Apple Details HomePod's Gesture Controls for Siri and Music Playback - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Details HomePod's Gesture Controls for Siri and Music Playback

by

Apple today updated its HomePod product page with new details about the speaker's gesture controls for Siri and audio playback.

homepod plus minus
Apple has confirmed that users can tap the top of the HomePod to play, pause, skip a song, or adjust the volume, or touch and hold to talk to Siri. A colorful, animated LED waveform will appear when Siri is listening.

A single tap plays or pauses music, a double tap skips to the next track, and a triple trap returns to the previous track. Tapping and holding the digital plus or minus sign raises or lowers the speaker's volume respectively.

homepod gestures
The touch and hold gesture to invoke Siri is in addition to the "Hey Siri" voice command that can be said from anywhere in a room.

Apple today announced that the HomePod will be available to order starting Friday, January 26, with in-store availability and orders arriving to customers starting Friday, February 9, in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Apple also revealed some other HomePod information today: the speaker will launch in France and Germany this spring, while multi-room audio and stereo sound support for multiple HomePods will be included in a software update later this year.

HomePod comes in White or Space Gray and is priced at $349 in the United States, £319 in the United Kingdom, and $499 in Australia.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Caution)

Popular Stories

HomePod 2 and Mini feature 1

Apple Releases HomePod Software 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 9:59 am PDT by
Alongside iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, and macOS Tahoe 26.5, Apple has released new HomePod 26.5 software for the HomePod and the HomePod mini. The update comes a little over a month after Apple released HomePod Software 26.4. According to Apple's release notes, HomePod Software 26.5 includes performance and stability improvements. ‌HomePod‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ software is installed...
Read Full Article • 28 comments
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
Read Full Article • 35 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...
Read Full Article • 65 comments

Top Rated Comments

S
Saturnine
108 months ago
Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
O
omihek
108 months ago
I asked Siri to "Set me a reminder for tomorrow", she did, I got a reminder that read "tomorrow" :(
I told Siri to "remind me to text Grandpa tomorrow". She texted Grandpa "tomorrow" right then.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike Oxard Avatar
Mike Oxard
108 months ago
Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.
I asked Siri to "Set me a reminder for tomorrow", she did, I got a reminder that read "tomorrow" :(
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JTR555 Avatar
JTR555
108 months ago
Do they expect me to always get up and go to HomePod to interact with it? I thought it was all about voice?
Exactly. Plus multiroom sometime later this year? They needed this to come out before Christmas and since they delayed it, they needed a product that was all around ahead of where Amazon Echo and Google Home are now. Other than quality of the speaker, I don’t get the impression they accomplished that. I’m glad I broke down and got Echoes and Echo Dots earlier this month.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B
Braderunner
108 months ago
Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.
Siri needs a lot of work. I work on a college campus. Yesterday I asked Siri to "remind me to go to room three hundred one" at a certain time. She had "300 one". I mean, sure, I knew what she meant. And the reminder was good enough to remind me. But....
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
poppe Avatar
poppe
108 months ago
Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.
I ask siri to take me to the nearest Target and even though I'm heading towards one that is 4 miles away on the freeway in the direction I'm traveling - while using AppleMaps - she tries to tell me the nearest one to me is 17 miles to it and in the opposite direction of what I'm traveling.

Siri and suck it. She pushes me closer to getting off the apple train and that's someone who is deep in the sandbox with the watch, the phone, the tv, a laptop, and all my accounts synced in between and what have you.

I'm extremely skeptical she'll work better than where she is currently at which seems to some how have taken two steps backwards and five steps diagonally. The Amazon Echo can hear me in a room where people are talking and the TV is on, but Siri can barely do Hey siri in a quiet room if someone else is talking.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments