Multi-Room Audio with AirPlay

[sthall]

I have two Apple TV 4K's, one in my living room, the other in the master bedroom. On either Apple TV, when I attempt to stream Pandora audio to both the originating Apple TV where Pandora is running and the other Apple TV in the other room, the audio only works in the other room and not on the originating Apple TV. Both are on tvOS 14.3 (18K561) and version 1911.1 of Pandora.

I have tried the following steps on both Apple TV's with no success:

• Restarting the Apple TV (both via Settings > System > Restart and removing and reinserting the power cable).
• Uninstalling and reinstalling the Pandora app.
• Resetting the Apple TV via Settings > System > Reset (which also requires a new login to Pandora).

This was not an issue last year but I have not attempted to use this feature since then so I don't know exactly when it would have started.

[weaverbird]

If I use the Pandora app on iPhone I can use Airplay to play the audio on two different Apple TVs, in different rooms, and they are synchronized.  However, when I use the Pandora app on Apple TV and try to make it play in both rooms using Airplay on the Apple TV, it will only allow me to play on one at a time. The Airplay control on Apple TV shows that both devices are selected, but it only plays on one. I thought this was an Apple TV issue, but someone on the Apple communities told me that it was a Pandora issue, as if the Pandora app has to allow multiple devices. Does anyone know something about this? How do I get an accurate answer from someone at Pandora who knows?

I am going to use the label Troubleshooting, as the form will not allow me to use Apple TV as a label.

[sthall]

Opened this case 12/20/2020 and asked for an update 2/2/2021. Nothing since. Over 11 years with Pandora...

https://community.pandora.com/t5/Other-Devices/Multi-Room-Audio-with-AirPlay/td-p/46600

[martd001]

its been months and still no reply from anyone from pandora for over 2 months.  Do they even care?

[weaverbird]

I have a feeling the result is going to be to blame the issue on Apple. This issue also exists with other Apple TV apps besides Pandora. However, someone from Apple has told me that it is not caused by the Apple TV, but would have to be solved by Pandora.

[JoeH76]

I’m having the same issue with Pandora AND Spotify. Several have reported the issue with Spotify since last July when tvOS 14 was still in beta but it still has not been fixed. It’s likely Apple broke it with tvOS 14 for multiple apps.

[martd001]

downloaded tvios 14.5.  pandora still does not work.  are you people even looking at this problem anymore?  horrible service.

[Gustovier]

This is an annoying problem. I was hoping to play pandora throughout the house and can’t because of this. 

[ndlaham]

Also having the same issue here. It **ahem**. A workaround is to stream the music in Pandora from your phone to the ATVs as some have said, but that’s not always ideal if you walk out of WiFi range in the yard, or your battery is running low. I wish Pandora would at least acknowledge the problem even if they can’t figure it out quickly. 

[Cbandersen]

It's Apple limiting this function to Apple Music only to make people switch over. It the same issue with Spotify. The workaround is finding a radio station you like within Apple Radio app on AppleTv that is still free

[sthall]

I find that hard to believe. It works fine on YouTube.

[Cbandersen]

Maybe they let this happen as you can't stream video to a speaker and therefore allow sound. Did you have any luck with out audio streaming services? The other way is to revert to an older tvOS 

[schmoe]

I can’t believe this issue hasn’t been fixed yet. I’ve been following this issue for what seems like over a year now. I mostly use Pandora at home. This is the main way I want to use it. It seems like such a basic scenario to support for home audio. I guess it’s time to start looking at other music services.

[ndlaham]

Has anybody had a chance to test for this bug yet again using the latest tvOS update? They just rolled out version 15.2 a couple days ago (12/13). I’m not holding my breath, but I’ll give it a try tonight to see if just maybe this issue has been fixed.

Here are released notes on the update -

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207936

[ndlaham]

Nope, still not fixed.

But for what it’s worth, I believe this issue could stem from Pandora not actually supporting the later Airplay 2 protocol, may only be utilizing Airplay. I’m not certain of this, but according to the Spotify forums where their users have the exact same issue, Spotify has at least now publicly acknowledged the bug and is saying it will be addressed when they update their app to support Airplay 2. I don’t believe it has to do with Apple secretly limiting 3rd party apps. If I’m right, this is on Pandora to address.

See thread below which is what I am speculating from. 

https://piunikaweb.com/2021/09/20/spotify-airplay-2-update-to-fix-apple-tv-multiple-audio-output-iss...

[BMeek]

When using the Pandora app on Apple TV, music stops playing on the TV/Receiver if one or more AirPlay speakers are also selected (when hoping to hear music on one's home theater and elsewhere around the house).

For a long time I had assumed this was a glaring bug in the Apple TV system software, but as multiple tvOS updates failed to address it, I posted about the issue on the Apple Communities' Apple TV Hardware forum: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253548900.  When I learned that the Apple TV/AirPlay feature I was trying to use works just fine for others, I started a more serious troubleshooting process and got Apple's Support folks involved before discovering the problem is isolated within the Pandora app.  I would rather not repeat everything here.

I urge the Pandora folks who monitor and participate this community to read the entire Apple Community thread and share it with the engineers/product managers responsible for the Pandora app for Apple TV (if indeed there are any such people still employed by Pandora).  If you need such a person, please hire me :-).

In summary, this is yet another issue with a Pandora app that has several issues and hasn't been updated in over two years.  Thanks.

[BMeek]

Community feedback: I posted this last message as a new thread yesterday because my searches before doing so somehow failed to find the 33 previous replies on this topic.  Apparently a moderator (or a 'bot) moved my post to the end of this thread - that's fine but why on earth was I not notified?

Anyway, now I'm even more disappointed with pandora (the company) after seeing this issue was first reported over a year ago by longtime subscribers like me (I first signed up in 2010).  To date, not a single assurance that the problem is actually being worked on or that it will ever be addressed at all.

Moderator Edit: format

[BradleyJ22]

This is still an issue on AppleTV apps, including Pandora and Spotify. YouTubeTV app works fine and allows sound thru TV/stereo AND the additional AirPlay2 speakers. The only workaround I have found is to use Sonos and skip AppleTV (and its apps) altogether. This allows me to play Pandora playlists throughout our home, including the 5.1 surround system where our TV and AppleTV are located.

[BMeek]

Thanks, @BradleyJ22.  To be sure, there are numerous “workarounds” if we include using another product instead of the Apple TV device to accomplish our goal…. Good to hear Sonos hasn’t dragged their feet implementing AirPlay 2.  For me, I can reach for an available iPad to get Pandora playing everywhere I want.  

Nonetheless, I would hate for the Pandora product management folks to deprioritize the issue because of “available workarounds” (for people like us who have too many available devices :-). 

[BMeek · Accepted solution]

At some point recently, I launched the Pandora app on my Apple TV 4K, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had been updated!  Way back in May (of 2023) as a matter of fact.

The issue described in this thread, where the Apple TV 4K is unable to send audio to one or more AirPlay speaker and use the local TV sound system simultaneously, HAS BEEN FIXED!  I can now play Pandora on the Apple TV 4K, and while listening to it on the Sony soundbar, I can also play it on a stereo pair of homepod minis in the adjacent room.

It was a long time coming, but kudos to the team at Pandora who released the update.  It's appreciated!

[colehme]

What was the solution. I listen to pandora on a MacBook and I can only play on one airplay device at a time. How did you fix?