Ever play music or talk to Siri on your HomePod only to be blown away by the volume, and not in a good way? Me too, but there’s an automation that can help.

HomePod issue

HomePod has two characteristics that make this automation useful for me.

First, Apple’s smart speaker has a remarkably long memory of what it played last and how loud it played. Tap the top of the HomePod after a week without use and it will blast you with the last played track.

That tap behavior is the other thing. You can disable “Hey Siri” voice control, but you can’t set a HomePod to ignore touch input. This can result in unexpected loud music when you bump the top dusting or when your toddler learns what that button does.

Volume fix

New features added in iOS 13 introduce a useful workaround. You still can’t set your HomePod to ignore touch input, but you can automate how loud it plays.

A similar feature supported by Amazon Echo smart speakers motivated me to find the same behavior for HomePods.

Apple’s Home app lets you automatically set AirPlay 2 speaker volumes at specific levels based on triggers like time or location.

Each night at midnight, the volume on my HomePod resets to 30% so it’s not too loud (or too quiet) the next time I use it.

You can choose your own schedule and volume.

Automate HomePod volume

Start by creating an automation in the Home app on iOS 13 or macOS Catalina for when a time of day occurs.

Choose your time and schedule, then proceed to select AirPlay 2 speakers in your Home app. Finally, look for the Media section and click Audio, then select Adjust Volume Only and set your custom volume on the slider.

Save your automation, then enjoy the quality of life improvement from your HomePod and other AirPlay 2 speakers consistently starting each day with a reasonable volume. Know someone else with HomePods? Share this tip to teach them how to automate HomePod volume too!

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