HomePod HomePod stereo pairing not working with iOS 12

[nico887]

Hi ibarnett, thank you for your message.

Can you tell us if the problem you described - now solved - occurred once you have upgraded to iOS 12, and that everything was working well in iOS 11.4, or was it not iOS related at all ? Thank you.

Other members of the Apple forum support community are also confirming the pairing problem with iOS 12.

No feedback from Apple one my side.

Still expecting a fix, hopefully soon.

 

[mpainesyd]

Has anyone heard anything else on this problem? I too can't pair my homepods in stereo on ios 12. I've done everything correctly. Speakers pair but only play out of one speaker.

I had a similar problem (before ios12). Bizarrely it was fixed when I tapped the playing Homepod to pause it then tapped the silent Homepod to "wake it" then tapped the first Homepod again. After that stereo worked! Have had no problems since, including updating to ios12.

 

[nico887]

Hi todd61968, Thank you for your message.

Since your are on iOS 12, have you tried to unpair and pair the HomePods again ?

 

[ibarnett]

Hi ibarnett, thank you for your message.

Can you tell us if the problem you described - now solved - occurred once you have upgraded to iOS 12, and that everything was working well in iOS 11.4, or was it not iOS related at all ? Thank you.

Other members of the Apple forum support community are also confirming the pairing problem with iOS 12.

No feedback from Apple one my side.

Still expecting a fix, hopefully soon.

Not IOS related to my knowledge. 2nd HomePod was obtained some weeks after 1st upgraded to IOS 12 (I upgraded the 2nd HomePod to IOS 12 before setting up).
Please read my posts #23 & #25.
They came good after changing my router setup, so I can only assume it's related to this & WiFi somehow.
I did do some router tweaking, i.e. Enable IGMP snooping & Multicast.
Apparently both help with streaming, see https://kb.netgear.com/000037833/Wh...gure-them-on-my-GS808E-S8000-Nighthawk-Switch
Anyhow now working extremely well, I have been home all day today & the HomePod's going for nearly 12 hours.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Currently after restarting both of my HomePod, I haven't been having any of the dropouts I mentioned earlier.

I'm on iOS 12, and HomePod are working as expected.

It seems like Wi-Fi issues are to blame, as I initially suspected was responsible for the HomePod that are dropping out of stereo pairing because they don't see each other over Wi-Fi.

 

[Antipole]

I just tried to add a third HomePod in the kitchen and it screwed up my stereo pair in the lounge. They showed up as a pair in some places and as individuals in others. My iOS devices are all on iSO12.

I called Apple support and the agent talked me through a procedure that sorted it all out - great!

For the stereo pair: unpair them.
Unplug both from the mains. Plug one back in, count to 5 and place a finger on the top and keep it there. After a period of varied coloured lights the speaker warned me it was about to reset. Kept finger on and it then reset.
Repeated this on the other speaker, but it did not reset. Never mind. Held my iPad near first speaker and set it up. Then held it near second speaker and, note this, instead of the usual room selection, it asked if I wanted it to be a stereo pair. I said yes and it then transferred the settings.

Now the lounge has the stereo pair and the kitchen the single speaker.

No fiddling around with addresses etc.

 

[nico887]

Hi Antipole -- thank you for your message.

On my side, I have already tried many factory resets, exactly as you describe, but still impossible to have them paired with iOS 12. I have spent an entire week-end trying to have them fixed. Again, it was working fine with 11.4.

iOS 12.1 will likely be released tomorrow, so I will try the update from 11.4 to 12.1.

If the problem is still there, I will get rid of my HomePods and go to Sonos or Devialet.

Please forum members, let us know once you will have upgraded to 12.1 tomorrow, if the pairing process works again.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Hi Antipole -- thank you for your message.

On my side, I have already tried many factory resets, exactly as you describe, but still impossible to have them paired with iOS 12. I have spent an entire week-end trying to have them fixed. Again, it was working fine with 11.4.

iOS 12.1 will likely be released tomorrow, so I will try the update from 11.4 to 12.1.

If the problem is still there, I will get rid of my HomePods and go to Sonos or Devialet.

Please forum members, let us know once you will have upgraded to 12.1 tomorrow, if the pairing process works again.

Have you looked as your Wi-Fi as a possible issue?

I'm having no issues with HomePod stereo pairing with the current iOS 12.

 

[nico887]

My wifi configuration has not changed at all, the only change I made is the upgrade from 11.4 to 12.

I went back to the apple store to buy 2 new HomePods - Still on 11.4 - and everything worked again perfectly. I made no other change apart from the iOS upgrade.

Additionally, many other members told me that they have encountered the exact same problem with the upgrade.

I will try 12.1 tomorrow and see if another problem needs to be investigated.

 

[nico887]

Victory ! Stereo pairing now works perfectly with iOS 12.1.

For forum members with the same problem, let me know if 12.1 fixed the stereo pairing bug.