Apple Releases 14.1 Software for HomePod With Intercom and HomePod Mini Support

Alongside iOS and iPadOS 14.1, Apple today released new 14.1 software for the HomePod, which includes a number of new updates such as support for the Intercom feature that allows you to speak to anyone in the home on iPhone, iPad, ‌HomePod‌, and more.

Apple HomePod mini iPad iPhone applewatch airpods intercom
The update also introduces support for the HomePod mini that's launching in November and it adds new Siri features. ‌Siri‌ is able to stop alarms, timers, and media across ‌HomePod‌ speakers, and web search requests from ‌HomePod‌ can be sent from ‌HomePod‌ to the ‌iPhone‌.

There's also an option to add music to alarms to wake up to a favorite song or playlist from Apple Music, and there are multiple reliability improvements.

Software version 14.1 includes support for HomePod mini and new Siri and Intercom features. This update also includes bug fixes and improvements.

HomePod mini
- Setup and automatically transfer your Apple ID, Apple Music, Siri and Wi-Fi settings to HomePod mini

Siri
- Siri suggestions appear in Maps when you ask HomePod for information about a location
- Web search requests to HomePod can be sent from HomePod to your iPhone
- Siri can now stop alarms, timers, and media across HomePod speakers
- Voice recognition support for Podcasts for multiple users in the home

Intercom
- Ask HomePod to make announcements to other HomePod speakers throughout your home
- Intercom to all HomePod speakers
- Intercom to a HomePod in a specific room or zone

Other improvements and fixes
- Add music to your alarms and wake up to your personal song, playlist, or radio station from Apple Music
- Fixes an issue where stereo pairs can sometimes play out of sync
- Improves reliability when using Siri to control multiple speakers
- Optimizes Siri performance

‌‌HomePod‌‌‌ software is installed automatically on the ‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌, but the ‌‌‌HomePod‌‌‌ can also be manually updated by following the instructions in our ‌‌HomePod‌‌ update how to.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 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. iPhone 17 Pro's alleged design via Front Page Tech Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive a New Perk

Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month. In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Seeds iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 Release Candidate With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music and More

Monday March 24, 2025 10:07 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the fourth betas. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. With iOS 18.4, Apple is adding the Priority Notifications...
airpods max 2024 colors

Don't Buy Into Apple's Hype About AirPods Max Gaining Lossless Audio

Monday March 24, 2025 4:24 pm PDT by
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4. For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iOS 18

Top 5 New Features Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday March 21, 2025 3:26 pm PDT by
We're not getting new Siri Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4 as expected, but the upcoming update does have quite a few new additions that will be worth upgrading for. We've rounded up the five best features to look forward to, and if you're not running the beta, you can expect to get access to these in early April. Priority Notifications If you have an iPhone or iPad that supports...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent Search

Foldable iPhone Expected to Launch Next Year, Costing Around $2,000

Monday March 24, 2025 3:43 am PDT by
Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone next year with a ~$2,000 premium price tag attached, expects well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Gurman's comments on Apple's launch plans for its first foldable device appeared in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter. Earlier this month, the reporter said Apple's foldable iPhone could be arriving "as early as 2026,"...
ios 19 messages app

Here's What Apple's iOS 19 Messages App Might Look Like

Tuesday March 25, 2025 11:52 am PDT by
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions. Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...

Top Rated Comments

DarwinOSX Avatar
58 months ago

Why don't they make a mode where the HomePod is the bass and the HomePod mini is the tweeter? Do people even know what basses and tweeters are anymore?
Newsflash....the HomePod has a bass driver and seven tweeters. On what planet would your suggestion make sense?


Apple software has a latency issue, and it is most apparent on AppleTV and Siri. The lag is shamefully bad, and none of their competitors are any near as bad.

The lag on Homepod makes for a crappy device. Did Siri hear me? Do I repeat myself? Or did it fail as is typical with Siri? If you have time to think these things before Siri responds, it’s way too slow.

I’m hoping the update fixes the latency issue on Homepod to make it usable.
I have 6 HomePods and never seen any lag at all in a 5200 sq ft house. Airplay 2 avoids this by providing a large buffer and streaming faster than real time, check your wifi. I also have Sonos, Alexa, and Google devices and Apple's response times beat the pants off of all of them.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Icaras Avatar
58 months ago
Waiting for the ’Home Theater’ update...
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DarwinOSX Avatar
58 months ago

What happened to the 3rd party music support update for HomePod?! Also, why is it still not possible to send audio to HomePod over strictly Bluetooth, as an option?!
It's an API provided by Apple and the vendor has to write to it. Nothing stopping them. It's not Apple's job to do their development for them. They could have had one ready today when this version was released. So ask them.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
liberte1776 Avatar
58 months ago
What happened to the 3rd party music support update for HomePod?! Also, why is it still not possible to send audio to HomePod over strictly Bluetooth, as an option?!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
58 months ago
Apple software has a latency issue, and it is most apparent on AppleTV and Siri. The lag is shamefully bad, and none of their competitors are any near as bad.

The lag on Homepod makes for a crappy device. Did Siri hear me? Do I repeat myself? Or did it fail as is typical with Siri? If you have time to think these things before Siri responds, it’s way too slow.

I’m hoping the update fixes the latency issue on Homepod to make it usable.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimjiminyjim Avatar
58 months ago
One thing that I really appreciate about Apple of late is how long a product gets treated as "new." I know the bad side of this is that a product has a long life cycle and we all want the newest, latest, greatest, sooner... but the good side is that my new thing that is years old still feels like new. I love the support my old HomePod is getting!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)