Spotify > Airplay/HomePod Streaming?

[garrettatx]

The main reason I downloaded this app is that Spotify for macOS doesn't like to stream to AirPlay HomePod speakers.

Before downloading, I've tried using the macOS sound settings via the sound menu bar icon and Opt-clicking to select the HomePod. This works very rarely, and when it does, if I get up for lunch and come back, it's often disconnected, or the system audio is still connected, but Spotify isn't.

When I use the FineTune menu dropdown, I see all local sound devices, but don't see any AirPlay options. When I click the Globe in the Spotify section, I don't see AirPlay Speakers either. Is FineTune built to help solve this problem?

[ronitsingh10]

No, FineTune can't route to AirPlay or HomePod, and it's a structural limit rather than a setting you're missing.

FineTune sends each app's audio through CoreAudio process taps and aggregate devices. macOS won't let an AirPlay device join an aggregate device, since a HomePod is a network endpoint rather than a local one, so it never shows up as a routable target and forcing it in just fails. Issue #334 is the same wall hit from the other side. It's also why opt-clicking the sound menu keeps dropping for you, and why Spotify on macOS struggles to hold a HomePod connection on its own.

Getting audio to a HomePod reliably means going around CoreAudio and running a full AirPlay stack of its own, which is a separate engine rather than a routing tweak. That's not something FineTune can reach from where it sits.

On my end it would mean building and testing that whole AirPlay layer, and I don't own a HomePod to develop against. I maintain FineTune solo and for free, so AirPlay stays on the wishlist until I can afford to pick one up and build against it.

[garrettatx]

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful reply. I later found #101. I certainly understand and appreciate you building the app and responding.