Apple’s HomePod speakers are currently available for pre-order with a release date set for the 9th of February. However apart from touting the speaker’s quality and some basic functions, not much is known about the HomePod save for the fact that it won’t work with any other music streaming service save for Apple Music.
It has also left users with a lot of questions, such as whether or not they’ll be able to access their iCloud Music Library using the speakers. The good news is that according to a tweet by iMore’s managing editor Serenity Caldwell (via MacRumors), it has been confirmed that HomePod users with iTunes Match and Apple Music subscriptions can access their iCloud Music Library via Siri.
https://twitter.com/settern/status/957730736831959045
For those who aren’t subscribed or savvy to Apple’s various services, iCloud Music Library is basically where users can upload up to 100,000 songs from their personal library, where it will match against the iTunes Store catalogue. This will not eat into the standard iCloud storage plan, and is part of the iTunes Match and Apple Music subscription.
Note that this is only applicable to the user whose iCloud account is linked to the HomePod speaker, which means that if that user does not have iTunes Match or Apple Music, then they can’t use that feature. They will still be able to play music that they have bought via iTunes, stream podcasts, and also access the Beats 1 radio program. In any case we expect more details will be revealed once the speakers have gone up for sale, so check back with us in the coming week for updates.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Music, Entertainment, HomePod, iTunes, Music, Siri and Speakers.