Apple's HomePod speaker is best enjoyed when linked to an Apple Music subscription, since this allows you to make the most of Siri's enhanced music smarts and its DJ-like role as a personal music curator, or "mixologist", as Apple calls it.

homepod apple music image
As ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers will know, the streaming service learns your music preferences based on what you say and play, which helps it populate the app's "For You" section with new songs that you might like, and enables ‌Siri‌ to generate new playlists on the fly at your request.

But what if you frequently command ‌Siri‌ to play music for other people in your household, such as your children? Using ‌HomePod‌ to play songs that don't align with your own tastes can quickly skew your ‌Apple Music‌ recommendations. Fortunately, you can avoid your recommendations being inundated with Encanto or Frozen tracks by disabling a simple setting. It's called "Use Listening History", and here's how to find it.

How to Disable Your HomePod's Listening History

  1. Open the Home app on your iPhone or iPad.

  2. Tap the ellipsis button (three encircled dots) in the top-right corner of the main Home screen.

  3. Tap Home Settings in the dropdown menu.
  4. Under "People," tap your name.
    home

  5. Under the "Music & Podcasts" section, tap Update Listening History.
  6. Toggle off the switches next to the ‌HomePod‌ devices that you want to disable listening history updates on.
    home

That's all there is to it. By turning off the setting, ‌HomePod‌ will happily continue to play songs from Apple's vast music catalog for you on behalf of others in your home, but the songs will be excluded from its personal curation algorithms and they will no longer appear in your recommendations. You can easily revert this setting by turning the switches back on in the last step.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini

Top Rated Comments

TwoLivesLeft Avatar
92 months ago
So I need to take out my phone to control a voice activated speaker?
I just tried "Hey Siri turn use listening history off" and "Hey Siri turn use listening history on" — this works just fine. The HomePod says "I turned on/off use listening history."

It also works if you say it more naturally, e.g., "Hey Siri start using listening history" or "Hey Siri stop using listening history."

Edit: You can also ask "Hey Siri are you using listening history?" or "Hey Siri is use listening history on?" and it will tell you if it's on or off.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mcdspncr Avatar
92 months ago
Man this thing really needs multiuser/multiaccount support
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nheilweil Avatar
92 months ago
So I need to take out my phone to control a voice activated speaker?
It’s a one-time setting they are recommending.
[doublepost=1518189472][/doublepost]They totally fail to mention the downside of this workaround that turning off that setting not only prevents your Music from being affected by other users — it also prevents the system from recommending music based on what you listen to!

So because the system can’t recognize multiple users (as can similar Amazon or Google units), one is left reducing the functionality of the experience in order to safe guard it from others in the family that use it as well.

I’m a total Apple fan boy but this unit is a real fail and Apple needs to figure this out!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
92 months ago
So I need to take out my phone to control a voice activated speaker?
The alternative you seem to favor could accidentally start a nuclear war, shut down power in 6 states and/or initiate the HP self-destruct sequence countdown

"Hey Siri toggle my use listening history off"
Siri: I don't know what use listening history means.

"Hey Siri toggle my use listening history off"
Siri: I found this on the web about the history of Listerine.

"Hey Siri toggle my use listening history off"
Siri: I can't find any stores that sell used Listerine near you.

"Hey Siri..."
Siri interrupts: RandyHudson, maybe you should try asking Alexa?

All ;)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cknibbs Avatar
92 months ago
Man this thing really needs multiuser/multiaccount support
I have no sources and this is just my gut speaking, but I have full confidence that multi-user support is in the pipeline. First and foremost it always seems that privacy and security are the most important to Apple and that’s why up front some of the features are limited (like not being able to start a call from the HomePod) I wouldn’t be surprised if in HomeOS 2.0 or whatever they call it, that many of the requested features will be arriving, and that as developers take advantage of SiriKit that the HomePod will compete with Alexa and Google Assistant in third party support. But again, that’s just my gut feeling (or perhaps wishful thinking)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randyhudson Avatar
92 months ago
So I need to take out my phone to control a voice activated speaker?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...