Audio sync problem with multiple HomePod after update to IOS18

It seems like when I try to play music on my HomePods in more than one room it generates a massive level of network congestion that doesn’t exist at any other time on my network. This causes issues with all my devices not just my HomePods, but it does lead to issues controlling my HomePod music from my iPhone as well as random HomePods stopping playing the music.

18.2 fixed - at least for now - the issue where the song would end early, then the next one would start a few seconds in, stop, and then start at the beginning. But the sync issues are much worse. I tried assigning all the one on the same level to the same room, which has helped some, but they still go out of sync after about 10-15 minutes. Which is an improvement on the 1-2 minutes it took before I reassigned them.

My setup - one stereo pair of HP2, two unpaired HP2s, and three minis in different rooms. Small house, but a very sound-sensitive person so no one speaker can be loud enough to hear in a larger area. Playing my own music through Apple Music.

Still happening to me with 18.2. But the problem is just with Apple Music. I’m testing with Spotify and youtube and no problem at all. I have 2 HP 1st gen in stereo, 1 HP 1st, 2 mini in stereo and other 2 mini singles and all of them have the same problem when put together playing.

I’ve been doing several tests. I reset all the HomePods, but it didn’t solve the issue. I disabled Atmos and Lossless, but the same errors persisted. What I noticed is that it seems to be related to the iPhone. On the iPhone, the issue only affects Apple Music when trying to stream to multiple HomePods. When I stream via the Music app on my MacBook, this error doesn’t occur. I haven’t tried performing a factory reset on the iPhone yet.

I’ve done all the suggestions on here and the problem persists. Today I had them starting to play a song 15/20 seconds in, then stopping and starting the same song again from the beginning. Not had that for a while. Then a bit later I had them completely out of sync and even the lyrics on my phone weren’t in sync. I stopped everything and restarted but then only one speaker played. Everything is updated. I use Apple Music. Don’t know what else to do. I restart them, unpair, re pair, reset, play music directly using Siri, stream from my phone etc etc. Doesn’t matter what I do they won’t work as they should

Interesting. I've been using Apple Music directly, so that volume and speakers can be controlled by different devices in my home (three people, one of whom is very sound sensitive). I just set up different automations, disabled them, and use Test this automation to play that particular playlist. If I play from my desktop, that is the only device I can use to change volume, or add/remove speakers. Same with playing through Music on my iPhone.

Okay, it just started happening again. Without any improvement in the syncing issues. So now I have to frequently re-sync and deal with the abrupt song ending/starting partway into next song.

I tried restarting every HomePod and mini, but no help. No updates, and no changes to my system. Why is this happening again?

USA, and Verizon Fios - the latest router.

I switched over to playing from my Mac, which at least stopped the sync issues. Still dealing with abrupt endings and false starts.

If these issues aren't fixed by then, I'm dropping my Apple Music subscription once the free trial ends next month. If I have to play from my Mac, and don't have the ability to control volume and speakers from any device, there is no point in paying the subscription price.

I have the same problem. I have 4 large HomePods (gen 1) and three small ones (2 gen 1 and 2 gen 2) scattered throughout the house. Only the older, small HomePods go out of sync. It is very annoying since I like to throw parties and constantly having to stop and start the music to fix the issue is not feasible or pleasant.

Hello good people!

After months of audio problems with HomePods and AppleTV, iPhone or AirPlay—it’s hard to say exactly which—I’ve finally found a solution. I’ve tested it for a while now, and there are NO issues regardless of the app or device. I’ve tried it with Apple Music and Spotify in AppleTV and iPhone, and it now works flawlessly. I should also mention that I’m running the iOS 18.4 Developer version on all my devices. The problems I experienced were crackling sounds or sync issuesafter a while as I tried playing on multiple HomePods in the home, usually playing on different HomePods in stereo pairs, and the speakers in the stereo pairs losing sync.

Now for the solution. In my case, it was IGMP/multicast-related. My switches had IGMP snooping enabled—as did my Asus WiFi(Mesh) routers—but they only had IGMP snooping activated on WiFi. I had to enable multicast routing on the LAN as well. On Asus devices, you can find these settings under Wireless > Professional and LAN > IPTV. Now everything works perfectly again.

Hope this helps someone find a solution.

\Dan

Hi, Since you have multiple HomePods, the issue might be related to Wi-Fi signal strength. Some HomePods that are farther from the router may experience weaker signals, causing the delay.

Try grouping all your HomePods closer to the router and test again. If the problem persists, follow these steps:

Possible Solutions:

• Restart your router

• Restart all your HomePods

• Sign out of your iCloud account and sign back in

• Check if your devices need software updates

• Ensure all HomePods are connected to the same Wi-Fi network

• Unplug all HomePods, wait 2–3 minutes, and plug them back in

• Toggle the Lossless Audio option in your iPhone settings and the Home app

• If your router supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, try connecting all HomePods to 5GHz. If that doesn’t help, switch to 2.4GHz

Alternative Solution:

• Reset all your HomePods

• Reset your router

Let me know if any of these steps help!

Done all that multiple times. Small house, and the ones closest to the router - literally a few feet away - are just as likely to go out of sync as the ones further away. The furthest ones are maybe 30 feet away. If this is ever fixed I'll resubscribe to Apple Music. Right now, the only thing that prevents the sync issues is air playing from my Mac. Though I still get the false starts with that.

ypu can report bugs here: Feedback - HomePod - Apple

If they aren’t working as they should, a restart is your best option to resolve this. You can restart them via the Home App or unplug for 10 seconds to restart them.

Since 18.1 everything stable again. :)