AirPlay unstable since macOS 13 / iOS 16 (Podcasts issue?)

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Level 1

26 points

AirPlay unstable since macOS 13 / iOS 16 (Podcasts issue?)

Hi all,

Since the introduction of macOS Ventura and iOS 16, AirPlay was becoming very unstable. Audio via AirPlay works fine for some time but when switching between different apps, eg. from Podcasts to Apple Music or Safari and vice versa, the AirPlay transmission sporadically locks up and no external AirPlay devices are found any more, or the AirPlay devices are visible but transmission over AirPlay is locked. The fastest solution to resolve this is to restart the Mac, iPad or iPhone.

On macOS, I found that force-terminating all instances of the Podcasts App solves the issue most of the time. On iOS, only a device restart or waiting for a long time does help. I suspect that these effects originate from orphaned processes of the Podcasts app that aren't terminating properly, even while the app appears to be closed.

Anyone having an idea if this can be solved more efficiently than rebooting the device each time after listening to Podcasts, or do we have to wait for the next OS version?

Thanks in advance!

iPad Pro, iPadOS 16

Posted on Jan 3, 2023 12:18 AM

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Answer 1

Eprom1 Author

Level 1

26 points

Jan 18, 2023 11:44 AM in response to chrisbauerwrat

I solved it by no longer using the Apple Podcasts App. Using a 3rd-party podcasts app, AirPlay does not lock up any more.

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Answer 2

Eprom1 Author

Level 1

26 points

Feb 4, 2023 6:04 AM in response to mklybor

Try to disconnecting your router and all access points (if you have some) from the mains power for at least 15 minutes and try again. Also try disabling WPA3 and 2.4GHz radio temporarily and check if this is an improvement. Some WLAN / networking hardware does not work well with AirPlay.

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Answer 3

Sparks0829

Community Specialist

Jan 4, 2023 9:33 AM in response to Eprom1

Hi there Eprom1,

If AirPlay isn't working as expected between your devices, you'll want to start by trying the relevant steps in this support article to see if they resolve the issue for you: If screen mirroring or streaming isn't working on your AirPlay-compatible device

If the steps in the link above don't seem to help, you'll want to reach out to Apple Support directly for more guidance. They're best-equipped to take a closer look and provide some additional guidance. This link will help you get started: Contact - Official Apple Support

Take care.

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Answer 4

Eprom1 Author

Level 1

26 points

Jan 4, 2023 1:09 PM in response to Sparks0829

Hi Sparks0829, thanks for Your feedback which I translate as follows:

"it's a bug in iOS / macOS with no KB entry and we have to wait for one of the next updates which (hopefully) fixes the issue". Will do, thanks.

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Answer 5

1ssmith

Community Specialist

Jan 4, 2023 1:31 PM in response to Eprom1

Hi Eprom1,

You can always reach out to Apple Support for additional investigation as well.

Kind regards.

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Answer 6

Jan 8, 2023 8:49 AM in response to Eprom1

Oh yeah. Same problem.

extremely unstable now.

sometimes switching between services solves the problem. IE Netflix to Hulu, etc.

sometimes have to reboot.

highly annoying

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Answer 7

Eprom1 Author

Level 1

26 points

Jan 6, 2023 1:51 PM in response to 1ssmith

So what would be the benefit of discussing with the first-level guys, other than they will tell me to reboot my device which indeed helps for the moment until it repeats.

The underlying problem here came with macOS 13 / iOS 16. It wasn't happening in 12/15.

AirPlay sporadically locks up when switching between devices over the air because a daemon or a process blocks AirPlay from reconnecting. AirPlay also sometimes cannot distinguish which app is currently playing audio in the foreground. For example it starts Apple Music in the background while a Safari Window is supposed to play a sound in the browser.

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Answer 8

mklybor

Level 1

18 points

Feb 3, 2023 10:11 AM in response to Eprom1

I am still on Big Sur and been having airplay / HomePod problems for the past couple of weeks. Wondering if anything got updated on the HomePod?

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AirPlay unstable since macOS 13 / iOS 16 (Podcasts issue?)

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