HomePod Owners Will Soon Be Able to Set Songs From Apple Music as Alarms

Wednesday October 14, 2020 2:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

HomePod can be used as an alarm clock replacement to wake you up in the morning or remind you of something, and soon ‌HomePod‌ owners with an Apple Music subscription should be able to set alarms on the smart speaker that play their favorite songs instead of the default alarm sound.

homepod apple music image
Prior to the original ‌HomePod‌'s release, there were rumors suggesting users would be able to set songs as custom ringtones for the alarm feature of the ‌HomePod‌, but that is not possible without resorting to automations. There is currently no option to change the default sound on the ‌HomePod‌ when setting up an alarm.

However, changes uncovered by GeekWebGuides in the latest ‌HomePod‌ beta software reveal that ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers will soon be able to do just that.

The beta software includes a revised interface for adding alarms to ‌HomePod‌ in the Home app that provides a choice of playing a tone or media as the alarm sound.

As long as you have an active ‌Apple Music‌ subscription, tapping "Play Media" lets you choose a song from your music library. If you don't have a subscription you'll be prompted to get one, or revert to the default alarm tone.

How to Create Alarms on Your HomePod

The latest ‌HomePod‌ beta software also includes new options to set up Apple's new Intercom feature, as well as the ability to select HomePods as the default home theater speakers for Apple TV.

Related Roundups: HomePod, HomePod mini 2

Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Caution), HomePod Mini (Buy Now)

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Top Rated Comments

willyx

79 months ago

The fastest way to hating a song

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Parkin Pig

79 months ago

I had a CD player with built in clock that did that in the 90s. Well done Apple - really raising the bar there!

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chucker23n1

79 months ago

Why does this require a subscription? I don't know how much storage HomePod has, but it's probably more than enough to store a single silly song.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Arran

79 months ago

The fastest way to hating a song

Good point.

Maybe use one you already hate? That would get you out of bed faster too!

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Parkin Pig

79 months ago

Jesus, for the last couple of years I've been using a Samsung S10e after having iPhones (and iPads) since the 3G, this is the first time Apple has taken my interest again with the iPhone 12 Mini - looking through these kinds of stories makes me realise how restrictive the old "eco-system" is, for no good reason. I've been using any music I like as my alarm for two years. I updated my iPhone SE a couple of days ago and today already 35 little red icons annoying me needing updates. The famed user experience of Apple seems far more of an irritant once you've been away from it!

I know. It's good to take off the rose-tinted glasses occasionally and see things as they really are.
The world's richest tech company still refers to Bluetooth as 'magic' - go figure!
Every year they launch 'our best iPhone yet' - you'd hope so, as the tagline 'not as good as last year, but we gave it our best shot' isn't going to shift units. The sales patter gets crasser and more patronising each year as they throw superlatives at a product with ever-diminishing incrementals. I still like Apple gear - I just don't upgrade until my current stuff becomes unusable.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)