Apple Brings Enhance Dialogue to Original HomePod and HomePod mini With 17.1 Update
Apple today released the HomePod 17.1 software for the HomePod and HomePod mini, bringing support for Enhance Dialogue to additional devices.
Enhance Dialogue is a feature that boosts the volume of spoken voices to make dialogue easier to hear over effects, action, and music in a movie or TV show. The feature works when a HomePod or HomePod mini is paired to an Apple TV and used as the audio output option.
Prior to today, Enhance Dialogue was available on the second-generation HomePod, and it was a feature that was first introduced in tvOS 17. With tvOS 17.1 and HomePod software 17.1, Enhance Dialogue can be enabled on any HomePod (or set of HomePods) paired to an Apple TV 4K. Apple's full release notes for the update are below.
Software version 17.1 adds support for Enhance Dialogue on HomePod mini and HomePod (1st generation) so you can hear spoken voices more clearly over effects, action, and music in a movie or TV show when paired with Apple TV 4K. This update also includes bug fixes and stability improvements.
Enabling Enhance Dialogue can be done by playing a TV show or movie, bringing up the playback controls with the Siri Remote, and choosing the Enhance Dialogue feature from the Audio Options button. It can be enabled for all content by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Enhance Dialogue.
HomePod software is installed automatically on the HomePod unless the feature is disabled, but the HomePod can also be manually updated in the Home app by following the instructions in our HomePod update how to.
Popular Stories
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker.
Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...
