Your HomePod Is About to Get a Cool New Ability

Apple isn’t expected to announce a new HomePod this fall (although a HomePod mini 2 could be on the cards).

However, as spotted by beta testers of iOS 26, when Apple rolls out its next-generation operating systems, it will introduce a new feature to the HomePod and HomePod mini that you already own.

A HomePod upgrade

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Seamless song transitions

As reported by MacRumors, when Apple rolls out iOS 26, it will bring a feature called Crossfade to the HomePod and HomePod mini. It’s a simple feature that’s designed to make music transitions, when going from song to song in a playlist or album, more seamless.

In a nutshell, Crossfade overlaps the current song with the following. When a song is ending, its volume will gradually fade. At the same time, the next song’s volume will gradually increase.

The goal of Crossfade is to eliminate the silence between songs.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

With Crossfade, you’ll have the option to set the timing between one and 12 seconds; that way, you can customize how soon (or late) the overlapping of the two songs starts.

Crossfade is a feature that has been available to Apple Music subscribers who listen on their iPhones, iPads, or Macs. But, with the software update, it’s coming to the HomePod and HomePod mini for the first time.

You’ll need to be an Apple Music subscriber to enable Crossfade on HomePod.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

When’s it coming?

Apple will officially release iOS 26 this fall, likely in the first half of September, at the same time when the next-gen iPhones are announced.

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