Wondering what happened to that promised HomePod feature that lets family, friends, or anyone else queue up tracks on the speaker? Turns out Apple didn’t forget about it.
Among the many announcements during its annual WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple revealed that SharePlay music control for the HomePod and HomePod mini is finally on the way.
News of SharePlay for the HomePod didn’t actually merit a mention during Monday’s on-screen WWDC presentation; instead, it was hidden in a press release.
This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.
Still, we now know that the delayed HomePod feature is slated for fall, likely timed with the release of iOS 18.
With help from SharePlay (which originally debuted back in October 2021 as a way for FaceTime users to share videos and music), a HomePod or HomePod mini owner can allow someone else to control Apple Music playback on the speaker.
To join a SharePlay session on a HomePod, you’ll just hold your iPhone next to the iPhone of the HomePod’s owner, or scan a QR code in the Apple Music SharePlay window.
Once that’s done, the person who joined the SharePlay session can—with your permission, of course–can control the tunes on the HomePod, as well as add tracks to the current playlist, no Apple Music subscription required.
Of course, you’ll need to be an Apple Music subscriber to launch SharePlay control sessions.
SharePlay for HomePod follows last fall’s arrival of SharePlay on Apple’s CarPlay platform, with CarPlay users similarly able to share Apple Music playback on their car speakers.
The HomePod’s SharePlay functionality was first revealed way back in early 2024, when MacRumors reported that the feature was in a developer beta of Apple’s iOS 17.4 update.
But Apple dropped SharePlay for HomePod from iOS 17.4 before releasing the final version of the update, leaving many to wonder what happened to the feature.
Well, better late than never.
