iPhone SE (1st gen) is not compatible with the HomePod.
To the three people in the world who have a 1st gen iPhone SE and are trying to connect it to their HomePod mini, just wanted to let you know that you’re resilience is admirable, but you’re out of luck. 📓
Right now my wife uses my “old” iPhone 15 Pro Max as her white noise device connected to the HomePod mini, but I need that iPhone to be ready to be my new main device when WWDC comes along in June. The 16 Pro Max will be designated as my testing device.
The only other iPhone I have that I can use is my 1st gen iPhone SE on its latest software version of 15.8.3.
It wouldn’t connect to the HomePod, or any of my HomeKit devices. Turns out you need iOS or iPad OS 16.3 or later.
To the three people in the world who have a 1st gen iPhone SE and are trying to connect it to their HomePod mini, just wanted to let you know that you’re resilience is admirable, but you’re out of luck.
Background Sounds do not work on the HomePod mini.
Background Sounds are great for white noise, but they won’t play over a HomePod mini. If you want to use Apple’s built-in white noise to help you sleep or stay asleep, you would need to use another Bluetooth speaker or hardwired speaker.
I use the Bose SoundDock XT which is connected to my iPhone via an aux cable and USB-C to headphone jack adapter, and it simultaneously plays both YouTube and Background Sounds.
Same thing happens with my Anker Bluetooth speaker, where all sound is routed to the speaker.
If I turn off the Bluetooth speaker and select the HomePod mini as the source, the YouTube audio transfers over but the Background Sound stays on the iPhone. What’s even wackier is if I have my Anker Bluetooth speaker connected, I can play the YouTube video on the HomePod mini, and the Background Noise on the Anker speaker.
I know the HomePod mini uses both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so it should be able to play both audio sources, but it seems Apple has prevented Background Sounds from playing on the HomePod mini, and I presume the regular HomePod as well.
Background Sounds are great for white noise, but they won’t play over a HomePod mini. If you want to use Apple’s built-in white noise to help you sleep or stay asleep, you would need to use another Bluetooth speaker or hardwired speaker.
I use the Bose SoundDock XT which is connected to my iPhone via an aux cable and USB-C to headphone jack adapter, and it simultaneously plays both YouTube and Background Sounds.
Same thing happens with my Anker Bluetooth speaker, where all sound is routed to the speaker.
If I turn off the Bluetooth speaker and select the HomePod mini as the source, the YouTube audio transfers over but the Background Sound stays on the iPhone. What’s even wackier is if I have my Anker Bluetooth speaker connected, I can play the YouTube video on the HomePod mini, and the Background Noise on the Anker speaker.
I know the HomePod mini uses both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so it should be able to play both audio sources, but it seems Apple has prevented Background Sounds from playing on the HomePod mini, and I presume the regular HomePod as well.
The Bose SoundDock XT fixed my HomePod mini problem.
I work a weird schedule.
I work a normal 8am - 4pm shift for 2 weeks, and then I work 1am - 9am on the 3rd week, rinse and repeat. I have been doing this rotation for the last 10 years, so I have gotten used to it.
Kind of.
With a full house (wife and 3 kids), I have to balance my sleep into multiple naps when I work the graveyard shift. The rest of the family is awake, and they do a great job of staying quiet. They’re homeschooled, so they stay home during daytime hours except on certain days when they have in-person classes.
The problem isn’t them making noise, but the problem lies with my white noise stopping in the middle of my nap. I have my iPhone connected to my HomePod mini, and I play my favorite YouTube video as a form of white noise at a high volume. To protect my hearing and to double down on normal house chatter (because…kids), I also wear ear plugs.
More often than I would like, my YouTube video stops playing and I wake up due to some noise that would easily be masked by the HomePod. If this happens when I am sleeping at night like a regular human, it isn’t a big deal since I can just restart it and go back to bed. If it happens during the day or late in the evening when I have to wake up at midnight for work, it becomes a challenge to fall back asleep.
As much as I wanted the HomePod mini to be my permanent solution, I just can’t rely on it when working the graveyard shift.
I also use a Bluetooth Anker speaker as an alternative, but that has its own annoyances. If I permanently keep it plugged in and charged, it will fail in 2 years due to the battery conking out (I’m on my 2nd unit). Plus, I don’t want to fiddle with yet another device that needs to be charged.
With Anker, I get reliable audio but annoying charging. With the HomePod, I get reliable power but annoying AirPlay issues. I needed something that has the best of both, and I decided to get a Bose SoundDock XT.
This was released back in 2012, but still holds up well today. It has no wireless capabilities whatsoever and has to be physically plugged into the wall like the HomePod. It has very simple touch controls in the front for volume, and that’s it. You can plug in a lightning iPhone and it will charge while playing audio, but I ended up using the AUX jack in the back. With Apple’s USB-C to headphone jack adapter, I can plug in my iPhone from a distance and I am set. No more power, Bluetooth, or AirPlay issues to worry about.
As for my iPhone, I have it docked on a dome-shaped, MagSafe charging station by Anker.
My white noise is bass heavy, and this Bose system handles it just fine. You can fetch one of these on eBay for about $50-60, and with shipping it was $75.
I liked it so much that I bought another one for only $50 with shipping.
If you want old-school, high-quality sound with reliable connectivity, you can’t go wrong with one of these older Bose SoundDocks.
I work a weird schedule.
I work a normal 8am - 4pm shift for 2 weeks, and then I work 1am - 9am on the 3rd week, rinse and repeat. I have been doing this rotation for the last 10 years, so I have gotten used to it.
Kind of.
With a full house (wife and 3 kids), I have to balance my sleep into multiple naps when I work the graveyard shift. The rest of the family is awake, and they do a great job of staying quiet. They’re homeschooled, so they stay home during daytime hours except on certain days when they have in-person classes.
The problem isn’t them making noise, but the problem lies with my white noise stopping in the middle of my nap. I have my iPhone connected to my HomePod mini, and I play my favorite YouTube video as a form of white noise at a high volume. To protect my hearing and to double down on normal house chatter (because…kids), I also wear ear plugs.
More often than I would like, my YouTube video stops playing and I wake up due to some noise that would easily be masked by the HomePod. If this happens when I am sleeping at night like a regular human, it isn’t a big deal since I can just restart it and go back to bed. If it happens during the day or late in the evening when I have to wake up at midnight for work, it becomes a challenge to fall back asleep.
As much as I wanted the HomePod mini to be my permanent solution, I just can’t rely on it when working the graveyard shift.
I also use a Bluetooth Anker speaker as an alternative, but that has its own annoyances. If I permanently keep it plugged in and charged, it will fail in 2 years due to the battery conking out (I’m on my 2nd unit). Plus, I don’t want to fiddle with yet another device that needs to be charged.
With Anker, I get reliable audio but annoying charging. With the HomePod, I get reliable power but annoying AirPlay issues. I needed something that has the best of both, and I decided to get a Bose SoundDock XT.
This was released back in 2012, but still holds up well today. It has no wireless capabilities whatsoever and has to be physically plugged into the wall like the HomePod. It has very simple touch controls in the front for volume, and that’s it. You can plug in a lightning iPhone and it will charge while playing audio, but I ended up using the AUX jack in the back. With Apple’s USB-C to headphone jack adapter, I can plug in my iPhone from a distance and I am set. No more power, Bluetooth, or AirPlay issues to worry about.
As for my iPhone, I have it docked on a dome-shaped, MagSafe charging station by Anker.
My white noise is bass heavy, and this Bose system handles it just fine. You can fetch one of these on eBay for about $50-60, and with shipping it was $75.
I liked it so much that I bought another one for only $50 with shipping.
If you want old-school, high-quality sound with reliable connectivity, you can’t go wrong with one of these older Bose SoundDocks.