Apple’s big events always bring excitement for new iPhones or watches. But yesterday’s showcase, as usual, gave little stage time to the HomePod. It seems the company’s smart speakers often get overlooked. Yet, a significant update is quietly making its way to these devices.
While everyone talks about a possible HomePod mini 2, Apple is launching a new software update next week. This update, version 26, brings real improvements to how we use the HomePod. It will make your speaker better at playing music. It also simplifies managing your Wi-Fi connection through the Home app settings.
But let’s dive into the two major new features.
Smooth Music Transitions
The biggest new addition is something called "Crossfade" for HomePod. This is a first for the device. When you’re listening to music through Apple Music, you can now set songs to blend into each other. No more sudden stops and starts between tracks.
Instead, the song that’s finishing will gently fade out. At the same time, the next song will begin to fade in. This creates a continuous flow of music without any quiet gaps.
After you update the software, turning on Crossfade is easy. Just open the Home app. Go to Home Settings, then People, and select your name. From there, choose Apple Music, and you’ll find the Crossfade option. You can even choose how long the blend lasts, anywhere from 1 to 12 seconds.
It’s a nice touch, though it’s a shame Apple’s new AutoMix feature isn’t part of this release. Hopefully, that will arrive in a future HomePod update.
Smarter Multi-Room Audio with Your Voice
The second cool feature expands how the HomePod handles music across different rooms. You might remember that if you have several HomePods, you can already play music on all of them at once. You could always do this manually from your iPhone.
With the new update, you can start multi-room music sessions using just your voice. This works even when you’re using Apple Music directly on your HomePod. Say you’re in the kitchen and want music in the living room too. Just say, "Play in the living room too." Or tell it to "Play everywhere" to fill your entire home with sound.
This voice control for Apple Music multi-room has been around since AirPlay 2 came out in 2018. However, the big news for HomePod software in 2025 is that these voice controls now work for any AirPlay stream. They are no longer limited to just Apple Music.
So, if you’re streaming Spotify on your living room HomePod, you can now simply ask Siri to "play this upstairs." The AirPlay session will then automatically add the extra speakers. This makes sharing music throughout your home much simpler.
Here are some quick examples of what you can say to Siri for multi-room audio:
- Play music in the living room.
- Play music in the living room and the kitchen.
- Play music everywhere.
- [when music is playing] Add the kitchen.
- [when music is playing in another room] Play music from the kitchen here.
- Move music to the [other room].
The new HomePod software update 26 will be available for both the HomePod mini and the larger, original HomePod. It officially launches to the public next week, on September 15th. It will arrive alongside Apple’s other operating system updates.