Apple’s support for third-party music services on HomePod took a while, but even so, there’s still one notable absence. While some services such as Deezer and Pandora are natively available on HomePod, Spotify is not. And there’s no sign that will change any time soon.
All is not lost, though. A HomePod or HomePod Mini is still one of the best smart speakers for Apple users. Both also offer best-in-class audio quality, admittedly sounding their best when used with Apple Music. But if you or anyone in your household is a Spotify listener, you’re not completely out of luck. Here’s how to listen to Spotify music on the HomePod and HomePod Mini.
Get Spotify on HomePod using AirPlay
While you can’t natively connect your Spotify account to your HomePod, you can still make use of AirPlay. The Spotify app for iOS will happily output its audio to an AirPlay-enabled speaker, and it’s through this that you can listen to music through the HomePod.
You’ll need to make sure your iPhone or iPad is on the same wireless network as your HomePod speaker. Then follow these steps.
- Open the Spotify app.
- Start playing music.
- Tap the small speaker and display-shaped icon below the heart.
- Select AirPlay or Bluetooth.
- Choose your HomePod speaker to send music to it.
As you’re using AirPlay and not native music streaming you don’t have the full range of voice control through the HomePod. You can still use basic features, such as asking Siri to play/pause or skip track. But you’ll have to select your tunes manually from your device.
Using AirPlay on the Mac to play Spotify
You can also use the Spotify desktop app on Mac to play music through the HomePod but the process is a little different. Spotify itself doesn’t support AirPlay on desktop, but macOS does, of course. So rather than sending the audio directly from the app, you’ll be sending all of your Mac audio over to your speaker.
The easiest way to do this is through the Control Center in the top right-hand corner. Click on the AirPlay button next to the volume slider, then choose the speaker you want the audio to come out of.
So, it isn’t the best solution, but it’s a solution. In lieu of proper support, you can at least still use Spotify with arguably the best-sounding smart speakers out there. Maybe one day we’ll see full integration.
Apple HomePod Mini
- The Apple HomePod Mini is an affordable, Siri-enabled speaker that offers plenty of neat smart features. It caters to a very particular group of users, though.
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