The intersection between HomePod owners and YouTube Music subscribers might not be extensive. However, for those who enjoy the combination of Apple’s smart speakers and Google’s music streaming service, there’s good news. YouTube Music is now seamlessly integrated with HomePod, enabling you to instruct Siri to play tracks from the service, even if your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch isn’t within immediate reach.
You can now designate YouTube Music as the default music service on your HomePod, eliminating the need to specify “on YouTube Music” when giving commands to Siri. If you configure your HomePod this way, you can still access music from other supported services by simply mentioning the service’s name in your Siri request, like saying “Siri, play Bad Bunny on Deezer” or “Siri, play Taylor Swift on Apple Music.”
To switch the default music service on your HomePod, follow these steps: Open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad, tap the “More” button (the one with three dots), proceed to “Home Settings,” navigate to your user profile under “People,” and then select a default service from the Media section.
The addition of native support for YouTube Music is a welcome enhancement. HomePods typically have limited native support for services, primarily including Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and iHeartRadio. Additionally, it’s possible to stream audio to a HomePod from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
With iOS 17, you can request your HomePod to play music from Spotify, provided your iPhone is in proximity. Siri will route the request through your mobile device using AirPlay. While native Spotify support for HomePod is not yet available, this change should make things more convenient for certain users.
