How to Play YouTube Music on HomePod

The original HomePod never received a warm welcome from users. However, reviewers acclaimed it for superior sound quality over other competiting smart speakers. Next, the HomePod mini arrived at an affordable price tag and became a hit among people. HomePod supports music streaming services like Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. Here’s how you can play YouTube Music on HomePod.

Streaming your favorite music service on HomePod isn’t straightforward. Unlike Amazon Alexa speakers or Google Nest devices, Apple doesn’t include Bluetooth functionality on HomePod. You can’t simply connect your iPhone or Android to a HomePod and listen to a playlist. You must use an AirPlay-compatible device like iPhone, iPad, or Mac to connect it to HomePod.

Play YouTube Music on HomePod

Apple HomePod supports the likes of iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, Deezer, Pandora, Apple Music, and Apple Podcasts. That means you can easily play tunes from any of those services. However, big names like Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music haven’t added a direct support for HomePod. To use these services, you’ll need to rely on AirPlay from a specific app or change the volume output from the notification center to play YouTube Music on HomePod.

YouTube Music Support on HomePod

As mentioned above, HomePod doesn’t come with Bluetooth functionality. You can’t play YouTube Music from an Android phone, tablet, or Windows desktop to a HomePod. You need a compatible device like iPhone, iPad, or Mac to start YouTube Music playback and stream it on HomePod. We will cover all three devices in the steps below. Let’s start with an iPhone.

iPhone

Step 1: Download and install YouTube Music on iPhone, if you haven’t.

Download YouTube Music on iPhone

Step 2: Open YouTube Music and sign in with your account details.

Step 3: You can play your favorite tunes from the home screen or head to the Library tab to pick a song.

Step 4: When you stream a song, hit the cast button in the top right corner.

Step 5: Select AirPlay & Bluetooth devices.

Step 6: The app will open the AirPlay menu. Select your HomePod under the ‘Speakers & TVs’ menu.

Within a few seconds, your favorite tracks will start playing on a connected HomePod. iPhone will move to HomePod for music output.

AirPlay connectivity is built into the iOS. You can access the same from the iPhone lock screen as well. Using the steps below, you don’t need to open the YouTube Music app whenever you want to change the sound output.

Step 1: Open the iPhone lock screen.

Step 2: Tap on the AirPlay icon in a music playback widget.

Step 3: Select your HomePod from the list and enjoy YouTube Music on a HomePod.

iPad

YouTube Music has a native app for iPad too. If you only have an iPad, you can follow the steps below to play music from the streaming service on HomePod.

Step 1: Download and install YouTube Music on your iPad, if you haven’t.

Download YouTube Music on iPad

Step 2: Open YouTube Music on your iPad and check your tracks from the library or the Explore page.

Step 3: Play any song. Swipe from the top-right corner on your iPad to open the Control Center menu.

Step 4: Long-press on the music widget and select the AirPlay icon in its top-right corner.

Step 6: Check your HomePod speaker from the list and enjoy your YouTube Music playlist with a better sound output.

You can change the volume levels from the iPad notification center too. Swipe down from the top, select the AirPlay icon, and adjust the volume.

Mac

YouTube Music is available as a PWA (Progressive Web App) on Mac. You can access the same from YouTube Music web too. Mac users can go through the steps below to play YouTube Music on HomePod.

Step 1: Open your preferred browser on Mac and visit YouTube Music on the web.

Step 2: Log in with your account details and play any song.

Step 3: Select the Control Center icon in the Mac menu bar.

Step 4: Click the AirPlay icon in the Sound menu.

Step 5: Select your HomePod from the Output menu, and you are good to go.

Enjoy YouTube Music on HomePod

Since Google hasn’t added native YouTube Music support on HomePod, you can’t ask Siri to play a song, or playlist, skip a track, and other run other voice commands. You’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to make changes. We hope to see Google utilizing Homekit to add Siri support for YouTube Music on HomePod.