Getting to grips with your smart speaker – music, HomeKit, settings, calls and more
Apple’s HomePod and HomePod mini smart speakers both have Siri built in, which means you can go completely hands-free with your music streaming and smart home automations. Sometimes though, it’s easier to just use your iPhone and we understand that.
It might be that you feel a little silly saying “Hey Siri” every time you want to change what’s playing, or perhaps you want to browse recommended playlists on Apple Music and play them directly from your phone rather than having to tell Siri what you found.
There are also a few things on the HomePod settings front that Siri just can’t handle, like stereo pairing two HomePods. Here’s everything you need to know about controlling your HomePod with your iPhone or iPad.
Controlling your HomePod music with your iPhone
When you are playing something through a streaming service like Apple Music, or through your library (which now lives in Apple Music), you can pick up your iPhone and control your HomePod using your phone’s display. There are three ways of doing that.
From Apple Music
The first way to control music on your HomePod speakers using your iPhone or iPad is from within the Apple Music app. Choose the song you want (if you’re not already listening to a song on your phone or tablet) and simply tap on the AirPlay logo at the bottom in the centre of your display.
Your HomePod or HomePod mini should appear in the AirPlay list of speakers, tap on it to send what you’re playing on your iPhone or iPad to your HomePod. If you’re already playing something else on your HomePod, your new selection will override it.
From the Lock Screen
The second way to control HomePod music is from your iPhone or iPad’s Lock Screen. If you’re listening to a song on your iPhone or iPad, the Music Now Playing card will appear on your Lock Screen. As the previous method above, there’s an AirPlay icon within that card, this time in the bottom right corner.
You’ll need to tap once on your iPhone or iPad to wake up the screen, after which you tap on the AirPlay icon to pull up the available speakers. Select your HomePod from the list and the music you’re playing will transfer over.
From Control Center
The third way to control music for your HomePod or HomePod mini from your iPhone or iPad is using Control Center. Open up the Control Center and you’ll see the Music widget in the top right corner, unless you have chosen to rearrange your Control Center – something that was introduced in iOS 18.
You can long press on the Music widget, or you can just tap on the AirPlay icon in the top right of the card to pull up the speaker options, including your HomePod. Choose your HomePod from the list, or multiple HomePods if you have more than one and want the music you’re listening to on all of them, and the music will transfer over.
Once you are synced up from iPhone or iPad to HomePod, you’ll have access to track playback controls like volume, skipping, next track and play/pause directly from your iPad or iPhone, with no need to use Siri or the control panel on top of the HomePod if you don’t want to.
Essential reading: How to set up Apple HomePod stereo and multi-room modes
How to change your HomePod’s settings
There’s more to Apple’s HomePod than just playing music though. For everything HomeKit related, and to get to the meatier HomePod settings, you’ll want to head into your iPhone or iPad’s Home app.
You can rename your HomePod here, choose whether it’s a HomeKit favourite, sync up an Apple ID, turn on Intercom and plenty more. You can also switch up some of Siri’s settings – language, default voice and the like – and you can also choose to mute the Apple digital assistant if you want.
What you’ll need
- Your iPhone or iPad
- Your HomePod or HomePod mini
- The Home app
The short version
- Open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Tap on the Home tab in the bottom left.
- Look for your HomePod or HomePod mini in the list of devices.
- Press and hold on your HomePod tile.
- Tap on ‘Accessory Settings‘.
- Scroll through the settings options and adjust to your preferences.
How to change your HomePod or HomePod mini’s settings through the Home app
We’ve covered off the quick fire version of how to adjust your HomePod or HomePod mini’s settings, but below you’ll find a little bit more detail as to what you can expect, as well as images to help illustrate the steps.
Time needed: 5 minutes
- Open the Home app and head to the Home tab
First thing you’ll need to do is open up the Home app on your iPhone or iPad and tap on the Home tab in the bottom right corner. This will bring up all smart home devices you have linked up to your HomeKit system, including those not responding.
- Find your HomePod in the list
When you’re in the Home tab, you’ll see a number of tiles showing all of the device you have connected, as we mentioned in the previous step. Find your HomePod or HomePod mini and press and hold on the tile to pull up the options.
- Select Accessory Settings
From that menu, you’ll see a couple of different options, including ‘Accessory Settings’. Tap on that to pull up all the HomePod and HomePod mini settings.
- Choose your preferences
Once you’ve got yourself into the Accessory Settings, you can adjust your HomePod or HomePod mini settings according to your preferences. Simply scroll down the list of settings to change things. You can change the room it is associated with by tapping on ‘Room’ for example, change your HomePod’s name at the top, turn Intercom on or off to make announcements by tapping on ‘Intercom’ and turn ‘Hey Siri’ on or off entirely, should you wish.
Managing your HomePod’s security
HomePod has improved over the years, offering features like Personal Requests that will allow you to send messages, make calls, create reminders and more when your iPhone is nearby, and it recognises up to 6 different household members too. There’s also a setting worth making not of when it comes to allowing access to your HomePod speaker however.
From within the Home app, you can limit your speaker’s streaming to just people in your Apple Home, or people on your network. You can even add a password if you like or throw caution to the wind and leave it open so as anyone close enough with an iPhone could ping over their music. To access this, open the Home app and tap on the circle with the three dots in the top right corner. You’ll then want to tap on Home Settings, followed by Speakers & TV. You can then select between ‘Everyone’, ‘Anyone On the Same Network’, ‘Only People Sharing this Home’.
One final iPhone / HomePod feature of note is within the iCloud settings – it’s here you can double check you’re all up to date and you can remove a HomePod from your iCloud account – which you’d want to do if you were selling it, for example.
How to use HomePod for phone calls
You can use your HomePod to make and receive calls when you’re in the house. You also have to have set up Personal Requests. The light on top of your HomePod will turn green when it is being used as a speakerphone. If you have set up Personal Requests and you’re good to go, try the following:
To initiate a call from your HomePod without touching your phone simply say, “Hey Siri, call [name]” or “Hey Siri, dial [number]”. When someone is calling you just say “Hey Siri, answer my phone.” You can also say “Hey Siri, who’s calling?”.
You can even check missed calls by asking, “Hey Siri, who just called?”. To end a call, you can either end it on your iPhone or iPad, double tap the top of the HomePod, or say “Hey Siri, hang up”.
