Unbelievable that this is still happening in 2026 (or maybe I’m holding it wrong?)

I’m trying to use my HomePods as speakers for my Mac (let’s ignore the wisdom of that). Tried watching a YoutTube video and you get the noticeable 2 sec lag when you start and stop a video.

Googled a solution – instead of setting the HomePod as the system-wide output, use AirPlay within YouTube in Safari.

I didn’t even know that was an option. So I give that a go.
Immediately, my video quality drops to 360p, and the video starts playing in Spanish. wth?

More Googling. Apparently, this has been an issue since 2023?

Workaround: Select a fixed resolution in your YouTube video (ie. not “Auto”) before starting AirPlay and the audio track would remain in English.

This works, but I find that no matter the resolution you select, the video will be stuck at 360p.

Is there another solution to this?