One of the main uses for Siri on HomePod is to control your Apple Music collection. There are ‌Siri‌ voice commands for accessing content like playlists, genres, moods, liking or disliking songs, playing more music based on something you've heard, starting a new radio station, and much more.

Because the list of ‌Siri‌ commands is so extensive, this guide won't be covering every possible option and genre supported by available through ‌Siri‌, but it should serve as a good starting point when getting to know what exactly your ‌HomePod‌ can do with your ‌Apple Music‌ library.

Playlists and Library

Your playlists may be the content you'll interact with most often in ‌Apple Music‌, and ‌Siri‌ on ‌HomePod‌ can play any ‌Apple Music‌ playlist you've made in the past on an iOS device or Mac. ‌Siri‌ can also play ‌Apple Music‌'s personally curated mix playlists.

homepod book time playlist
For items in your library, use the "play my" command and ‌Siri‌ will play albums and songs already added to your library. For everything else, ‌Siri‌ will play any songs available on ‌Apple Music‌, even if they aren't in your library yet.

  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play my Book Time playlist."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, shuffle my Book Time playlist."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, add this song to my Book Time playlist."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, add this to my library."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play My New Music Mix."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play the A-List Pop playlist."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play my music from Sam Smith."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play the newest music from Vance Joy."

Genres, Moods, and Radio

‌Siri‌ can understand a wide range of commands requesting various musical genres and moods found in ‌Apple Music‌. You can find some of these moods in ‌Apple Music‌ itself by navigating to the Browse tab, tapping Playlists, then looking through all of the Activities and Moods. You can also request songs based on decades, specific years, and exact dates. We've compiled a few examples below to get you started.

homepod how to activities image

  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play some recent pop music."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play some chill music."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play some romantic music."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play some music to dance to."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play the best songs from the '90s."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play the top 10 songs from 1986."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play the top song from April 17, 1992."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, create a radio station based on The Killers."

Here are some examples of more keywords that you could enter into the above commands:

  • Sad
  • Angry
  • Lazy
  • Somber
  • Calm
  • Fun
  • Romance
  • Weekend
  • Cooking
  • Party
  • Workout
  • Focus
  • Motivation
  • Bedtime

You'll also find the same results for essentially every genre, like Country, Alternative, Blues, and others.

General Controls

There are multiple commands you can relay to ‌Siri‌ to control music playback, with some examples below.

  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play music."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, pause."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, skip this song."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, skip forward 30 seconds."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, jump back 10 seconds."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, previous track."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, raise/lower the volume."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, increase the volume to 50 percent."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, turn on repeat."

Other Commands

  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play Party in the USA."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, I like/dislike this."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, what song is this?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, what was the last song called?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, who sings this?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, who is the drummer in this?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, what year is this song from?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, how many songs are on this album?"
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play more like this."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, after this play Rolling in the Deep."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, play some Florence and the Machine."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, tell me more about this artist."
  • "Hey ‌Siri‌, I want to hear the live version of this song."

If you ever want to revisit the playlists and radio stations that ‌Siri‌ creates for you through voice commands on ‌HomePod‌, head over to the For You tab in ‌Apple Music‌. If you scroll down a bit, you should see "Recently Played" filled with the content that ‌Siri‌ played on ‌HomePod‌.

recently played apple music
If you have any other useful ‌Siri‌ commands we didn't mention, be sure to share them in the comments.

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

Top Rated Comments

justperry Avatar
101 months ago
Too many Homepod articles to my liking lately, and no, I don't read these HP articles, just think MR is overdoing it.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Delgibbons Avatar
101 months ago
I appreciate guides, but if Siri worked correctly we wouldn’t need them.

What happened to the promise of natural language recognition? Siri should understand us — we shouldn’t have to memorize phrases specifically to Siri’s liking.
Ha! Homepod is a bit like one of those old text adventures.

"Pick up key"

"Use key in lock"

:D
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naaaaak Avatar
101 months ago
I appreciate guides, but if Siri worked correctly we wouldn’t need them.

What happened to the promise of natural language recognition? Siri should understand us — we shouldn’t have to memorize phrases specifically to Siri’s liking.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wanted797 Avatar
101 months ago
Can I ask Siri when MacRumors will be doing a story that’s not about HomePod?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jsmith189 Avatar
101 months ago
Genres/years don't work internationally anymore.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/sorry-but-i-dont-know-the-historical-music-charts-for-your-country.2105322/

Can I ask Siri when MacRumors will be doing a story that’s not about HomePod?
God forbid an Apple website talk about the new Apple product!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Doomstare Avatar
101 months ago
If you have the Messages access enabled you can ask Siri to “share this song” with someone
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...