Until now, Apple HomePod speakers have been a tough sell for Spotify users (as well as users of other streaming services) because there’s been no way to natively integrate voice commands with the speaker.
Otherwise loyal Apple users may be put off by the hardware lineup, as Spotify hasn’t adopted the necessary API that allows third-party music services to play well with the Siri-powered speaker.
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It’s now possible for Spotify users to tell HomePod, “Hey Siri, play Taylor Swift on Spotify,” thanks to a near-workaround in iOS 17.
Cleverly, HomePod will first forward the request to the companion iPhone, then initiate an AirPlay session to start streaming content to the HomePod speaker.
Previously, manually starting an AirPlay session between Spotify and HomePod was the easier way to enable playback. There is now a convenient hands-free solution that requires nothing more than the user’s voice.
Noticed by testers of new functionality 9to5Macadd a reporter here Border On HomePod, Siri responded to the first request with “I’ll need AirPlay from your iPhone to use Spotify,” the person said. Sometimes Siri responded “on it.” Beautiful.
Spotify had resisted adopting a Siri API that would allow third parties to play music directly on HomePod with voice commands. While many other major players have also failed to adopt the API announced at WWDC 2023, Pandora and Deezer are among those jumping abroad.
In Spotify’s case, it may be avoiding getting involved because there is some ongoing legal wrangling between the two in the European Union over Spotify’s claims that Apple is exploiting its dominant position in the market.
It is one of many companies complaining that Apple is deducting some users’ Spotify Premium subscription fees while also preventing the company from redirecting users to other sign-up methods.
