If you’ve got an Apple HomePod or HomePod Mini installed in the place where you live, it will support Apple Music out of the box—but there are also a limited number of other streaming services you can switch to instead.
Changing the default music service means that Siri voice commands to hear artists, songs, albums, or playlists will be sourced through a different streaming app. There won’t be much difference in terms of your user experience—what you say and hear—but it will be a different platform serving up the tunes you want to listen to.
You can say “hey Siri, play…” followed by the name of a band, for example, or a particular genre of music that you want to listen to. In certain situations (or all the time, for some people), this feels more natural and convenient than tapping away on a phone.
Perhaps the main reason to do this is to access playlists you’ve created on your music streaming service of choice, but it also means you don’t have to subscribe to Apple Music to play music through your HomePod.
Music playing options
The HomePod speakers come with AirPlay built in, which means you can beam audio from a Mac, iPad or iPad with a few clicks or taps. You can play anything from any app you like, or from any browser tab you like—you just need to make sure your HomePod and the device you’re playing from are on the same Wi-Fi network.
On a Mac, start some audio, then click the Control Center icon on the menu bar (top right—it looks like two toggle switches). Click the AirPlay icon (the upward arrow and two circles) next to the volume level slider, then pick your HomePod from the list that appears to transfer playback duties.
On an iPad or an iPhone, open the app you want to play audio from, then start playing it. Open the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of the screen, then tap the AirPlay icon (the upward…
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