homepod won't play playlists

Hi everyone--

I am experiencing something similar to this. I am an Apple Music subscriber plus I have iTunes Match. For whatever reason my HomePod is not playing the playlists I have created when I try to get them to play by speaking to Siri. If I were to use AirPlay it would work but obviously Siri should be playing the playlists if I request them using my voice. I talked to an Apple technician last night on the phone but he was unable to fix this and referred me to a senior specialist. I think others are experiencing this too. It's frustrating. I did reset my HomePod and everything else is working fine on it. It is just the playlists that I have created that are not playing through my speaking to Siri. Anyone experiencing this and have any thoughts? Thanks.

I had the same issue. Turns out I had an unusual problem where Siri on HomePod couldn't find my playlists. The fix was to reset the HomePod. I deleted the HomePod from the Home app. Then I had to unplug the HomePod, wait 5 seconds then plug it back in, then press and hold the top til I got a reset message. Then I set the HomePod up like it was new. Now Siri can play my playlists.

As mentioned.....

I setup my HomePod with my iPhone which does NOT have iCloud music library turned on.

I update my iCloud music library and playlists through my iMac.....I can add a new playlist then update iCloud music library as shown below and it's there almost immediately when I request it through the HomePod.

If you have a lot of music added or changes it may take some time.

PS -

I don't like having my iPhone iCloud music library turned on as I have a copy of all my music on it already.......if I turned it on, then I would be playing music from iCloud Music Library when on cellular connection, which I don't want.

I use this smart playlist to show up any items in my library that aren't reaching iCloud properly. Unfortunately it can't show items that have an iCloud status of Waiting, and I find I need to use Edit Rules > OK to persuade it to update sometimes. Waiting tracks can be found in the Songs view sorted by iCloud Status.

tt2

I recently enabled Apple Music and tried to merge the existing content on my iPhone with an existing iTunes Match library. It was a mess. I deleted all of the new additions so I could start over and am now nearly through selectively adding media and it is going much better. I don't want to risk merging the whole of my regular library into the service, but more importantly I don't have an all you can eat cell service so I want everything that is in my iCloud library downloaded to the device so I can play without using data. For HomePod use I can access anything else at random without adding it to my iCloud Music Library.

Back to the requirement for iCloud Music to play playlists using Siri on HomePod. It may not say so explicitly in Use Siri to play music or podcasts on your HomePod - Apple Support but if you only have purchased content in your iTunes library then all that the iTunes Store knows about your library is what you've previously purchased, and that is then all that Siri on the HomePod can know. You need iCloud Music Library to upload playlist information and non-store purchases to your account. That same page also fails to make it clear that iTunes for Windows can be used to AirPlay to HomePod, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it can.

tt2

In theory Apple don't read these forums for bug reports, though they might be taking a little look given this is a new product. Use Feedback - HomePod - Apple to share your observations more formally.

tt2

Hi, I’m having a similar issue. Follow this thread for all the particulars:

iTunes is buggy on both HomePod and Apple TV4k

Still not resolved. I’ve tried rebooting many, many times. Works ok for a while but then can no longer find playlists that it has already played.

Very frustrating.

-djb

See the Manage Music & Podcasts section of Change settings for HomePod - Apple Support. Try signing out of your Apple ID there, then sign back in again.

If that doesn't work make sure that iCloud Music Library is enabled on the device that you use to configure the HomePod, then set up the HomePod again from scratch: Reset HomePod - Apple Support.

tt2

1. Created a new playlist on me iP7 called "Bozo", then added a few tunes to it from Apple Msc (I'm a subscriber, but not a subscriber to iTunes Mtch).
2. Waited a few minutes, then asked HmPd to play music from the Bozo playlist, only to get "Hum...I'm not finding a playlist by that name."
3. A couple hours later and asked HmPd to play music from the Bozo playlist and it worked.

My guess is the iCloud Music settings (all are on on all devices) takes longer to sync.

I"m curious. Do all of your playlists have single word names? The two examples you give, "Dance" and "Havana" could easily (I'm thinking) be a source of confusion to an AI device--is that a song or a playlist?.

I've not tried all of my playlists, but have generally been impressed with how Siri DOES recognize mine, but they all, so far at any rate, have names that are two or more words, "Standards Collection" for example. Or one called "Scintillating Standards" which contains jazz recordings that come primarily from recordings I've taken from streaming services...i.e., that aren't available as commercial recordings, yet they've been recognized and played by HomePod.

You need Apple Music or iTunes Match to be able to get Siri on the HomePod to play your own playlists and anything other than Tunes purchases. If you don't have either then you can AirPlay what you want from an iOS device or a Mac.

tt2

John0001 wrote:

...

I just need iTunes Music Purchases to work. If i ask to play a specific song, it works, just not a playlist.

Apple don't sell playlists, they sell songs and albums. To be able to use Siri on HomePod to call up a playlist by name you must have an active iCloud Music Library, which in turn is a feature of Apple Music and/or iTunes Match.

tt2