Upcoming 17.1 Software Brings Enhance Dialogue to Original HomePod and HomePod mini

With the HomePod software 17.1 update that is set to be released in the near future, Apple is bringing support for Enhance Dialogue to the HomePod mini and the original ‌HomePod‌.

AppleTV and HomePod Feature
Enhance Dialogue is a feature that is meant to boost the volume of spoken voices to make dialogue easier to hear over effects, action, and music in a movie or TV show. The feature works when a ‌HomePod‌ or ‌HomePod mini‌ is paired to an Apple TV and used as the audio output option.

Prior to now, Enhance Dialogue was available on the second-generation ‌HomePod‌, and it was a feature that was first introduced in tvOS 17. With tvOS 17.1 and ‌HomePod‌ software 17.1, Enhance Dialogue can be enabled on any ‌HomePod‌ (or set of HomePods) paired to an ‌Apple TV‌ 4K.

Enabling Enhance Dialogue can be done by playing a TV show or movie, bringing up the playback controls with the Siri Remote, and choosing the Enhance Dialogue feature from the Audio Options button. It can be enabled for all content by going to Settings > Video and Audio > Enhance Dialogue.

Apple today seeded the final beta version of the ‌HomePod‌ 17.1 software, and it should see a release as soon as next week alongside iOS 17.1 and tvOS 17.1.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

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. 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 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
ipad pro 2024

Gurman: New iPad Pro and MacBook Pro Models With M5 Chips to Launch Later This Year

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:06 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPad Pro models with the M5 chip will "launch this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new iPad Pro models have progressed to an "advanced testing" stage, and he expects mass production of the devices to begin in the second half of this year. If that timeframe is met, the new iPad Pro models could launch...

Top Rated Comments

G3Blue Avatar
19 months ago
For a few years I’ve always had subtitles turned on (this highlights another issue with subtitles missing words).

I have HomePod minis in stereo and this feature works great. I don’t have the courage to install beta software on my original HomePod.



Attachment Image
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B/D Avatar
19 months ago

So why is this possible with "outdated" socs?
Good question. The story with 17.0 was that the feature was only available to the big second gen Homepod, because the processing of the audio mix to bring foward the speech was done by the speakers themselves in real time, and that process used some machine learning instructions set. This required a Bionic processor. The S7 chipset is based on the A13 Bionic, and therefore support this particular set of instructions, whereas the A8 does not.

Perhaps now, with 17.1, Apple have made the Apple TV 4K, not the Homepods, the device in charge to the processing of the audio mix, which would allow this feature to be available on the entire Homepod family.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NervousFish2 Avatar
19 months ago
Oh my god, this is cool!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Schnegg Avatar
19 months ago
I don‘t own Homepods, but this is great. Something needs to be done about these awful surround mixes with the loud effects and droned out dialogue.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
19 months ago
Nothing beats a good center channel speaker for clear dialogue. Phantom centers like phantom overheads (ATMOS) or phantom surround speakers is not the same as actual centers, actual overheads or actual surrounds.

Those happy with stereo, enjoy this new feature. Those willing & able to go for true surround or true ATMOS, there is abundant offerings that can deliver that as fast as you want to move. Your ears will definitely notice.

That's not meant to put down HPs at all- they are great for what they are... which is NOT home theater speakers unless one defines home theater audio as stereo. A good Apple product or two budget will buy an incredible, true surround sound setup that will sound as good 10, 20 or 30 years from now as it sounds day 1. The "smarts" in the Apple devices you already own can make it work just like HPs do... except it will work with EVERYTHING that produces audio, including all streaming audio sources, anything pre-HDMI... and all to come that expands above current audio standards.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jeaz Avatar
19 months ago

Just speculation. By the way, has this ever happened in the past or is it the first time ever?. I´m talking of Apple introducing a feature for a particular generation of devices, and then some time later making that same feature available to older devices via a software update . I find it curious.
Not that I can recall right now, although I have a nagging feeling it's happened before. Either way, it's very rare at least but I'm not complaining.
I was bummed before that this wasn't on the OG HomePods, but this feature alone was hardly enough to upgrade for. But very nice it's coming in 17.1. Looking forward to it!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)