HomePod is a smart speaker that’s designed to work best with Apple Music. But it runs Siri and it can do things like reading and replying to messages, take notes, add reminders and more. But right now, HomePod doesn’t have any sort of Voice ID technology. So anyone in your house can just walk up to it (when your iPhone is on the same network) and reply to the latest message or add a reminder to your list. That’s a huge breach of your privacy.
This functionality is based on the Personal Requests feature. And if you didn’t follow our HomePod set up guide and just rushed through the setup process, you’ve likely got this feature enabled. If you don’t live alone, you should turn this feature off as soon as possible.
Read more: HomePod FAQ: Everything You Need to Know
How to Turn Off Personal Requests Feature
HomePod settings are in the Home app and getting there is not exactly straightforward. If you haven’t yet set up your HomePod, tap on Not Now when you get to the Personal Requests page.
Step 1: Open the Home app on the iPhone or iPad you used for setting up the HomePod.
Step 2: Tap on the Add Home button in the top right. It looks like a little location icon.
Step 3: Tap on your Profile picture.
Step 4: Tap on Personal Requests.
Step 5: Tap on the toggle next to Personal Requests option to turn the feature off.
If you don’t want to disable the feature but you want to add an extra layer of authentication, tap on the For Secure Requests option. The next time you want to reply to a message from HomePod, it will require an authentication from your iOS device.
Read more: Top 10 HomePod Features
What Do You Think of The HomePod?
What do you think of Apple’s $349 wireless smart speaker? Do you think it’s great for what it is or that Amazon Echo and Google Assistant are way better? Share with us in the comments below.
