This article describes how to use your Apple HomePod to make phone calls, as well as how to manage simultaneous calls and call waiting.
What to Know
- Make a call on iPhone > tap Audio > tap HomePod name.
- To hang up, tap the red phone icon on top of HomePod.
How to Make Phone Calls With Your Apple HomePod
Follow these instructions to utilize your Apple HomePod as a speakerphone to make iPhone calls:
- Make a call on your iPhone as you normally would (by dialing a number, tapping a contact, etc.)
- Tap the Audio button once the call has begun.
- Tap the name of your HomePod in the menu that appears at the bottom of the screen.
- When the call is transferred to the HomePod, an icon of the HomePod will appear on the Audio button, and the call audio will come from the HomePod.
- You can’t use Siri to make or receive calls, therefore you can’t use it to end them either. Alternatively, you can tap the red phone icon on the iPhone’s screen or on the top of the HomePod.
Dealing With Call Waiting and Multiple Calls When Using HomePod as a Speakerphone
You have several alternatives if a new call comes in on your iPhone when you’re using the HomePod as a speakerphone:
Switch from the current call to the next one: Touch the green light on the HomePod’s top and hold it there.
Answer the new call while putting the old one on hold: Tap the green light on the HomePod’s top.
Switch back and forth between calls: To get started, tap the top of the Apple HomePod.
A Limit of the HomePod: Speakerphone Only
There’s one huge, unpleasant constraint when Apple comes to utilizing the HomePod for phone calls: you can’t really make phone calls on the HomePod. You can’t make a phone call using Siri, unlike text messages, which you can read and send on the Apple HomePod simply by speaking to it. So you can’t just say “Hey Siri, call mum” and begin talking to your mother.
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Instead, you’ll need to make a phone call on your iPhone before switching the audio output to the HomePod. When you do this, you’ll be able to hear the HomePod’s phone call and talk to it like any other speakerphone.
This is an annoying limitation given that other smart speakers allow you to make calls using your voice. Let’s hope Apple adds a calling feature to the Apple HomePod in the future.
Apps That Can Use HomePod as a Speakerphone
Aside from the Phone app included in iOS, the HomePod may be used as a speakerphone with a variety of calling apps. The following are some of the phone apps that can make calls using the Apple HomePod:
- FaceTime
- Phone
- Skype
- Viber
- WhatsApp.
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