Taking Control of Your HomePod from Your Mac or iOS/iPadOS Device: Rita's
iDevice Advice for August 24, 2020
This article was written by Tim Kilburn, who regularly helps with many of
the Apple iOS and Apple Mac questions that are posted on these listservs.
Thank you Tim.
Below Tim's article is some information about the Apple HomePod Speaker.
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Did you know that you can take control of your HomePods from your Mac or
iOS/iPadOS device? You can skip and replay songs, adjust the volume, and
many other things that you may like to do with Siri. The nice thing that is
great to do with your Mac, iPad or iPhone is to add other AirPlay speakers.
Pretty well any speaker that is connected to your devices is available. For
example, my HomePods are in my Dining Room in the front of our house, I have
an Airport Express connected to a Bose Sound bar in a back room with a
garden door out to the back yard an Apple TV in the Family Room in the
basement connected to my Yamaha 7.2 surround sound system, which also has
AirPlay. So, if I've asked Siri to play my Fun Mix playlist on the
HomePods, then decide I wish to have that music also piped to the back yard
deck, I can do this without stopping the music. I could even add the
downstairs surround sound system for fun. You are able to add one or more
and they will all play the same selections.
On your Mac, open the Music app and navigate to the AirPlay pop-up. As you
VO-right through the various items, the AirPlay speakers should be listed
first, then a heading that reads as "Switch to" followed by things like
HomePods and Apple TV's. So, within the Switch To section, if you VO-space
on the HomePods, for example, you now have control of the HomePods with your
Music app. You can add other AirPlay speakers and control aspects of the
music such as volume and skipping songs.. Quitting the Music app will not
stop the music from playing through your HomePods, but you'd need to
re-connect using your Mac to have the Mac regain control.
Similarly, in iOS/iPadOS, go into the Control Centre, swipe right to find
the "Show Media Controls, Routes Available" button and double-tap it. You
will see a list under the heading Speakers and TV's, then a volume slider
then items that seem like repeats of the Speakers & TV's. These latter
items are similar to the items under the "Switch to" section on the Mac.
Double-tapping your HomePod in this section will allow your iPhone to take
control and perform tasks similar to those mentioned earlier for the Mac.
Tim Kilburn
Jamf Certified Tech
Apple Teacher
(with Swift Playgrounds Recognition)
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Apple HomePod Speaker
HomePod is a breakthrough speaker that adapts to its location and delivers
high-fidelity audio wherever it's playing. Together with Apple Music and
Siri,
it creates an entirely new way for you to discover and interact with music
at home.
List of features:
Superior sound and microphone technology
Siri integration
Apple designed woofer
Seven tweeters
7-inch mesh body
Spatial recognition
Stereo sound, AirPlay 2
Cost: The Apple Store has the current HomePod speaker listed at $299.
There are other options, such as Sam's, WalMart, Best buy, etc.
