YouTube Music Integration Comes to HomePod

by

YouTube Music is now available directly on Apple's HomePod and HomePod mini, thanks to new Siri integration support in the YouTube Music app.

youtube music logo
The change means subscribers to the streaming service can now choose to use voice commands to start YouTube Music on a ‌HomePod‌, without having to append "on YouTube Music" to every request. From Google's support document:

YouTube Music is supported on the following Apple HomePod models: Apple HomePod 1st Generation, Apple HomePod 2nd Generation, Apple HomePod Mini.

With YouTube Music on Apple HomePod, you can:
– Use Siri voice commands or physical touch controls on Apple HomePod to play music
– Handoff playback between your Apple HomePod and iPhone, and vice versa
– Control playback in the Apple Home app.

Support for the option was announced by YouTube Music in a Reddit post spotted by 9to5Google. The update has been expected since September, when hidden code was revealed in the app.

To set up ‌Siri‌ integration for YouTube Music, make sure you have updated the app, then follow these steps.

  1. Open the YouTube Music app.
  2. Tap your profile image in the top-right corner.
  3. Go to Settings ➝ Connected Apps.
  4. Select Connect with ‌HomePod‌.
  5. Tap Use in Home.

If you don't see the option in YouTube Music, try force-closing the app and re-opening it.

After you have done that, you will need to select YouTube as the "Default Service" for your ‌HomePod‌(s).

  1. Open the Home app on iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the More button (three encircled dots) in the top-right corner.
  3. Tap Home Settings.
  4. Tap your username under the "People" section.
  5. Tap Default Service and choose YouTube Music.

youtube music homepod

Note that to connect YouTube Music to ‌HomePod‌, you will need to have either a YouTube Music or YouTube Premium account.

Apple has supported a handful of third-party music services on ‌‌HomePod‌‌ for the last couple of years, and the functionality is already available with Pandora, iHeartRadio, Deezer, and TuneIn Radio.

Other music services including Spotify have not supported this option even though Apple made the SiriKit Media feature available in iOS 14, so it remains limited in scope. With the direct play function, users can set a third-party service as a default music option, and when ‌‌Siri‌‌ on ‌‌HomePod‌‌ is asked to play content, ‌‌Siri‌‌ will play music from the selected service.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini
Tag: YouTube Music
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral), HomePod Mini (Caution)
Related Forum: HomePod, HomeKit, CarPlay, Home & Auto Technology

Popular Stories

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 ...
Read Full Article • 217 comments
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...
Read Full Article • 69 comments
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...
Read Full Article • 22 comments
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
Read Full Article • 58 comments
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple 'Sherlocked' These Apps at WWDC 2025

Wednesday June 11, 2025 7:14 am PDT by
Apple at WWDC previewed a bunch of new features coming in its updated operating systems, but certain changes will have been met with dismay by third-party developers who already offer apps with equivalent or similar features. In other words, their product has been "sherlocked" by Apple. When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred...
Read Full Article • 100 comments
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 10 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
Read Full Article • 166 comments
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Read Full Article • 211 comments
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
Read Full Article • 70 comments

Top Rated Comments

Hank001 Avatar
Hank001
22 months ago
"Hey Siri, play me some music from Hollywood Wildlife on the living room HomePods"

- ok, timer set for 6 minutes.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JuicyGoomba Avatar
JuicyGoomba
22 months ago
You have to wonder at this point if Spotify will ever see any sense? It's kind of getting embarrassing.

Similar situation to Epic refusing to put Fortnite back on iOS. They're now laying off staff due to massive losses, but throwing Fortnite on the App Store even temporarily would likely be a very significant revenue uplift.

YTM support likely only caters to a handful of people on iOS that both use the service and own a homepod... But they're supporting it. Spotify have millions of users in this scenario and would rather be petty children.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
CarAnalogy
22 months ago
Yes! Finally! This alone is a huge improvement (assuming it works properly.) As a bonus, the process of turning it on showed me how to turn OFF Apple Music so maybe Siri will FINALLY quit trying to figure out what to play on Apple Music in response to “turn on the lights.”
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steve09090 Avatar
steve09090
22 months ago

I've honestly found that most things don't work within the "ecosystem". Many people simply fall for the Apple marketing engine and end up believing in it.

Apple don't really do anything innovative at a software level anymore. They laid the foundation when Jobs was around, then after his passing they've simply refocused on bleeding dry what was left.

iOS, and now MacOS, are archaic. They need either a rewrite from the ground up to remove the bloat and actually optimise, especially where GUI performance is concerned. They could cut the bloat from what they have, but I don't actually recall Apple ever really deprecating little used "features". Google take a lot of flak for killing a lot of features, but they have the numbers that say only a couple of % of people actually use it. So they gut it from the code, keep everything streamlined, and ignore the vocal minority that complain. Harsh but ruthless and efficient.
Always fun (boring) to hear the anti-Cook side of things. The Apple ecosystem works very very well. Bloat? ???. What a load of bs.

I'm wondering how well you are airdropping images & files between the Android tablet, phone and laptop.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ackmondual Avatar
ackmondual
22 months ago

Note that to connect YouTube Music to HomePod, you will need to have either a YouTube Music or YouTube Premium account.
Huh... didn't know you can get just YouTube Music, but makes sense. More people get YouTube Premium, while wishing they could leave off YT Music and save the $$. Did know one person who actually got YouTube Premium only for YT Music! One nice feature he mentioned was you can upload your own music on there and access it anywhere!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cgs1xx Avatar
cgs1xx
22 months ago
My homepods won’t even play Apple Music, one day that stopped working and nothing I’ve tried resolves the problem. But I just use airplay now and it’s fine and I get to listen to versions of my albums from my library instead of the standard Apple Music versions. It’s interesting how you can be fully inside Apple’s eco system and some things don’t “just work”.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments