The Siri live radio feature that was announced during the June 3 WWDC 2019 keynote is now being quietly rolled out across HomePod, iPhone and iPad ahead of iOS 13’s launch this fall.
As noted by Macerkopf, a dozen German radio stations are now available across iOS 13-powered HomePod, iPhone and iPad with Siri live radio. iOS 13 lets Siri access more than 100,000 radio stations sourced from the likes of iHeartRadio, radio.com and TuneIn.
Apple appears to be testing the feature in select markets because many people who are on the iOS 13 beta report being unable to listen to live radio stations on their HomePod while a few others claimed to have done so while running iOS 12.3.1. Other people were able to surface these radio stations under the Radio tab in the Music app, where Apple’s Beats 1 Radio lives.
Just be careful not to confuse this handy feature with hundreds of existing Internet radio stations that have been available in iTunes and on the Music app for years now alongside the algorithmically-powered radio stations that are automatically created when you ask Siri to play more songs like this.
To use the feature, simply ask Siri to play this or that radio station.
The chosen radio station should begin playing in the background momentarily. All live radio content is served through the Music app so you can use native volume controls on the Lock screen, in the AirPlay menus, on the Now Playing screen in the Music app and so forth. Additionally, you can search for stations by name in the Music app’s Search tab.
This is an extension of the Siri live tune-in feature that launched on Apple TV in April 2016, letting one use their voice to tune in to live broadcasts in supported tvOS streaming apps, like CNN, CBS, ESPNA and more. The live tune-in feature is currently supported in 8 countries.
TUTORIAL: How to use Siri live tune-in on your Apple TV
The iOS 13 update will also let the Siri-powered speaker distinguish voices from anyone in the home (with support for six different voice profiles) to deliver personalized services to each HomePod user, including stuff like messages, music and other supported apps that are managed by the Personal Requests feature.
TUTORIAL: Managing Personal Requests for Siri on HomePod
The new HomePod software, releasing in the fall alongside iOS 13, iPadOS, watchOS 6 and macOS Catalina 10.15, also brings Hand Off for music, podcasts and phone calls, as well as a sleep timer that turns off music after a set amount of time.
Are you excited about Siri live radio?
Let us know by leaving a comment below.