Apple Confirms HomePod's Supported Audio Sources in Tech Specs

Apple today updated its HomePod tech specs page with a new Audio Sources section that lists all of the ways in which the speaker can stream audio, setting the record straight on some conflicting information.

homepod audio sources

Apple Music: HomePod users can ask Siri to play any of over 45 million songs available on Apple Music. A subscription is required.

iTunes Music: HomePod users can ask Siri to play any songs, albums, or audiobooks purchased from the iTunes Store.

iCloud Music Library: HomePod users can ask Siri to play any songs uploaded to a user's iCloud Music Library, including songs imported from other sources such as CDs, with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription.

Beats 1: HomePod users can ask Siri to play Apple's official radio station.

Podcasts: HomePod users can ask Siri to play any podcast episodes from the iTunes podcast directory.

AirPlay: HomePod users can use AirPlay to play other audio from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac. AirPlay 2, coming later this year, is only required to stream audio from these sources to multiple HomePods.

Earlier this week, iMore's Serenity Caldwell put together a useful breakdown with more detailed information about how the HomePod works with Apple Music, iTunes Match, iCloud Music Library, AirPlay, and more.

HomePod orders began last week ahead of the speaker's official launch on February 9 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.

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

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

frozen220 Avatar
96 months ago
Wait a minute, so when my friends come over with a non-Apple device they can't connect via Bluetooth? WTF????
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KidAKidB Avatar
96 months ago
And the obvious Bluetooth is left out. Why?
So that it remains anti-competitive and forces users to stay within the Apple ecosystem. (That way you can't use it with an Android device or something)
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Madmic23 Avatar
96 months ago
And the obvious Bluetooth is left out. Why?
Because if you're having a party, no one wants the music to stop when you get a phone call.

Sonos speakers don't support Bluetooth audio either.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Raketemensch Avatar
96 months ago
So that it remains anti-competitive and forces users to stay within the Apple ecosystem. (That way you can't use it with an Android device or something)
...or Spotify without doing it through a phone/tablet.

Valiant effort, Apple, but it won't be appearing in my home anytime soon. Voice control of Spotify would sell me, but bleh.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sziehr Avatar
96 months ago
So lets talk about how bad Sonos really is. I can not cast to it from anything period but the Sonos App. People here are like super defenders of them. They are no different from apple in fact they are worse. If you could chrome cast to a Sonos and airplay then I could see the defense of the omi speaker system. The problem is Sonos has no interest in supporting chrome casting right now. They are probably going to support Air play 2 at some point in the future. So lets compare this Homepod to what it is a very nice version of the Bowers Zepplin for half the cost. The fact Siri is hanging around is just a bonus. This is not a Sonos / Alexa competitor. This is a Bowers and Wilkins competitor.

I know I am going to get flak for this but lets face it there is no perfect speaker that is bluetooth and wifi and chrome casting and airplay 2.

the day that speaker is made people will flock to it. I think Sonos is trying to decide if they want to build that speaker and let people out of the app echo system they created. Sonos could be the white knight but I have to say I am returning all of mine this weekend cause I can not cast anything to them. I use my speaker for more than just music and podcast. I use it to play audio from the iPad in the kitchen for the news while I cook. Sonos can not do that task from android or ios. This is a huge limiting factor for them

So I am buying a home pod why cause I will more than likely never own said device IE android so what am I losing nothing.

My friends are almost all ios.

If this supported bluetooth audio then down the road that would be nice when they came over with the 2 droids I know.

That still does not make Sonos better.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zeke92 Avatar
96 months ago
No Spotify or Bluetooth connectivity, NO DEAL
You can play Spotify via AirPlay!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)