Apple is rolling out a software update that gives your smart speaker a bit more personality. The new Sound Glow feature turns the top touch surface of your Apple HomePod into a colorful light show based on whatever music or podcast you are playing. Instead of a basic white light, the speaker now pulls two or three dominant colors from the current album artwork and bounces them across the screen. It is a simple visual change, but it brings a nice mood to a dark room and gives the speaker a fun party trick.
Turn on the ambient light effects from your device settings
You can find the new toggle inside the Home app once you update your device. The feature requires software version 27.2, which Apple has released as a release candidate for users to try. Open the Home app, long press on your HomePod icon, and scroll down to the settings menu to find the Sound Glow switch. Once enabled, the lights will activate as soon as you play a track with album art.
This ambient light is not intensely bright, but it throws a visible color cast against a nearby wall in dark spaces. It works on the second generation model, as well as the original and second generation HomePod mini models. However, the original 2018 speaker does not support this visual upgrade.
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If you want to control the lights without opening your phone, you can also use your Apple TV remote. Just long press on the remote, find the speaker menu, and click to toggle the lights on or off. This makes it incredibly easy to switch the vibe on for a gathering and then turn it back off when you want a darker room.
The Sound Glow addition shows that the company is still finding clever ways to make its audio hardware more engaging. While it might not change how your music sounds, it definitely makes the listening experience a lot more visually appealing.
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