HomePod Owners Will Soon Be Able to Set Songs From Apple Music as Alarms - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

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

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 MacRumors 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.

apple music alarms homepod beta
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.

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

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 yellow

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for iOS 26.4

Wednesday March 18, 2026 11:56 am PDT by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes, giving us final details on what's included in the update. Apple Music - Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your...

Top Rated Comments

71 months ago
The fastest way to hating a song
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Parkin Pig Avatar
71 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 Avatar
71 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 Avatar
71 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 Avatar
71 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)
matrix07 Avatar
71 months ago

I've been using any music I like as my alarm for two years.
As do I since iPhone 4. This topic is about HomePod.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Airtag | Best Ipad To Buy | Apple Command Center | Apple Watch Live Activities Fix | Anker Solix C1000 Gen 2