One of the major gripes with HomePod users is that they couldn’t set Spotify or other third-party services as default. Thankfully Apple has addressed the shortcoming and HomePod now lets you change default services across different categories.

Until now, HomePod users had to mention the name of the music streaming service every time you played a song. For instance, you had to ask Siri to play a particular song/playlist on Spotify. Meanwhile, HomePod would play the song by default on Apple Music thus making it easier for the users.

Apple is offering HomePod customers a great deal of control. On iOS 14, HomePod users can set default apps for each service. For instance, you will be able to set a default app for podcasts or audiobooks. The feature is called “Primary Service” and will allow each user profile to set the default app for each service.

That said, the feature will only work if developers have added support to third-party apps. iOS 14 is in beta and that means we have to wait until this fall to use this feature. On a related note, iOS 14 is likely to release for the public this fall while the public beta version is oncoming sometime this month. Last month, Apple had announced support for third-party products on Find My App and third-party mail and browser app support on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.

Our Take

It is not fair for companies to force users to use their choice of product. Previously, Apple has been fined for anti-competitive practices. In the recent past, Apple is opening up its ecosystem for third-party apps/services and we only hope that this continues in the future. Lastly, HomePod users can rejoice as they can soon choose the default app for each category.