Your HomePod is about to get a lot less annoying

If you use a streaming service other than Apple Music and find it annoying to constantly remind Siri of this fact, you might be happy to hear about an upcoming software update for the HomePod.

The upcoming HomePod 17.4 software, MacRumors reports, will feature what the site rightly describes as “a small but significant change.” Siri will have the ability to learn a user’s preferred streaming service and automatically default to that service when asked to play a song or other piece of streaming content.

Currently, if you subscribe to Pandora, Deezer, or YouTube Music, you either have to set it as default in Settings (a Home app option that many users are unfamiliar with) or laboriously mention your service of choice. whenever you ask HomePod to play a song: “Hey Siri, play Kavinsky’s “Roadgame” on Pandora. It’s not a huge additional problem, and even it’s an improvement over the HomePod’s initial emphasis on using Apple Music, but it’s annoying and takes away a lot of the HomePod’s convenience. (Spotify doesn’t officially support Siri commands on HomePod, but there has been a workaround since the launch of iOS 17.)

But starting with the release of HomePod 17.4 software, Siri on HomePod will become smart enough to learn this information, as it already does on the iPhone and iPad. It’s unclear exactly how this will work, but rather than relying on repeat or the last service you selected, Siri will likely actively ask for the service of your choice the next time you ask it to play something, because that’s what’s happening on iPhone. The software update release notes simply state:

“This update lets Siri know your favorite media service, so you no longer need to include the name of the media app in your request.”

HomePod 17.4 software is expected to be released to the public this week. To update your HomePod or HomePod mini, go to the Home app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, tap the three-dot menu in the top right, Home SettingsAnd Software update. If the update is available, tap Update and follow the instructions. A rotating white light will be visible on your HomePod until the update is complete.