Apple Seeds First Public Beta Of Homepod Software 16 Here S How To Get It

Apple is seeding the first public beta of HomePod Software 16 for the HomePod mini. While OG HomePod owners won’t be able to try the beta version now, the software will be available later this fall to all Apple smart speakers owners. This release comes alongside the revised build of iOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura, and the public beta versions of all the upcoming operating systems Apple is readying for later this fall.

To install HomePod Software 16 public beta, users need a HomePod mini and either an iPhone or iPad running iOS 16 or iPadOS 16. From your device of choice, go to the Home App > Home Settings > Software Update > HomePod Beta Updates and enroll the HomePod mini you want on the Beta program.

Your HomePod mini will automatically receive the latest public beta software if you have Automatically Update turned on in the Software Updates settings. To manually check for updates, go to Home App > Home Settings > Software Update. You can learn how to enroll your iPhone on iOS 16 here.

As of now, it’s unclear what HomePod Software 16 public beta brings. Although it’s a modified version of tvOS 16, the new features available to the Apple TV will not be available to your HomePod.

Here are tvOS 16 top features coming to Apple TVs later this fall:

There are a few reasons why Apple is making HomePod Software 16 public beta available only for the mini models as the original HomePod got discontinued last year. One of which is that it’s easier to restore your HomePod mini if anything goes wrong, while if you brick your original HomePod, well, you’re out of luck.