Are you struggling to setup your HomePod or HomePod Mini? If yes, this article is meant for you. If you have an Apple HomePod or HomePod Mini, and you can’t wrap your head around how to set it up, here is a simple article that simplifies the steps you can follow.
Apple HomePod is a smart device, meaning you can perform a task on its hands-free. However since, Apple has discontinued the production of full-size HomePod which used to be peoples favorite,
Around early July the HomePod listed on the apple store was sold out, which means it is not available anymore.
Now, to date Apple is not Producing any More HomePods as they have stated their intentions to focus more on the HomePod Mini, this doesn’t mean, the HomePod will no longer work, it will still have updates.
Now if you have a full-sized HomePod or You Have a Mini HomePod, you should be able to connect it to your Apple TV, but before that, you must set it up with either an iPhone or iPad device
After setting it up will be able to connect it to your apple TV. You can learn how to connect your Alexa to your Echo show device over here
To set up Your HomePod or HomePod Mini here are the steps you should follow:
How to Setup your HomePod or HomePod Mini with your iPhone/iPad
First and foremost, place your HomePod Device on a solid surface with a space of at least 6 inches around it
Now, Plug HomePod into a Power Outlet and wait for white light or a chime to appear on the top of your HomePod.
After doing that, Get your iPhone and unlock it. Now Hold it next to your HomePod and wait for some seconds
As soon as it appears on your screen Tap “set up” (still can’t see the setup screen, move down to the next heading to learn how to set it up manually)
Now, Follow the instructions it shows on your phone screen. It will ask you to select the room, where your HomePod is located. in addition to that, it will also ask you if you want to Setup two HomePods, simply continue, you can change the settings later
- After setup, now, centre your HomePod in the viewfinder on your iPhone/iPad to complete pairing.
In a scenario where you can’t use your camera, Do this:
- Tap “Enter Passcode Manually” and Siri will respond with a four-digit passcode to enter on your device.
- Now, wait for HomePod to complete the setup.
Once the setup has been completed, Siri will greet you and give you a few examples of things you can ask.
Now if you still can’t set it up, before we proceed make sure you have done these few things
- Make sure your iPhone is updated to the latest O.S version
- Ensure that 2-Factor identification is turned on for your Apple ID – you can do that by going to Settings > [Your Name] > Password & Security. Enable it by selecting the option, if it isn’t set up and follow the remaining steps
- Also, Check if, the iCloud keychain is turned on – you can do that by going to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud, Now, Scroll down and confirm if Keychain is on. If it isn’t, simply tap Keychain and turn it on.
If all these are checked, here is how you can set it Up manually.
How to Setup Your HomePod Manually
To Setup your Homepod manually, follow these steps:
- launch your “Home app” on your iPhone/iPad
- Now, tap the (+) icon at the top right corner
- On the dropdown that appears, select “add accessories”
- A pop up will appear, at the bottom simply tap “Don’t Have a Code” or Can’t Scan”
- Now, tap on “homepage” and follow the onscreen instruction to complete the setup
After successfully doing these, you will be able to connect your HomePod to your ripple Tv,
But before connecting your Apple Tv to your HomePod there are some things you have to take not which are
- You need to be using an Apple TV 4K or a fourth-generation Apple TV
- Your HomePod or HomePod mini must also be on the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV.
If you’ve met those conditions, here’s how to connect your HomePod or HomePod mini to your Apple TV:
- Power on your Apple Tv and open “settings”
- Now, click “video and Audio”
- After doing that, locate and select “Audio Output”
- And lastly, choose your HomePod with a click.
After doing this, you will be able to hear your Apple Tv audio on your HomePod speaker, moving forward you might want to customize some settings on your HOmepod.
Since you’ve set it up and it’s working correctly, you change its setting you can make use of the Home app on your iPhone.
To make any customizations to your Homepods here are the steps to do that:
How to change your HomePod Settings
- First and foremost, Launch your Home app on your iPhone/iPad device
- Now, touch and hold a HomePod
- After doing that, Scroll down, tap
- Now you will be able to change any of the settings.
- To Assign HomePod to a different room: Tap Room, then choose a new room.
To change the default account for music and podcasts: Tap Primary User > then choose which account should be used when someone’s voice isn’t recognized.
To Reduce the bass: Turn on Reduce Bass to bring down the low-frequency output of HomePod.
To see information about the network: Tap the Wi-Fi Address to switch between viewing the HomePod network identifier and the name of the Wi-Fi network it’s connected to.
Other settings you might love to know how to customize:
How to Disable Explicit content on your HomePods
Do you know that you have the ability to You can disable playback of explicit content for a specific HomePod user in your home, maybe your kids
It is simple, once that person makes any request. the song or album will not be played by HomePod if it contains explicit content,
This is very useful when you have young kids/young adults at home and you are very watchful of what they listen too
Here’s how to go about it:
- Launch your “Home” app on your iPhone/iPad
- Now tap the “home icon” and then tap the “Home Setting”
- Before I proceed, if you have more than one home, you should see the settings for your current home based on your location.
- Now, tap a user, then turn off “Allow Explicit Content”
Adjusting the setting is fairly easy as you can customize or make any adjustment using the by going to Home > Home Settings.
In addition to that you can customize your HomePod experience even more by turning these settings on:
To Update Listening History
- Go to Media
- Select your music service
- Then turn on “Update Listening History”.
With this setting “Siri” will be able to Suggest and play songs that you love based on the music you usually play, which is added to your Apple Music taste profile
Now, you might also want to set up voice recognition for your HomePods device so that you will be able to use voice commands like “Hey, Siri, play [song, album, artist, playlist, or genre].
To go about it follow these steps below:
How to Setup Voice recognition on HomePod or HomePod Mini
Firstly:
- Go to Settings > [user name] > Password & Security,
- Now, make sure you have turned on Two-Factor Authentication.
- After doing that on the Home app, touch and hold a HomePod,
- Now, scroll down, then turn Listen for “Hey Siri” ON
- then, follow the on-screen instructions.
After doing all these, you will be able to make use of Siri, however, you might have to add
Now, you can also add new users to make use of your Homepods using similar, if, for example, you have kids at home that you also want to give access to the HomePods, here’s how to go about it.
To add a New User to Make use of Voice Recognition
First things first you need to add a new user to your HomePod or HomePod Mini, but before you can add a user, the user must :
- Have an iPhone/iPad device including their Apple ID
- Next, you will need to update your HomePod or HomePod Mini using your Home app
- In addition to that, you have to make sure your iPhone is updated to the latest OS version
- Now, you need to become a member of the home in the Home app – it is usually done through an invitation
After successfully adding a new user, here’s is how you can make Siri recognize the voice of who is making use of it since Siri has to recognize your voice to work correctly.
To set it up follow the instructions below:
- Go to Settings. and tap “Siri & Search”.
- Now, Turn ON Listen for “Hey Siri.
- after doing this, go to Settings > [your name] > Find My > and turn on Share My Location.
- Now, set “My Location” to This Device
- Once you’re done with that, Open the “Home app”, and tap the “Home icon”.
- Now, choose “Home Settings” and tap your user profile under People, and turn on:
- Once the Set Up “Hey Siri” screen appears, tap Continue.
- Say each command you see on your screen.
- Tap Done.
After doing all these Siri should be able to recognize your voice when you speak to it. but in case it doesn’t recognize it, here are a few things you should do.
What to Do if Siri Doesn’t Recognize You
If after the step above, Siri still doesn’t recognize you, follow these steps:
- On the home app, tap on the Home Icon > Home Settings
- Now tap your name under People and change “Recognize my Voice ” to OFF and then ON
- Wait a few minutes, Now, try Siri again.
- Apart from these, you will also have to Restart your iPhone/iPad device – the one you use with Siri.
- Also, Restart your HomePod or HomePod Mini
- After doing that, Setup “hey Siri” on your iPhone/iPad device by going to Settings > Siri & Search,
- Over here, turn to Listen for “Hey Siri” OFF and then ON.
After doing this simply, follow the onscreen instructions to teach Siri your voice.
In addition, while doing this above step, if you have two apple IDs around, and they have Siri set up with the “same voice” its advisable to turn it off on
After setting up your HomePod or HomePod mini, here is a simple way to control it using Siri
How to control your HomePod or HomePod Mini using Siri
To make use of Siri, to control your HomePod or HomePod Mini, make use of the Siri commands to carry out any task
For example to play certain music say “Hey, Siri, play [song, album, artist, playlist, or genre] but these certain commands works if you possess an Apple Music subscription.
Conclusion
whether you are using an HomePods or an HomePod Mini, both devices are still going to be receiving updates from Apple.
If any issues relating to the HomePods come around or maybe your Siri isn’t working well with the HomePods.
All these can be resolved by simply updating the device you are using or your HomePods software to its latest version.