How to listen to Spotify on the Apple HomePod and HomePod Mini
Apple’s support for third-party music services on the HomePod has been a while, but even so, there’s still a notable absence. While some services like Deezer and Pandora are natively available on HomePod, Spotify is not. And there’s no sign of that changing anytime soon.
However, all is not lost. A HomePod or HomePod Mini is still one of the best smart speakers for Apple users. Both also offer best-in-class audio quality and admittedly sound best when used with Apple Music. But if you or someone in your household is a Spotify listener, you’re not entirely out of luck. Here’s how to listen to Spotify music on HomePod and HomePod Mini.
Get Spotify on HomePod with AirPlay
While you can’t natively connect your Spotify account to your HomePod, you can still use AirPlay. The Spotify app for iOS is happy to output its audio to an AirPlay-enabled speaker, and through that you can listen to music through the HomePod.
You 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 little one speaker and display shaped icon under the heart.
- Choose AirPlay or Bluetooth.
- Select your HomePod speaker to send music to it.
Because you’re using AirPlay and not native music streaming, you don’t have the full range of voice control over HomePod. You can still use basic functions, e.g. B. Ask Siri to play/pause or skip a track. But you have to manually select your tunes from your device.
Using AirPlay on Mac to play Spotify
You can also use the Spotify desktop app on Mac to play music through HomePod, but the process is a little different. Spotify itself doesn’t support AirPlay on desktop, but of course macOS does. So instead of sending the audio directly from the app, send all your Mac audio to your speaker.
The easiest way to do this is via the Control Center at the top right. Click on that AirPlay button next to the volume slider, then select the speaker you want the sound to come from.
So it’s not her best solution, but it is a solution. In lieu of proper support, at least you can still use Spotify with arguably the best-sounding smart speakers out there. Maybe one day we will see full integration.
The Apple HomePod Mini is an affordable, Siri-enabled speaker that packs a lot of neat smart features. However, it is aimed at a very specific group of users.