Spotify Downplays HomePod Support, But Promises to Add AirPlay 2 Yet Again

Spotify has yet to implement native support for the HomePod and HomePod mini, despite Apple opening up the speakers to third-party streaming music services in 2020. As a result, Spotify cannot be controlled with Siri on the HomePod.

General Spotify Feature
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman touched on the matter in his newsletter this weekend, noting that Spotify told him there hasn't been a "significant volume" of complaints about the lack of HomePod support. A post on Spotify's community website advocating for native HomePod support has over 5,800 votes in favor of the idea since it was submitted in 2020, but Spotify has refused to budge despite Apple making the necessary APIs available.

In 2019, Spotify accused Apple of anticompetitive behavior in a complaint filed in the EU. Alongside the complaint, Spotify launched a "Time to Play Fair" website that lists alleged examples of Apple's unfair practices, including preventing Spotify from natively supporting the HomePod. Yet nearly three years after Spotify has been able to support the HomePod without any further action from Apple, it has yet to follow through.

Spotify has also repeatedly promised to update its iPhone and iPad app with AirPlay 2 support, but it has failed to deliver so far. The app does support the original version of AirPlay, but has yet to adopt AirPlay 2, which launched in 2018 with enhancements such as less buffering and support for stereo-paired HomePods.

Spotify told Gurman that it "remains committed to supporting AirPlay 2 at some point in the future" and is "on a path towards making it happen eventually," but the company was unable to provide a definitive timeframe. Spotify has been promising to support AirPlay 2 since at least 2021, so subscribers have waited a long time.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 Pro Max Teardown Reveals Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 Modem for 5G

Friday September 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone Air is equipped with Apple's custom C1X modem for cellular connectivity, all of the iPhone 17 models are outfitted with Qualcomm modems still. A teardown video shared on Chinese platform Bilibili today (via Reddit) appears to confirm the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem in particular. The same modem is likely used in the iPhone 17 and iPhone ...
iphone 17 pro max techwoven

Here Are The Best Cases You Can Buy for Your New iPhone 17 and iPhone Air

Friday September 19, 2025 6:46 am PDT by
Apple's new iPhones launch today, and there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to protecting your new device from drops and scratches. In this article, we're taking a look at some of the best options for iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Air cases, as well as a few charging accessories. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users

Wednesday September 17, 2025 2:56 pm PDT by
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected. Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update. Complaints There are a long...
iphone 17 pro inside

iPhone 17 Teardowns Confirm SIM and eSIM-Only Battery Capacities

Friday September 19, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
YouTube channel REWA Technology today shared an iPhone 17 Pro teardown video, offering a closer look inside the model with a SIM card tray. We are still waiting for repair website iFixit to share a more comprehensive teardown of the latest iPhone models, but this video provides a good look in the meantime. The device features various internal design changes, including larger rear camera...

Top Rated Comments

Techwatcher Avatar
32 months ago
Imagine being petty at the cost of customer satisfaction? What a stupid company lol glad I use Apple Music.
Score: 73 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Fan 2008 Avatar
32 months ago
They don't really care about fairness, they just like complaining.
Score: 65 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Quu Avatar
32 months ago
It's funny to me that Spotify announced high-definition streaming and Apple was able to both announce and release it before Spotify followed through. And even now it's still not available.

Airplay is least of their problems.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StudyFlo Avatar
32 months ago
Spotify launched a "Time to Play Fair" website ('https://www.timetoplayfair.com/timeline/') that lists alleged examples of Apple's unfair practices, including preventing Spotify from natively supporting the HomePod. Yet, nearly three years after Spotify has been able to support the HomePod without any further action from Apple, it has yet to follow through.

This is seriously f*cked up. Why complain if you didn’t (ever) intend to support the feature.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsplusmacs Avatar
32 months ago

Spotify launched a "Time to Play Fair" website ('https://www.timetoplayfair.com/timeline/') that lists alleged examples of Apple's unfair practices, including preventing Spotify from natively supporting the HomePod. Yet, nearly three years after Spotify has been able to support the HomePod without any further action from Apple, it has yet to follow through.

This is seriously f*cked up. Why complain if you didn’t (ever) intend to support the feature.
Because they get press and get to beat up on "bad ole apple" while proping up their brand.

The CEOs of Spotify are among the jerky-est jerks in a C suite office.

No shame.

Just complain.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuffaloTF Avatar
32 months ago

As much as I don't like Spotify for messing about on this I really can't agree that Apple Music is better, it's worse. Way worse than Spotify.

YMMV of course but Apple has nothing in Spotify and their interface, music selection, and more. It makes so much more sense for me to use Apple Music and I have tried many times. And I am in no way in the minority.
Apple has more music. It also has better audio quality. The interfaces are nigh identical. What?
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)