HomePod not playing certain tracks

Question

HomePod not playing certain tracks

I bought my HomePod (Model MQHW2B/A - version 18.2) as a good quality external speaker for my iPhone (via WiFi). My problem is that it resolutely refuses to play certain tracks in my playlists. The playlists will play perfectly OK either to headphones or through the iPhone speaker, but once the sound output is switched to the HomePod, that device refuses to play the whole playlist, skipping tracks. How can I troubleshoot this, please, as, currently, the HomePod is not much good to me?

iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Jan 7, 2025 07:30 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,723 points

Feb 1, 2025 10:19 AM in response to AnthonyMarrian

This isn't a trivial problem. For most people Apple Music on HomePod can pick up their libraries, and it should be able to play your playlists all of the way through. Before anyone can suggest a solution we need to find out where things are going wrong.

See Remote control for HomePod, not using Air… - Apple Community for a way to use your iPhone to access the cloud library that your HomePod sees. Can you see if some of these tracks that you want to play are available if you use that method?

If you are really not happy with HomePod then perhaps you'd be happier with a Bluetooth speaker of some sort.

tt2

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Answer 2

Feb 2, 2025 07:38 AM in response to turingtest2

Sadly, I couldn't work out from your link how to access the cloud library that the HomePod is looking at. However, I listed all the "missing" songs (38 of them) with a view to removing them and adding them back not from my library but from Apple Music itself. This worked fine for the first couple (mp3, I suppose, rather than flac), at which point the whole playlist appeared to uncork itself. Go figure! Anyway, assuming the HomePod doesn't decide to revert to past behaviour, I am now good to go. Many thanks, as always, for your help and advice.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,723 points

Mar 8, 2025 03:36 AM in response to AnthonyMarrian

Not something I have personal experience of, but it is a standard Bluetooth speaker. If a song plays on your iPhone through headphones then it is going to play through a Bluetooth speaker. No cloud involved.

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

277,723 points

Jan 7, 2025 12:28 PM in response to AnthonyMarrian

Do you have a subscription to the Apple Music service? If you check the iCloud Status column in the Songs view of your library for affected tracks does it say anything other than Purchased, Matched, or Uploaded?

tt2

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Answer 5

Jan 8, 2025 03:31 AM in response to AnthonyMarrian

Thank you for your reply. Sadly, on my iPhone, I can’t see the iCloud column in Songs View of my library. I do have a subscription to Apple Music, but all the songs in my playlist are ripped from CDs I have bought, and transferred to the iPhone.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

277,723 points

Jan 8, 2025 06:50 AM in response to AnthonyMarrian

Look on your computer. What you may need to do is remove the affected tracks from the device via Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Music > Edit > Etc. Then add them back to your cloud library if they show on your computer as removed, error, waiting, etc. After which you should be able to stream or download to the device. You want to make sure that your computer has the physical copies before you proceed.

tt2

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Answer 7

Feb 1, 2025 09:51 AM in response to turingtest2

This is too complicated. My laptop is a Windows device so the only recourse I have is to iTunes, which doesn't (so far as I can tell) give me any relevant information. I still don't understand why the iPhone will play all the tracks but the HomePod won't. I always purchase my music (I'm particular about this), but, in any case, I have a subscription to Apple Music. It is a waste of money to have bought an Apple device that then won't play what it is asked to play by an iPhone. Can you recommend any similar Apple speaker that is happy to act as an audio outlet to an iPhone playlist, please?

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Answer 8

Mar 8, 2025 03:25 AM in response to turingtest2

Despite my post of Feb 2nd, the Homepod has now reverted to refusing to play several of the tracks in my playlist. I see that Apple sell something called a Beats Pill. Would that be a suitable replacement, or does that too have a mind of its own?

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Answer 9

Mar 8, 2025 08:01 AM in response to turingtest2

Perfect. Thank you so much.

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HomePod not playing certain tracks

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