How to hand off music or phone calls from your iPhone to a HomePod

Want your iPhone to play what your HomePod is playing? Just bring the two devices close together.

- LEIF JOHNSON

With iOS 13.2 (13.2.1 for HomePod), it’s easier than ever to hand off music or a phone call from your iPhone to your HomePod. Such handoffs were possible before iOS 13.2.1, but they were a bit of a hassle (as we’ll see below). Now, though, Apple provides a “quick way” and a “long way” of making these handoffs. Here’s how to do both.

THE QUICK WAY

If your phone is playing any kind of AirPlay-compatible media—such as a song on Apple Music or Spotify, a podcast, a YouTube video, a Netflix show, or even a phone call—you simply need to hold your iPhone around an inch away from your HomePod. After a one-second delay, the audio track will jump from your phone and start playing on the HomePod. That’s all there is to it.

It’s only visible while you’re within range for the audio transfer.

And this works both ways, too! If you’d like to hand over your music or phone call from the HomePod to your iPhone, simply bring your iPhone to within an inch of your HomePod and the audio will switch back over. Piece o’ cake.