HomePod Now Supports French, German, and Canadian English, While Canadian French Coming Later This Year

Apple today announced that the HomePod will be available in Canada, France, and Germany beginning June 18, but ahead of then, the speaker has gained support for languages and dialects spoken in each country.

homepod canada france germany
Today's new 11.4 software update for HomePod enables Siri to speak in French, German, and Canadian English in any region, including the United States. Apple says Canadian French will be added in a subsequent software update coming later this year, but it has not provided a specific timeframe as of yet.

The new software update should be pushed to the HomePod automatically after updating to iOS 11.4 on a paired iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, but it can also be installed manually through the speaker's settings in the Home app.

To change a HomePod's default language, open the Home app on a paired iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 11.4, 3D Touch or long press on the HomePod's icon, tap on Details, and tap on Languages. There are now six languages, including the previous options of U.S. English, U.K. English, and Australian English.

homepod settings languages
Canadian residents who purchased a HomePod in the United States, for example, can now switch from American English to Canadian English.

While the switch from American English to Canadian English doesn't yield any significant differences, it does allow the language of a paired iOS device to be set back to Canadian English as well, as in Canada, a HomePod and paired iOS device must be set to the same language for Siri to deliver Personal Requests.

Despite support for Canadian English, the HomePod still isn't completely localized for Canada, as Siri still doesn't work with music charts, for example, as demonstrated by MacRumors reader Pedro Marques in the video below.


Of course, the HomePod should gain support for additional languages as it launches in more countries in the future.

Related Roundup: HomePod
Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...
vision air cable

Images of Apple 'Vision Air' Power Cable Emerge Online

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:55 am PDT by
More images of a redesigned power cable allegedly for a future Apple "Vision Air" headset were today shared online by the prototype collector and leaker known as "Kosutami." Yesterday, the leaker explained that the Apple "Vision Air" will feature a thinner design and switch the battery enclosure and several of its internal structures to titanium to reduce the device's overall weight. Most of ...

Top Rated Comments

ThisIsNotMe Avatar
90 months ago
LOL. HomePod doesn't even understand English.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sirozha Avatar
90 months ago
UK, Canadian and Australian English are the one and the same, it's only the U.S that don't get this and invent their own lazy version. When I read the English languages supported I had a laugh.
Australian is the same as Canadian? You must not be a native speaker if you think so. Australian is close to some British dialects but by no stretch of imagination is it close to Canadian.

Canadian English is very close to American English. Canadian English has it's own pronunciation patterns in different parts of Canada, though. I can recognize people from Ontario pretty easily by the way they pronounce "about" (like "a boat"). But, I've met Americans from the areas adjacent to Ontario whose pronunciation is exactly the same as residents of Ontario.

Canadians from the West Coast (in Vancouver and Victoria, BC) speak exactly like Americans who live on the West Coast (in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, etc.). The only real difference between the Canadian and American English is the spelling, which in Canada mostly follows British standards.
[doublepost=1527637259][/doublepost]
Canadian English is nothing like Australian which is a lot closer to English. Canadian English is American with a few spelling deviations, which, considering English roots, make no sense.

American English spelling- at a minimum was standardised around real-world pronunciation for the American continent.
American spelling was intentionally changed by Noah Webster following the American Revolution. Canadians mostly follow British spelling rules, except for in some words American spelling is acceptable as well.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gwaizai Avatar
90 months ago
Canadian English, eh?
It's a boat time.
Take off, hoser!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Smoak5 Avatar
90 months ago
oh this is intere.... no never mind its not.
I think the home pod will look nice on my shelf next to my Apple newton.

Sorry Apple. You are too late to this party. Sonos all the way in my house and not making any changes since I am so vested in sonos.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sirozha Avatar
90 months ago
I've always had more success when I use Siri in Australian, I'm British, but for some reason it seems to understand me more.

Note: I said more success, not complete success, Siri is still about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
There is very little difference. As you noted Canadians typically use British spelling as opposed to American spelling but the pronunciations of those words is usually identical to American.

I would imagine it just makes the HomePod more compatible with the slight pronunciation variations in words like "sorry" and "home" as well as variations in how Canadians say things like "grade 9" instead of "9th grade" etc.
Or maybe if Canadians say, "Hey Siri, set the second *storey* thermostat to X degrees" instead of *second floor*. Like you said, this may have more to do with word usage than pronunciation.

Also, a Canadian would certainly say something like, "Hey Siri, I locked my house, eh?" Siri would need to understand that this is actually a question.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keirasplace Avatar
90 months ago
I'm not an expert in French, but my son is in French immersion school and is fluent in French at the age of 8. He has had teachers from France, Belgium, and Quebec. I've read up on the differences between Metropolitan French and Quebec French, and it doesn't seem that there is that much of a difference. Some words are different, like the word for blueberry is different in France and in Quebec, and of course, the infamous ARRET in Quebec used differently from the way it's used in France. Also, I remember reading that the word for getting out of the car in Quebec is the same word as the word for getting off a ship, whereas in France it's the same word as for getting off a horse. But, French as spoken by educated French speakers in Quebec is completely standard and fully mutually comprehensible with Metropolitan French. Now, when you go to remote areas of Quebec, then all bets are off, but I'm sure it's the same thing in France. I believe that the differences between standard Quebec French (as it's spoken in Montreal and Quebec City) and standard Metropolitan French (e.g as it's spoken in Paris) are minimal. They are two standard dialects of the same language, with the differences between the two being similar to those between standard British English and standard American English.

I can see a reason fo adapting Siri to Quebec French; however, I see no point whatsoever in Siri making a distinction between Canadian and American English. They should name it North American English and call it a day.
Well, even if the words used are the same (they're not), the way they're pronounced is VERY DIFFERENT.

Paris French sounds very different than even how educated people around Quebec would speak (I'm an Engineer and got my degrees from Polytechnique, HEC and McGill). I'm french Canadian and I've lived in France for years (and in the US too) and even dated a french guy for 5 years so I think I'm well versed on the differences.

Of course, we can understand Paris French (cause it's the one mostly used in French movies), but that doesn't mean the different is not significant enough to make speech recognition difficult.

Anyone who thinks Canadian English sounds like US English has a very poor ear for dialects.

It doesn't sound the same as upstate NY, NYC, Connecticut, Massachusetts or Michigan or Illinois.
So, where on earth does it sound similar as?

Just listen to say, the CBC or CTV or GLOBAL national news and tell me it sounds the same as CNN, ABC, CBS news... Come on.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)