HomeKit Need help with a shortcut to set Homepod as speaker for AppleTV

[Meuti]

To all the shortcut masters, maybe you can help me out. I have a Homepod stereo pair and an Apple TV in my living room. When I watch a movie I manually set the Homepods to play the audio. Works like a charm. When I'm done, before I turn the Apple TV off again, I set the output back to the TV Speakers (if I don't the Apple TV wakes up the next time I use Siri to play something on the Homepods). So these are the two situations for which I'm trying to create shortcuts.

Now... for days I have been trying to set a shortcut that will wake up my Apple TV (it turns on the TV automatically when it wakes up), turn off the lights and set the Homepod as audio output. Waking up the TV and turning off the lights is working fine, but I can't get the audio change to work. I also tried to have the shortcut play a song on the Apple TV before changing the audio output, but that didn't work either. I was about to give up, but at some point I had a working shortcut, however with that when I turned the TV off again by another "end movie night" shortcut, suddenly my iPhone was playing music...

If anyone here has an idea that would help me, it's highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mallbritton]

You might want to wait until tvOS/audioOS 14.2 is released. These releases will add the feature to make your HomePods the default audio out for the ATV and it might make what you are trying to do easier.

You can sign up for the public betas here: https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/. But be aware the software is BETA. There are bugs and once installed you can not restore to the previous version.

 

[Meuti]

Thank you for that info and the hope it's giving me. I won't sign up for the beta program, but thank you for pointing me to it. If a new OS will solve my problem I will patiently wait. It's not like I need this shortcut for the sake of my life, but it would certainly make things a lot easier. I was just thinking it must be possible somehow and I'm just to stupid to get it done ?

 

[Itinj24]

Go to the media section in Shortcuts and use “Handoff playback from”

The select the source from AppleTV to HomePod

 

[Itinj24]

Also, I highly recommend following this guy. He a master at this stuff and his tutorials are in depth and easy to follow:

Shane Whatley

I am building an EASY smart home using Apple's HomeKit. I release a new HomeKit video every Sunday. Join me as I transform my home into a HomeKit Smart Home ...

www.youtube.com

 

[Itinj24]

This is a quick scratch Shortcut but something like this. I added some stuff like opening the remote, opening AT&T Now on the ATV, etc...

 

[Meuti]

Thanks a lot for your help. I just tried again, but unfortunately it still won't work. Everything goes fine except for setting the output to the Homepods. If I choose Hand off playback from Apple TV to Homepod, the Homepods start playing music and the setting on the ATV is still on the TV speakers. I don't remember how I got it to work once, but I guess I'll really just have to wait till the next update.

 

[Itinj24]

Thanks a lot for your help. I just tried again, but unfortunately it still won't work. Everything goes fine except for setting the output to the Homepods. If I choose Hand off playback from Apple TV to Homepod, the Homepods start playing music and the setting on the ATV is still on the TV speakers. I don't remember how I got it to work once, but I guess I'll really just have to wait till the next update.

Hmm, I tested it a few times before I posted and it works fine on my end. Do you have the AppleTV playing music before you initiated the shortcut? You have to have the ATV app running the app you want first (AT&T TV in my case) in the Shortcut flow. I’ll play around with it some more on my end using different scenarios and flows.

 

[Meuti]

Thank you so much for your efforts. The ATV didn't have music playing. I have added a command to open the Plex App before changing the audio output. But as stated - every segment is working except for changing the sound output from TV speakers to Homepod. I also tried ungrouping the stereo pair and sending the sound to a single speaker to see if it has to with that, but no luck there either.

 

[Itinj24]

Thank you so much for your efforts. The ATV didn't have music playing. I have added a command to open the Plex App before changing the audio output. But as stated - every segment is working except for changing the sound output from TV speakers to Homepod. I also tried ungrouping the stereo pair and sending the sound to a single speaker to see if it has to with that, but no luck there either.

No worries and damn, sorry to hear that. Something is causing a conflict with the Shortcut action. Wish there was something else I can recommend trying but it’s working on my end. I’ve been using this type of Shortcut for a while now to do exactly what you need for a movie scene. I even have an action to set the HomePod to a certain volume level.

 

[Meuti]

I'm glad it's working out for you. Thanks again. I now tried to make a single shortcut that will simply change the output to the Homepod while the Apple TV is already up and running. Doesn't work either... Guess I'll just have to wait for the update and see if it changes anything.

 

[Itinj24]

FWIW, the HomePod is also being remembered as my last connected audio device when I turn the ATV on. I thought that functionality was already enabled.

 

[Meuti]

That works for me as well if I chose it manually. However when I turn the ATV off afterwards and want the Homepod to play a song or the news or whatever, the ATV is turned on by that as well. That's why I was trying to create that shortcut in first place

 

[Itinj24]

That works for me as well if I chose it manually. However when I turn the ATV off afterwards and want the Homepod to play a song or the news or whatever, the ATV is turned on by that as well. That's why I was trying to create that shortcut in first place

So the ATV is turning itself on when you play a song just on the HomePod? Am I reading that right?

 

[Meuti]

You are reading this right. If I don't set the audio output of the ATV back to the TV Speakers before turning it off, the TV will turn on as soon as I use the HomePod (for example "Hey Siri, what time is it?" - Siri replies and the TV turns itself on because they are still connected).

 

[Itinj24]

You are reading this right. If I don't set the audio output of the ATV back to the TV Speakers before turning it off, the TV will turn on as soon as I use the HomePod (for example "Hey Siri, what time is it?" - Siri replies and the TV turns itself on because they are still connected).

Ok that’s definitely odd behavior. Well I haven’t experienced this at least. Do you have any other shortcuts or automations enabled that could be causing this?

 

[Meuti]

No, I don't have any other automations. This happens every time, when I forget to disconnect HomePod and ATV manually after turning off the TV. My TV is quite an old Sony, the ATV is connected via HDMI. Turning the Television on and off and changing the volume works with the Apple Remote.