homepod won't play playlists

I have not had this problem. In fact, I've been surprised how well Siri has found my playlists even when I don't accurately give the exact name of the playlist. Siri will say, "Okay playing playlist, 'XYZ'."

However, I've had these problems since adding HomePod:

1. Apple TV stopped playing music when playing through iTunes. No sound out of my stereo. This was resolved after a software update for Apple TV.

2. While playing iTunes (must have Match), worked like a charm at first. Currently, I'm having a new problem. I will say, "Hey Siri, play Tom Petty playlist." Siri will respond with: "Okay, now playing Tom Petty playlist." But then no music. Siri acts like she's following any music request, but no music comes out of the speaker. I haven't figured this out yet. I'm playing iTunes playlists from a MiniMac through the HomePod via AirPlay without a problem. May have to do unplug/reset HomePod to see if this resolves the issue.

Good luck!

Same here, It works intermittently, nothing I can do to solve issue. Thought i solved it once, but then I was wrong. very frustrating.

update: Sync all iOS devices with you iTunes library and wait a while, it seems to sort it out, just not immediately

JimNie wrote:

The IOS device used to pair the HomePod is the device where playlists come from therefore syncing ALL devices with iTunes is essential

Hmm, surely HomePod is picking up your purchase history and iCloud Music Library directly from Apple? Those having trouble getting playlists to play should make sure that they're listed in iTunes without an ineligible for cloud symbol and that all tracks have been successfully matched or uploaded.

tt2

I disagree...

Your playlists as well as your music is coming from your iCloud music library, which is ultimately coming from any device that has iCloud Music Library turned on in settings.

I paired my Homepods with my iPhone but don't have the iCloud music library turned on......

My playlists and music library in iCloud come from my iMac which I have the iCloud music library turned on and synced.

Yes, that is important and I believe is the answer to my problems. Whichever device is paired to the HomePod (can only be an IOS Device) must have the iCloud Music Library turned on in settings. When I synced the iPad with my iMac, iTunes asked if I wanted to turn on my iCloud Music Library on the iPad and I said yes of course and the playlists synced. What is strange to me is I don't believe I have ever turned off the library on any of my devices. Why and how did the library settings on the iPad get turned off? It took a while for all playlists to show up. Since then, some playlists play, while other do not, and I believe it is just a matter of time before all are recognized and play sound For example. the HomePod, says it is playing on some of the playlists but no sound. I guess I just have to be patient and wait a while longer.

Anyways it has nothing to do with that.

I reset my my homepod and restart. It works just great! For about 24 hours...

Eventually no playlists again. It gets worse with time, until the only thing it will do is "playing your songs shuffled".

Restarted mine about 8-10 days ago, has not duplicated this issue since the restart. Sorry yours is only giving you 24-hours. Not sure if a HW issues or SW or even a configuration (iOS/Network) issue?

This worked for me (without having to reset my HomePod):

In the Home app, go to the Details page for your HomePod. Tap on your email address, where it says Account. Sign Out, then sign back in.

My HomePod was not connecting to my HomeKit properly, so I reset it. After resetting, my HomePod kept saying that it couldn’t find my playlist I wanted to play (was working and playing that same playlist before resetting). Not wanting to go through the whole reset process, I tried signing out and back in of my account on my HomePod, through the Home app. After, both HomeKit and Playlists were working properly again! Hope this helps!!!

THANK YOU! was wrestling with getting iTunes Match to work with my HomePod, and signing in and out of the account in the Home app was what fixed it. everything now works: playlists, all my music (before i just had iTunes purchases), etc.

another possible discovery (not enough data points to be certain): if HomePod/Siri is responding normally to requests for songs and/or playlists, then i run the HomePod from Airplay on my MacBookPro, after that the HomePod/Siri will not play anything; it will verbally repeat the request i make, and clearly gets it right, but then no audio comes out.

that would probably work. i quit iTunes and cycled power to the HP, and that also worked.

i was posting the above at least half as a bug report, because of course you shouldn't have to do any of the above.

I have the exact same situation as you do and the exact same problem. It works for maybe 1-2 weeks. Then acknowledges that I have asked for a Playlist but it never starts. Then I reboot. Now it’s playing my two work Playlist but not my one words! I’ve worked with a tech before who seem caring. I’m going to try again. Did you have any luck? I love Homepod and want it to work.

Same issue.When I ask Siri to play the playlist she responds "playing..." but no sound. I tried resetting and it work for a day, then same. I tried unplugging and this fixed it again, but I expect it will continue. Please help us Obewan.

Everyone needs to report this to Apple Support by logging a call. This needs to be done so that Apple build up knowledge of what is going on and work out a fix. This page is good in terms of knowing you are not alone but to make things happen people need to report the issue to Apple Support or an Apple store.

My fix was as simple as resetting the HomePod. Unplugged and plugged back in. No problems since. Not perfect, but the Siri commands such as play a specific artist or playlist are working. Also using to control lights with Hone App.