post Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations in iOS

iOS: Siri No Longer Finding Stations with HomePod

T0MWH0 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 19:46:42 GMT

I’ve been loving the recent integration with HomePod and Siri. (A nice touch is that Siri plays the station in the last Mode it was played on.)

As of the last couple weeks, though, stations that I could previously ask Siri to play on Pandora are garnering this response from her: “I can’t locate that on Pandora.” But it’s there, and I’m looking at it. An example station that she once could access with no issue, but now can’t play, is “Screamo Radio”.

Has anyone else been seeing this? Is this a known issue?

Thanks all!

mod edit: changed title for clarity

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

AdamPandora — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 17:33:53 GMT

@T0MWH0 Nice to see you around the Community. 👋🏽

As long as you say "Hey Siri, play [artist] radio on Pandora," you should be able to get that station going.

First let's make sure your software meets the minimum requirements:

Pandora iOS version 2010.1
iOS or iPadOS 14.0
Apple Home app
HomePod Software Version 14.1

This issue can also be specific to the network you're using to access Pandora, so let's start by rebooting your modem and router.

If you're still having the same problem, then please try the following steps:

Check to see if there are any updates available for your HomePod and Pandora apps. Update both as necessary.
Restart your HomePod device.
Try unlinking and relinking your Pandora account.
1. To unlink, open the Home app on your iOS device:
  - Tap the home icon at the top left of the screen
  - Tap Home Settings
  - Tap your iCloud avatar to view personal settings
  - Select Pandora and then Remove Pandora from Home
2. To re-link, open the Pandora app on your iOS device:
  - Open the Pandora app on your iOS device.
  - Go to Profile and tap Settings.
  - Next select Connect with HomePod.
  - Then tap Use in Home.

Let me know if this helps.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

T0MWH0 — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 19:52:55 GMT

Hi @AdamPandora ,

Thanks for the fast response! I followed the guidance and am still having the error with only that one station (that Ive noticed). Here’s my tests after doing all your recommendations:

- “Hey Siri, play Power Chords Radio on Pandora.” ... Success.

- “Hey Siri, play Screamo Radio on Pandora.” ... “I didn’t find that on Pandora.”

- “Hey Siri, play Today’s Hits Radio on Pandora.” ... Success.

What’s weird is that Screamo Radio would play just fine until last week.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

AlyssaPandora — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:25:50 GMT

Thanks so much for providing those details, @T0MWH0.

Workaround:

You can select that Screamo Radio station to play within the Pandora app.
Then, open the currently playing item and select the AirPlay icon on the bottom.
Select your HomePod device.

In the meantime, I would like to report this issue to our engineers so that they can investigate further. Could you tell me more about your iOS device?

Device & Generation: (e.g. iPhone 5c, iPod 6th gen, iPad Air2, etc.)
Carrier:
iOS version: (Settings > General > About > Version)
Pandora version: (Pandora > Profile tab > Settings gear & scroll to the bottom of the screen)

Let me know, and I will share this information with our engineering team on your behalf. 🎧

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

T0MWH0 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 02:53:13 GMT

@AlyssaPandora ,

Thank you. Yes, the workaround is unfortunate because it means streaming from my phone to the speaker and using my battery instead of the HomePod just connecting to Pandora. Any help the engineers can offer would be appreciated. ... Because it is only this station, I’d assume it’s a config thing on the station itself on Pandora’s end.

Devices: iPad 6th Gen (14.3 / 2012.1), iPhone 7 (14.3 / 2012.1), HomePod Original

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

AlyssaPandora — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 19:33:37 GMT

Thank you, @T0MWH0! I've shared your feedback and device details with our engineering team.

Appreciate your patience while they investigate. 🎧

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

T0MWH0 — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 17:36:53 GMT

@AlyssaPandora

Success! After two weeks of it not working, whatever they did yday fixed it. It's working again on all my devices.

Thanks gang!

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

AlyssaPandora — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 19:05:41 GMT

So glad to hear it, @T0MWH0. 👍

Sounds like you're back to listening without any issues. Thanks for letting me know.

Enjoy the tunes! 🔊

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

BMeek — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 00:03:58 GMT

Honestly this problem persists for me when trying to make use of Pandora running as the "default music service" on my stereo pair of Homepod minis.

Example: I have a station called "Light Jazz Radio". I clearly say "Siri, play Light Jazz Radio". Siri responds "Now Playing Music Awards Jazz Radio". I think: **ahem**??? Siri added a public station that I didn't ask for to my collection.

SO... I log into my pandora account via Chrome to verify that I in fact have a "Light Jazz" station in "my collection". I did, but Siri insists on coming up with new stations with the word "Jazz". I deleted the unwanted stations and, to make it a bit more unique for Siri to identify it, I renamed the "Light Jazz Radio" station "Jazzy Radio".

I then rebooted the HomePod pair, but now when I say "Hey Siri, play Jazzy Radio", I get "now playing Smooth Jazz Radio" (a station I had actually deleted after Siri and Pandora last conspired to add to my collection the last time it got confused).

I REALLY like that Pandora made the HomePod service app or whatever we shoud call the code running on HomePod, but we need some better control options. I certainly want a switch to prevent SiriDora from adding new stations to my collection everytime I ask to play something not recognized (without specific instructions). I'm happy to beta test, etc.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

AlyssaPandora — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 14:05:20 GMT

Hi there, @BMeek. 👋

We really appreciate your feedback about this. It's extremely helpful as we continue to improve our service.

I've gone ahead and shared your experience with our engineering team on an internal ticket. If notice anything else, please don't hesitate to let me know and I can report it on your behalf.

Thanks for your patience, and hope to see you around the community space more often! 🎧

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

BMeek — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 22:20:46 GMT

Thank you, Alyssa. It's good to hear that you're taking our reports and recording them for your engineers and product teams to address. It would also be great if you can occassionally report back to the community on status (as you're permitted, of course :-).

Here's another more obscure issue I've identified on the Pandora HomePod Service (PHS?): when sharing pandora HomePod Service audio via AirPlay to a TV with "AirPlay 2 support", the Service fails to deliver Album Art to the TV that's sharing audio. As a result, the TV displays a generic music icon along with the (correct) track metadata. (see attached image).

Pandora HomePod Service Audio, shared to TV, doesn't include "album art"

PLEASE NOTE: if I play Pandora using the iPhone app and direct the stream via AirPlay to both the HomePod and the TV, album art is displayed on the TV. Also, if I instruct Siri to play something using HomePods' Apple Music Service and share the stream to the TV, album art is displayed there too.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

TannerPandora — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 18:21:37 GMT

Hi @BMeek! Thanks for the update on the meta data. Interesting that it doesn't come through, wondering if there is something gong on with the connection.

I've updated our ticket with this new information. Thanks again for your understanding and patience. 🙂

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Pandora Stations

BMeek — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 22:27:06 GMT

Thanks, @TannerPandora.

Yeah, it's interesting to note that Apple's Home app, in the photo I posted as a matter of fact, displays the Pandora track metadata with album art on the HomePod status window. I wonder if the image is being pulled from the HomePod's Pandora service along with track metadata, or if the Home app is pulling all the metadata (and the image) directly from Pandora's servers based on a track GUID supplied by the HomePod?

As you can see, I speculate unnecessarily :-).

pandora - homepod "the app hasn't added support for that with siri"

rishik12 — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 19:52:24 GMT

Long story short -- we can't ask our Apple HomePod a question like, "Hey Siri, play the Rolling Stones on Pandora."

This is the correct formulation of the question. We will get back an answer, "The app hasn't added support for that with Siri."

Here's what we've done

updated all apps on iOS
updated all system software on any device
gone into the Pandora app and enabled homepod integration
gone into the settings app on iOS and enabled Siri from every direction
restarted the HomePod

We are only using one network. Siri operates fine otherwise. Pandora operates fine otherwise. We can cast Pandora to the Homepod manually, by playing music on Pandora on the iPad and then clicking on the Apple connection icon and selecting the HomePod. This works just fine.

What doesn't work is asking the HomePod using a voice command to play Pandora.

Re: pandora - homepod "the app hasn't added support for that with siri"

rishik12 — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 01:28:45 GMT

THIS TROUBLESHOOT WORKED. THANKS AXEL AT PANDORA.

First let's make sure your software meets the minimum requirements:

Pandora iOS version 2010.1
iOS or iPadOS 14.0
Apple Home app
HomePod Software Version 14.1

This issue can be specific to the network you're using to access Pandora, so let's start by rebooting your modem and router.

If you're still having the same problem, then please try the following steps:

Check to see if there are any updates available for your HomePod and Pandora apps. Update both as necessary.
Restart Homepod (you'll have to look this up on the web, but it's simple).
Try unlinking and relinking your Pandora account.
1. To unlink, open the Home app on your iOS device:
  - Tap the home icon at the top left of the screen
  - Tap Home Settings
  - Tap your iCloud avatar to view personal settings
  - Select Pandora and then Remove Pandora from Home
2. To re-link, open the Pandora app on your iOS device:
  - Open the Pandora app on your iOS device.
  - Go to Profile and tap Settings.
  - Next select Connect with HomePod.
  - Then tap Use in Home.

Re: pandora - homepod "the app hasn't added support for that with siri"

AlyssaPandora — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 13:38:27 GMT

Awesome! So glad to hear it, @rishik12. 👍

Please don't hesitate to let us know if anything else pops up! 🎧

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Stations with HomePod

mjh5 — Sun, 02 May 2021 15:27:38 GMT

I have a slightly different problem. We use the HomePod to listen to FM stations via Apple's arrangement with Tune-in and I heart radio. When we added Pandora to our Home Pod Siri no longer goes to the stations we request. It goes to Pandora's FM 84 channel. We have done all the troubleshooting as above. As soon as we delete Padora from the HP Siri is able to connect to the FM stations we request. We are not interested in being able to stream Pandora to the HP without it being the default music service on the Home Pod. Very frustrating to have to delete Pandora from the HP. Can you bump this to the engineers to investigate.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Stations with HomePod

T0MWH0 — Sun, 02 May 2021 18:53:49 GMT

@mjh5 I’ve had similar issues, but with other stations and services. I think it’s a Siri AI thing rather than a Pandora thing, to be honest. For example, I like ‘Star’ on iHeart, but there’s also like a billion other stations with Star in the title—Siri played a different one each time I’d ask. It was hilarious and annoying.

BUT, here was my solution for the issue: create a ‘Scene’ in the Home app that is setup to play your desired station when you activate that Scene by voice. My Scene is: “Hey Siri, let’s hear Star.” In that example, “Let’s Hear Star” is the name of the Scene.

Hope that helps.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Stations with HomePod

mjh5 — Mon, 03 May 2021 01:03:07 GMT

I don't think that is it. Without Pandora on the HomePod Siri works fine when I say, for example, "Hey Siri play WQXR FM." Once Pandora is installed if I say the same thing it defaults to Pandora's FM 84 station. It is as if the HomePod is now restricted to the Pandora universe when it comes to music. As soon as I delete Pandora from the HomePod it goes back to finding the FM stations I ask for.

Re: Siri No Longer Finding Stations with HomePod

AlyssaPandora — Mon, 03 May 2021 18:34:19 GMT

Hi there, @mjh5. 👋

Thanks so much for posting about this.

Is Pandora your "Primary Music Provider" when this happens?

You can set Pandora to be your primary music and podcast provider so you won't have to repeat "... on Pandora," at the end of every command or you can set it to another provider should you choose to do so:

Open the Home app on your iOS device.
Tap the home icon at the top left of the screen.
Tap Home Settings.
Tap your iCloud avatar to view personal settings.
Select Preferred Service and then Pandora.

Let me know what you have selected. 🎧