usually will. You likely need an Apple Music subscription for this behaviour although it might work with a purchased album.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

274,222 points

Apr 5, 2022 10:59 AM in response to mbkerk

Try rebooting your router and power cycling the HomePod. It may work better after that. Won't hurt to reboot the phone too.

tt2

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HomePod mini handoff not working correctly

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