YouTube Music working on HomePod integration

YouTube Music users may soon have direct streaming and Siri control from their HomePod.

Apple has given third-party developers the option to add native support for their music services to HomePod since iOS 14, but very few have taken advantage of the feature. It is possible with services like Pandora, but popular services like Spotify still don't support it.

The list of supported services is about to grow by one if code discovered by X user @aaronp613 is any indication. It's a small hint, but Aaron found a Home glyph and URL for "ytm_connect_with_homepod" in the YouTube Music app, indicating the feature is at least being worked on.

If YouTube Music adds the feature, it will mean users can give their HomePod a command via Siri and start listening to music via their YouTube Music account.

The feature is implemented from the app's settings, not Apple's. For example, Pandora's integration with HomePod has to be set up from the app and isn't discoverable by the user anywhere else.

Once a service like YouTube Music or Pandora is added, it shows up as a media option in the Home app under a user's account settings. From here, users can set a service as a default, meaning Siri commands will pick that service instead of Apple Music.

Siri will play audio from non-default sources with the right command. If the default is set to Apple Music, the user can say, "Siri, play my sleep playlist on YouTube Music." The "on YouTube Music" isn't necessary if YouTube Music is the default.

Once implemented, YouTube Music users will have another use case for a HomePod or HomePod mini. Other services like Spotify will hopefully take note of this integration and follow suit.