Learn how to turn on the song transitions feature on your HomePod speaker for seamless transitions between Apple Music songs with no gaps or silence in between.
Apple Music supports two types of song transitions so you get seamless transitions between songs instead of gaps of silence:
- Crossfade: You get to decide the duration between two tracks.
- AutoMix: It’s the newer DJ-like feature that takes you from one song to another automatically based on what it thinks ensures the best transition effect.
You can learn more about both in our linked guides for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Before you enable AutoMix or Crossfade on your HomePod, make sure it’s updated to the latest software version.
Turn on Apple Music song transitions on HomePod
1) Open the Home app on your iPhone.
2) Tap the three-dot menu in the top-left corner and choose Home Settings.
3) Select a HomePod user in the People section.
4) Tap Apple Music under Connected Media.
5) Tap Song Transitions. On older versions, you’ll see the Crossfade option here; no AutoMix.
6) Turn on Song Transitions and select AutoMix or Crossfade.
If you select Crossfade, adjust its duration as needed. With this setting on, your HomePod or HomePod mini will seamlessly transition from one song to another by gradually lowering the ending song’s volume while raising the upcoming song’s volume, mixing them to create a smooth transition without any audio gaps between tracks.
Crossfade not working on HomePod? Read this.
Some caveats apply.
First and foremost, the crossfade option on the HomePod works when you play Apple Music songs directly from the speaker itself. It doesn’t work when AirPlaying music from another device to the speaker or if you request music from another music service.
Also, crossfade won’t work when you play an album in order. However, shuffle-playing an album will trigger crossfade.
You may not see the crossfade option in the Home app if you link two HomePod speakers in a stereo-like configuration set as the default Apple TV audio output, but one of them is the original HomePod that doesn’t support crossfade. In that case, ungroup them and remove any incompatible speakers from the Home app.
Also, check out: How to turn on the new Sound Glow feature on HomePod