How to link two HomePod speakers to create a stereo pair

Learn how to pair two HomePod or two HomePod mini speakers, creating a stereo pair that provides a better home theatre audio experience.

A HomePod speaker is selected in Apple's Home app with the contextual menu visible

Can two HomePods be paired together?

Yes, Apple permits you to pair two HomePod or HomePod mini speakers to create a stereo-like configuration to boost your home theatre audio experience. What you can’t do is mix two different speakers like a HomePod and a HomePod mini to create a stereo pair. Read: How to change the default HomePod music service

Apple’s computational audio is intelligent enough to take advantage of a HomePod stereo pair to create left and right audio channels. Suddenly, your soundstage when experiencing multi-channel Dolby audio becomes more immersive as the algorithm knows where your HomePods are and how close to each other.

How to create a HomePod stereo pair

Choosing another HomePod when creating a stereo pair in Apple's Home app
Both HomePods must be assigned to the same room in the Home app.

With two HomePods or two HomePod minis plugged into power, choose the option to create a stereo pair in either speaker’s settings in the Home app.

  1. In the Home app, touch and hold (iOS) or right-click (macOS) a HomePod.
  2. At the bottom, hit the settings cogwheel.
  3. Choose “Create Stereo Pair” in the HomePod settings and follow the instructions.

There’s nothing left to do as the pairing process is pretty straightforward. After a few seconds, you should see a new HomePod stereo pair in the Home app. Be sure that both of your HomePods are assigned to the same room in the Home app or the pairing process could fail. Read: How to find a HomePod serial number

How to unlink a HomePod stereo pair

Configuration progress when creating a HomePod stereo pair in Apple's Home app
An icon with two HomePods denotes a stereo pair.

To unlink a HomePod stereo pair, chose the option to ungroup accessories in your HomePod settings in the Home app.

  1. In the Home app, touch and hold (iOS) or right-click (macOS) a HomePod.
  2. At the bottom, hit the settings cogwheel.
  3. Choose “Ungroup Accessories.”

When you unlink a HomePod stereo pair, both speakers will appear as separate icons in the Home app. You can then change the settings of each HomePod as you normally would, or create a stereo pair again in the future if you like.

How to configure each paired HomePod separately

You don’t have to unlink a stereo pair to change settings for each speaker. Instead, choose Speakers in the settings for your stereo pair in the Home app, then touch and hold a speaker to open its settings interface. In the Home app on your iOS or iPadOS device, touch and hold the HomePod pair.

  1. In the Home app, touch and hold (iOS) or right-click (macOS) a HomePod.
  2. At the bottom, hit the settings cogwheel.
  3. Choose the option labeled “Speakers.”
  4. Touch or click and hold either HomePod to open its settings.

You can now ] rename your speaker, choose a room it’s in, assign HomeKit scenes to it, access analytics and see information such as the serial number, the Wi-Fi network it’s connected to and more.

Keep in mind that many individual HomePod settings are unavailable when two speakers are paired in a stereo configuration. To change those, you’ll need to unlink your HomePod stereo pair. Read: How to use AirPods in mono audio mode

How to identify left and right HomePod and swap channels

Identifying left and right channel in a HomePod stereo pair using Apple's Home app
Touch the yellow icon to swap the speakers or either HomePod to confirm that it’s assigned to the correct channel.

Access the audio settings for your HomePod pair in the Home app to identify left and right HomePod as well as swap channel assignments.

  1. In the Home app, touch and hold (iOS) or right-click (macOS) a HomePod.
  2. At the bottom, hit the settings cogwheel.
  3. Choose “Audio Settings.”

You can now identify which HomePod is assigned to the left stereo channel and which one acts as the right channel. To do so, just touch either the left or right HomePod icon and the corresponding speaker will play a tone.

If the speakers are incorrectly assigned to the left and right stereo channels, hit the orange arrows between the two HomePod icons to swap the channels.

To double-check everything is OK now, touch a HomePod icon to identify the speaker. We also suggest giving your HomePods custom names to make it easier to distinguish between them when they’re in a stereo pair configuration.

HomePod stereo pairs and your Apple TV

If you create a stereo pair from two full-size HomePods, be sure to set it as the default audio output on your Apple TV 4K. You can do this by venturing into Settings → Video and Audio on your Apple TV 4K, then choose “Audio Output.” Now select your HomePod stereo pair, your Apple TV 4K will use the speakers and computational audio algorithms for home cinema surround sound-like sound.

This only works with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital 7.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio sources when two full-size HomePods in a stereo configuration are set as the default sound output on your Apple TV 4K.

Apple notes in a support document that this feature doesn’t work on the Apple TV HD model. Another thing to keep in mind: You can’t create a home theater experience with two $99 HomePod mini speakers because the HomePod mini lacks support for Dolby audio formats.

On the plus side, you can even use a single HomePod to create a home theatre experience although a stereo pair works and sounds much better.