Thanks for the info.
I like my two Homepods and they sound great in Stereo with Airplay two. I am a bit disappointed that Apple's new Airplay 2 does not allow stereo/multi-room streaming to devices other than Airplay 2 certified devices, because that limits your Airplay control of Stereo/multi-room streaming to only the Homepods and Apple TV at present.
I have both of my homes filled now with
Varo Wifi Speakers because they were on super blowout Fire Sale prices at Staple.com. They still may be. These are similar to Sonos except much less expensive, yet, they really work well and sound great. But I have to use the Varo App to set them up because they are not Airplay TWO compliant. Luckily the Varo App allows you to set them up in stereo mode, and has a provision for zone or total home streaming (up to 8 speakers). The Varo also have a Subwoofer that snaps on the bottom of their cube speaker and sounds amazing. At the blowout prices that Staples was offering, I set up every room in both of my homes for around $300. That would have cost 3 grand for Sonos or similar for Homepods.
Once they are set up to stereo pair, then Airplay works with them just fine, but I can't use airplay to do whole-house as they are not Airplay TWO compliant, so I have to go back and forth from the Varo App to Airplay. Oh well, better than nothing. I don't blame Apple for tightening the grip on Airplay so that Airplay Two only works with DEVICES set up or Airplay TWO.
Net-net, I'm deep in the Apple WiFi Airplay streaming architecture. Every room in both of my homes is now set up to stream from Airplay, so Apple Music is not a luxury for me, it's a NECESSITY, as are iOS devices. I can WiFi stream to my Varo Speakers from a Droid using the Varo App (DLNA WiFi streaming architecture for Droid), but then you are LIMITED to iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Spotify Premium, and Tidal. That's all the APP allows via Android WiFi streaming. Via Airplay, you can obviously stream ANYTHING from your iOS device to the Varo or any other WiFi Speakers.