10 Hacks Every Apple HomePod User Should Know

The HomePod is one of the most polarizing Apple devices I’ve ever owned. When it works, it’s great, but if something goes wrong, troubleshooting can be a little difficult. This has led to a bit of a mixed reception among Apple fans, but I’ve been buying HomePods since 2017 and know all the hacks to make them easier or better to use. Some of these hacks aim for trouble-free use, but others highlight hidden features. Let’s get straight to it.

Make sure HomePod has a strong Wi-Fi connection

In all my experience with HomePods, I have observed that the product works much better when in a location with a strong Wi-Fi signal. For a few months, I had kept the HomePod in a bedroom where my wifi was a little spotty and the speaker didn’t work well at all. Since it uses the Internet or AirPlay to stream audio, it needs a strong wifi signal. If your home has a single router, you may have better luck connecting your HomePod to the 2.4GHz band rather than the 5GHz option, which has a shorter range.

You can check which network your HomePod is connected to by going to the Home app on your iPhone, selecting your HomePod, and going to the accessory settings. The smart speaker automatically connects to the same network your iPhone or iPad is connected to. You can change the wifi network on your iOS device to change the connected wifi on HomePod.

HomePod is rock solid when paired with an Apple TV

Since we’re talking about increasing the reliability of your HomePod, you’ll find that pairing it with your Apple TV will make it much less flaky. This doesn’t mean you should buy an Apple TV just to make your HomePod work better, but if you have a streaming device, you should consider pairing it with your HomePod for the best results.

I’ve used my HomePods with my iPhone, Mac, iPad, and even my Apple Watch, and I can tell you that the experience just isn’t the same as when you use the speaker with an Apple TV. For starters, the Apple TV can use a HomePod as its default output, meaning you don’t need to fiddle with software buttons or use Siri to operate the speaker. Just turn on your Apple TV, play whatever you want, and HomePod will work. This may seem like a minor benefit, but it really isn’t. I don’t have a lot of good things to say about the HomePod’s software and reliability, and it’s only 100% solid when I use it with an Apple TV.

Stereo sound makes HomePod a huge improvement

I don’t usually tell people to spend more money to get the most out of a product, but in the case of Apple’s HomePods, two speakers are a solution. plot better than just one. If you have the larger HomePod, you’ll probably only choose one, but that’s not the case for those of us who opted for a HomePod mini. Using two HomePod minis in a stereo pair is a much better experience, taking what can be disappointing sound and letting it play with the big guys. And that goes double if you follow this latest hack. If you own an Apple TV, you’ll be really impressed when you connect it to two HomePods in a stereo pair. It makes watching movies so much better.

Route audio from any device to your HomePod

Credit: Apple

HDMI ARC is one of the HomePod’s lesser-known features, but once you try it, there’s no going back. In a nutshell, it lets you use HomePod as a speaker for your PS5, Xbox, or any other device connected to your TV. It requires a fairly specific combination of hardware to work, and even after setting it up, you may need to troubleshoot it a bit to get it to work properly. Indeed, there are at least four different devices made by different manufacturers involved here. Sometimes you may need to manually enable ARC, eARC, or HDMI-CEC in your TV settings, which usually does the trick.

This Apple Support page highlights everything you need to get this feature working, which comes down to having an Apple TV 4K (second generation or newer), a HomePod or HomePod mini, and a TV that supports HDMI ARC or eARC (typically, TV manufacturers label HDMI ports to indicate support for these technologies). You’ll need to enable this feature on your Apple TV first, and once that’s done, the HomePod should play audio from other devices connected to your TV. Note that you must add the Apple TV and HomePod to the same “room” in the Home app on your iPhone for this feature to work.

The good news is that this setup is a one-time headache and once complete, it works without too many issues.

You can chain multiple HomePods together for multi-room audio

If you have multiple HomePods of the same type, you can and should try using them for multi-room audio. Three HomePods (or HomePod Minis) are enough to cover an apartment of around 1,000 square feet, and you can use them to play music in every room as you go about your day. If you own a Mac, you can also get the excellent SoundSource app to test how much you like multi-room audio without having to buy multiple HomePods first. SoundSource lets you send audio to multiple devices at once, which means you can play the same audio file on generic Bluetooth speakers, HomePods, AirPods, and any other audio devices connected to your Mac, at the same time.

You can use it to get a feel for what multi-room audio sounds like, and if you like the experience, you can use multiple HomePods to get the same experience with minimal latency.

Your HomePod is also an intercom

You can use your HomePod to send voice messages to other people in your home. For example, you can send the following command to Siri: “Intercom, it’s dinner time.” This will send your dinner reminder message to all HomePods in the house. Others can also use Siri to respond to you, making it an effective alternative to texting.

You can access the intercom feature by opening the Home app on your iPhone, holding down the HomePod icon and selecting Accessory Settings > Intercom. It also works with Siri on your iPhone, so you can send an intercom message to a HomePod even when it’s not nearby.

HomePod can be a smart home hub

Apple’s HomeKit smart home platform may not be as popular as its competitors, but there are some good HomeKit-compatible smart home accessories. If you find the right products, you can use HomePod to control your entire home. This includes lights, doors, cameras, and many other types of smart home gadgets. Of course, all of these features rely heavily on Siri, meaning you’ll occasionally have to repeat your commands or deal with turning the wrong gadget on or off.

Although Siri can be frustrating to manage, HomeKit is the best option for people who want a privacy-focused smart home platform. Apple does its best to minimize data sent to external servers and encrypts security images, which is different from the approach taken by many competing platforms.

Find the right place for your HomePod

Credit: Apple

In my experience, it’s worth taking the time to determine the best place to place your HomePod, especially to get the best stereo output. Apple recommends placing your HomePod up to 10 inches from a wall, but in my experience it works best if it’s about 6 to 10 inches from the walls. For the best stereo experience, you should place both of your HomePods on either side of your TV, within 4 feet of each other.

If you have expensive wooden furniture, be sure to check if it’s safe to place HomePod on these surfaces. Sometimes HomePods can leave a mark on wooden surfaces, so you may want to consider using a cork trivet to protect the surface.

Keep your Siri data away from Apple

If you’ve already enabled analytics data sharing with Apple, your HomePod could send audio of your Siri interactions to Apple’s servers. You should check this and disable the feature if you do not want to share this data. Open the Home app on your iPhone, press and hold the HomePod icon and navigate to Accessory Settings. Now go to Analysis and improvements and disable all options on this page. On the Accessories Settings page, you can also access History of Siri and select Delete Siri history to clear previously stored data.

Automation routines are incredibly fun to use

HomePod also supports automation routines, and you can use them to do lots of fun things. For about a year, I had set my HomePod to play calming music in the morning and jazz at sunset. You can configure them in Apple’s Shortcuts app. Go to the Automation section, press the button + and select Create home automation. This is where you can configure your favorite automation routines. HomePod supports performing actions when you reach or leave your home, at a specific time of day, when accessories are connected, or when a sensor detects something (for example: movement).