HomeKit 16.3 for HomePods. Just Shoot Me Now Please

[Itinj24]

I can’t be the only one… Did 16.3 not fix a damn thing and only give us a couple useless sensors that aren’t even accurate?

For the record, I’m still on the old architecture so wonder if this is causing the disconnect. Perhaps 16.3 was meant for fixing bugs with the new architecture. Also, I rebooted my network already.

Let’s see…
1) Returning is the “Update Account” message for all my HomePods that seemed to have finally went away with 16.2.
2) “Test This Automation” still doesn’t work
3) Four of my OG HomePods (2 in stereo, 2 running solo duty) keep showing an “Update Available” after I already updated. They show 16.3 in my iCloud list of devices but HomeKit has them as 16.2. Hitting the update button does absolutely nothing and nothing I tried short of a factory reset will get the message to go away.
3a) Ungrouped and Factory Reset the stereo pair from above and now they’ve each been stuck on “Configuring for six hours.” At least they aren’t asking me to update anymore
4) Got one HomePod Mini that’s now refusing to connect.
5) Cameras are constantly going off/online now.
6) Still got one rebellious HomePod Mini that’s refusing to show an Update available.
7) Plenty other little stuff that I’m too tired to get into.

It’s now 0330 EST. I’ve been at this for 11 friggen hours.

AppleTVs updated smooth as butter at least. They’ve always been the most stable and carefree Apple Device IMO, especially after hardwiring them.

 

[B/D]

For me has been a fantastic update. Not for Siri/Homekit, I´ll give you that (although for me is not worse than 16.2), but sound wise, the improved sound tuning of the OG Homepods is spectacular. Combined with the revamped Dolby Atmos stack of tvOS 16.3, watching movies with the Apple TV and the pods is a whole new experience now. Louder, fuller, clearer dialogue, and more immersive.


As for the update process itself, for me there has been no hiccups at all. Smooth as butter on all my pods.

 

[Itinj24]

For me has been a fantastic update. Not for Siri/Homekit, I´ll give you that (although for me is not worse than 16.2), but sound wise, the improved sound tuning of the OG Homepods is spectacular. Combined with the revamped Dolby Atmos stack of tvOS 16.3, watching movies with the Apple TV and the pods is a whole new experience now. Louder, fuller, clearer dialogue, and more immersive.


As for the update process itself, for me there has been no hiccups at all. Smooth as butter on all my pods.

Don’t know what the heck is going on here. This has been the most painful update for me yet. 16.0 is a close second.

Out of curiosity… old or new architecture for ya?

 

[B/D]

Don’t know what the heck is going on here. This has been the most painful update for me yet. 16.0 is a close second.

Out of curiosity… old or new architecture for ya?

The old architecture was pulled out before I could upgrade, so I´m in the old one. Apple is working on reintroducing the new architecture, let´s hope it will improve things this time.

 

[Itinj24]

The old architecture was pulled out before I could upgrade, so I´m in the old one. Apple is working on reintroducing the new architecture, let´s hope it will improve things this time.

Yeah the rumor was it was supposed to return with 16.3 but that obviously didn’t happen. Maybe a point update soon. I’ve been pessimistic about these updates but I need something, anything right now. This is a nightmare.

 

[Itinj24]

Or maybe I’ve won the random Apple sweepstakes of killing off my HomePods and forcing me to upgrade to Gen 2.

They do feel hot again… 🤦‍♂️

 

[perezr10]

Wow! All those problems would drive me 😝

I’ve had a great experience with 16.3 thus far. Prior to 16.3 my 7 HomePods suffered from a lot of software glitches which caused some of them to not play when I would say “Siri play some music everywhere”. Especially my big 1st gen HomePods.

But now, they’ve been so much more reliable since my upgrade to 16.3. Even the OG HomePods. I haven’t had any random quitters even once since the upgrade. And I work from home so I use them A LOT.

I did upgrade to the new architecture so maybe that gives you some hope.

 

[Itinj24]

Thanks for the feedback. It seems to have stabilized some since I posted this but it drove me bonkers for the first 12 hours

 

[aMmOOooR]

I can’t be the only one… Did 16.3 not fix a damn thing and only give us a couple useless sensors that aren’t even accurate?

For the record, I’m still on the old architecture so wonder if this is causing the disconnect. Perhaps 16.3 was meant for fixing bugs with the new architecture. Also, I rebooted my network already.

Let’s see…
1) Returning is the “Update Account” message for all my HomePods that seemed to have finally went away with 16.2.
2) “Test This Automation” still doesn’t work
3) Four of my OG HomePods (2 in stereo, 2 running solo duty) keep showing an “Update Available” after I already updated. They show 16.3 in my iCloud list of devices but HomeKit has them as 16.2. Hitting the update button does absolutely nothing and nothing I tried short of a factory reset will get the message to go away.
3a) Ungrouped and Factory Reset the stereo pair from above and now they’ve each been stuck on “Configuring for six hours.” At least they aren’t asking me to update anymore
4) Got one HomePod Mini that’s now refusing to connect.
5) Cameras are constantly going off/online now.
6) Still got one rebellious HomePod Mini that’s refusing to show an Update available.
7) Plenty other little stuff that I’m too tired to get into.

It’s now 0330 EST. I’ve been at this for 11 friggen hours.

AppleTVs updated smooth as butter at least. They’ve always been the most stable and carefree Apple Device IMO, especially after hardwiring them.

New architecture here and I’m having the “Update Account” and the cameras going offline and online all the time.

Also, for some reason since the update when it’s been some time (like half an hour or more) since I asked Siri to do anything, Once I ask for toggling the lights or setting the scene I’m faced with a new error message, something like “There was a problem completing your request, please try again in a moment”.. I am coming to interrupt her by Hey Siri again and the same request is through this time.

Same 16.2 (New architecture) problems, not completing the scene but still appearing to be faster now in executing scenes, just more troublesome.

And that horrible edit to how she responds when I ask her to toggle something out of sight (like turning off lights in another room) is unbearable. She now gives an audible beep instead of saying “Ok, lights are off”.. Feels completely alien and the beep is not always easy to hear when I’m moving around the place, and it doesn’t make sense since Siri talks and does not beep so, now I get “One second.. Working on that.. Beep!” What apple?! Who’s making those decisions! .. Oh and there is no option to choose if I want speech or beep feedback. It’s simply the future I have to accept against my will. Just like removing that option in Apple TV to prevent it from being a hub, which didn’t come back in 16.3 either.

Temperature sensors in the mini are not always super accurate, there is a +1C -1C degrees off compared to other sensors and actually, compared to themselves. I have two minis each by the two ends of my bed (which is a 160cm distance) and sometimes they show the same reading, sometimes they are 2 degrees off of each others.

Accessories that never had a problem before are now randomly unresponsive. Other accessories like the Eve plugs (which are thread) when one of them go unresponsive there is noway I can fix that except by cutting power and restarting everything. Internet, homepods, everything. Lights that never went unresponsive before are now randomly either showing unresponsive on the Home App or simply don’t turn on / off on first scene requests.

Home App is slower than 16.2, every time I open it I have to wait for like 5-10 seconds before it I can touch anything, and alot of times it shows some light/accessory is on when it is off in real life, very confusing when I’m not home. The other day I was checking on the camera and noticed the main heater is ON, which turns off through automations when I’m not home. I had no idea if what I’m seeing is true to real life or not so I thought I’d toggle it, it showed it was turned off, then went Not Responding, and looks like in real life it was off and Home App was displaying a wrong status, so thank you for letting me turn on the heater for a whole day when nobody’s home Apple, 50$ down the drain on my electricity bill.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I always trusted the brand, it’s been almost 20 years that I’ve been a loyal fan, but those days can’t compare now. Betas in the past were much more stable than what official updates now are. I think it would be fair to actually label the entire HomeKit project as Beta for now.

But we love our HomePods anyway

 

[Lioness~]

Got my 2nd HonePod mini today. Had some updating installation and upgrading time, but one thing follows after another and the difference between having 1 HomePod mini and 2 are like night and day.

The stereo sound plus the space they generate together are totally awesome from these small things. The old Creative speakers in that room may have some better bass, but the space sound from the minis beat that anyway.

 

[decypher44]

Got my 2nd HonePod mini today. Had some updating installation and upgrading time, but one thing follows after another and the difference between having 1 HomePod mini and 2 are like night and day.

The stereo sound plus the space they generate together are totally awesome from these small things. The old Creative speakers in that room may have some better bass, but the space sound from the minis beat that anyway.

Can I ask you how long the configuring process took when you set it up?

 

[Lioness~]

Can I ask you how long the configuring process took when you set it up?

This last one that I bought had been opened and probably tested.
It first showed as wifi connection problem. I tried to reset it a few times, not working. But when I connected it with my Mac it started an upgrade as well.
All in all maybe 30 minutes before I figured out and got it to upgrade on the Mac. Then it had its time to upgrade, pretty slow, probably additional 10 minutes, but when that was finished it paired with the other one quite easy.
Would've saved some time to connect it to the Mac immediately, and not tried to follow the instructions how to pair it with my other one. Through the Mac is the way with Apple stuff.

 

[alunjunkinsuk]

I had a lot of issues too
One HomePod stuck in update loop had to be factory reset removed from account and reinstalled
Worst is home kit
Every request has to be done twice . First response is “on it ; something went wrong ; try again “
2nd attempt generally works is madness

 

[lance-a-lot]

^^^ This is what I am dealing with.

 

[pup]

I feel for you guys. I don’t get why the HomePod software is always such a problem. Isn’t it supposed to be essentially the same as the AppleTV? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone complain about software glitches with the TV. Just makes no sense to me why the HomePods seem inherently glitchy.

 

[TonyC28]

I can’t be the only one… Did 16.3 not fix a damn thing and only give us a couple useless sensors that aren’t even accurate?

For the record, I’m still on the old architecture so wonder if this is causing the disconnect. Perhaps 16.3 was meant for fixing bugs with the new architecture. Also, I rebooted my network already.

Let’s see…
1) Returning is the “Update Account” message for all my HomePods that seemed to have finally went away with 16.2.
2) “Test This Automation” still doesn’t work
3) Four of my OG HomePods (2 in stereo, 2 running solo duty) keep showing an “Update Available” after I already updated. They show 16.3 in my iCloud list of devices but HomeKit has them as 16.2. Hitting the update button does absolutely nothing and nothing I tried short of a factory reset will get the message to go away.
3a) Ungrouped and Factory Reset the stereo pair from above and now they’ve each been stuck on “Configuring for six hours.” At least they aren’t asking me to update anymore
4) Got one HomePod Mini that’s now refusing to connect.
5) Cameras are constantly going off/online now.
6) Still got one rebellious HomePod Mini that’s refusing to show an Update available.
7) Plenty other little stuff that I’m too tired to get into.

It’s now 0330 EST. I’ve been at this for 11 friggen hours.

AppleTVs updated smooth as butter at least. They’ve always been the most stable and carefree Apple Device IMO, especially after hardwiring them.

Are you noticing any audio issues since the update? My OGs sound horrible now. Specifically background vocals. They sound like a kids toy microphone. For example, in Bohemian Rhapsody at 2:28 the background “any way the wind blows” sounds like it was dubbed over by a kid. Very weird.

Also, restating them in the app seemingly does nothing now. Like it doesn’t actually restart them.

 

[Itinj24]

I feel for you guys. I don’t get why the HomePod software is always such a problem. Isn’t it supposed to be essentially the same as the AppleTV? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone complain about software glitches with the TV. Just makes no sense to me why the HomePods seem inherently glitchy.

The AppleTVs happen to be my most stable and bug free devices. Go figure lol.

 

[Itinj24]

Are you noticing any audio issues since the update? My OGs sound horrible now. Specifically background vocals. They sound like a kids toy microphone. For example, in Bohemian Rhapsody at 2:28 the background “any way the wind blows” sounds like it was dubbed over by a kid. Very weird.

Also, restating them in the app seemingly does nothing now. Like it doesn’t actually restart them.

I haven’t noticed weird audio issues yet but I’ll check out Bohemian Rhapsody when I get home.

What am I getting a lot of is “There’s a problem with Apple Music, check back later.” Also stereo pairs not playing in stereo.

I check the HomePod manually when I restart via the app and they seem to be responding normally.

I swear 16.3 is just a re-release of 16.0 with the few extra features. I’m getting exactly the same exact crappy experience now as I did when 16.0 was first released and I wouldn’t be surprised. 16.3 came out very soon after 16.2.

 

[aMmOOooR]

Are you noticing any audio issues since the update? My OGs sound horrible now. Specifically background vocals. They sound like a kids toy microphone. For example, in Bohemian Rhapsody at 2:28 the background “any way the wind blows” sounds like it was dubbed over by a kid. Very weird.

Also, restating them in the app seemingly does nothing now. Like it doesn’t actually restart them.

Totally.. I thought it was me, but I found out a lot of people are talking about this on reddit.
Sounds like Treble is much higher than what used to be, vocals sound like they are passing through an extreme digital equalizer. Sound is more fake than ever.

Maybe apple is making up for the lost tweeters in the new HomePod!

I hate this update anyway. Sound/HomeKit/Bugs/Everything.

 

[TonyC28]

Totally.. I thought it was me, but I found out a lot of people are talking about this on reddit.
Sounds like Treble is much higher than what used to be, vocals sound like they are passing through an extreme digital equalizer. Sound is more fake than ever.

Maybe apple is making up for the lost tweeters in the new HomePod!

I hate this update anyway. Sound/HomeKit/Bugs/Everything.

I did a hard restart of my two HomePods, unpaired them, then re-paired them. It’s better but it still sounds a little off.

 

[perezr10]

—

 

[perezr10]

Ha! I hereby rescind what I said about the HomePods working much better. They are back to being kind of buggy. I’m again getting random HomePods dropping out for no reason.

I think updating does have a temporary positive effect which Is like unplugging all your HomePods and restarting them.

 

[hbowie]

New architecture here and I’m having the “Update Account” and the cameras going offline and online all the time.

Also, for some reason since the update when it’s been some time (like half an hour or more) since I asked Siri to do anything, Once I ask for toggling the lights or setting the scene I’m faced with a new error message, something like “There was a problem completing your request, please try again in a moment”.. I am coming to interrupt her by Hey Siri again and the same request is through this time.

Same 16.2 (New architecture) problems, not completing the scene but still appearing to be faster now in executing scenes, just more troublesome.

And that horrible edit to how she responds when I ask her to toggle something out of sight (like turning off lights in another room) is unbearable. She now gives an audible beep instead of saying “Ok, lights are off”.. Feels completely alien and the beep is not always easy to hear when I’m moving around the place, and it doesn’t make sense since Siri talks and does not beep so, now I get “One second.. Working on that.. Beep!” What apple?! Who’s making those decisions! .. Oh and there is no option to choose if I want speech or beep feedback. It’s simply the future I have to accept against my will. Just like removing that option in Apple TV to prevent it from being a hub, which didn’t come back in 16.3 either.

Temperature sensors in the mini are not always super accurate, there is a +1C -1C degrees off compared to other sensors and actually, compared to themselves. I have two minis each by the two ends of my bed (which is a 160cm distance) and sometimes they show the same reading, sometimes they are 2 degrees off of each others.

Accessories that never had a problem before are now randomly unresponsive. Other accessories like the Eve plugs (which are thread) when one of them go unresponsive there is noway I can fix that except by cutting power and restarting everything. Internet, homepods, everything. Lights that never went unresponsive before are now randomly either showing unresponsive on the Home App or simply don’t turn on / off on first scene requests.

Home App is slower than 16.2, every time I open it I have to wait for like 5-10 seconds before it I can touch anything, and alot of times it shows some light/accessory is on when it is off in real life, very confusing when I’m not home. The other day I was checking on the camera and noticed the main heater is ON, which turns off through automations when I’m not home. I had no idea if what I’m seeing is true to real life or not so I thought I’d toggle it, it showed it was turned off, then went Not Responding, and looks like in real life it was off and Home App was displaying a wrong status, so thank you for letting me turn on the heater for a whole day when nobody’s home Apple, 50$ down the drain on my electricity bill.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I always trusted the brand, it’s been almost 20 years that I’ve been a loyal fan, but those days can’t compare now. Betas in the past were much more stable than what official updates now are. I think it would be fair to actually label the entire HomeKit project as Beta for now.

But we love our HomePods anyway

My wife and I couldn't agree more about the new beep being unbearable. Why would Siri -- who, from the beginning, has been presented by Apple as some sort of semi-human assistant, with whom we converse, as we would with another person -- suddenly, out of the blue, start responding to us with a beep that sounds like R2-D2, or like the response from an old Casio watch? How is this an improvement? And why is there no option to control it? You're telling me I can control what sorts of noises my phone makes, and what sort of voice Siri uses, but I have no control over this beeping noise that has suddenly darkened by door? The whole thing seems idiotic and annoying.

I did come up with a partial solution, though. I created a Shortcut (on my Mac, if that makes a difference) and had it turn all our living room lights on, and then speak the text "Living Room Lights are Now On", and named it "Living Room Bright". Then I created another shortcut to do the reverse, and named it "Living Room Dark." Now I can execute either from my HomePod, and it speaks to me normally, with no annoying beep. The only downside is that there doesn't seem to be any way to mark it as available to anyone in the home, so now Siri on the HomePod wants to know who is speaking before she will try to execute the shortcut.

 

[polyphenol]

My issue is since Ventura 13.2.1

I can play Music to my HomePod mini. But not any sound from a browser - Safari or Firefox. The AirPlay option is visible and can be selected - but no sound comes through. None at all. Reboot of the Mac mini and the Homepod - nothing doing.

Luckily, I have Bluetooth speaker which does work. I can even have Music on the HomePod and browser sound over the Bluetooth at the same time!

Used to work until latest update of Ventura and HomePod.