How to transfer calls from iPhone to your HomePod

Apple’s Siri based smart speaker comes with Bluetooth 5.0 for things like proximity-based device discovery which is used during Apple’s Automatic Setup feature. While the HomePod does not work as a regular Bluetooth speaker, it can be used as a speakerphone for your iPhone which is fantastic for handsfree calls.

For starters, Siri on HomePod can’t initiate a phone call on its own.

To make a phone call, you will need to use your iPhone. After that, or you have answered an incoming call on your iPhone, you then easily hand it off to your HomePod.

This feature works for all kinds of calls, from the regular cellular phone calls that use your carrier’s voice network to FaceTime Audio calls to VoIP calls from applications that use Apple’s CallLit framework like Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook Messenger and so on.

Before we proceed, you should note that setting your HomePod access to require a password in the HomePod app means that only the primary user can transfer phone calls to the speaker.

How to transfer calls from iPhone to HomePod

To transfer a phone call from your iPhone to your HomePod and use the smart speaker as a speakerphone during the call, follow the steps below.

1. Make a call or receive a call on your iPhone,
2. During the call, tap on the Audio button in the Phone app.
3. Tap on your HomePod in the list that appears.
4. A green light will appear on the top of your HomePod as soon as the audio from the call connects to your HomePod.

So now, you can continue your phone call handsfree while using your HomePod as a speakerphone.

When done with the call, you can simply tap the top of your HomePod or tap the End Call button on your iPhone to end the call.

How to switch calls back to your iPhone

If you have already moved a phone call to your HomePod, you can easily switch its audio back to your iPhone whenever you want by following the steps below.

Tap on the Audio button on your phone and then tap on iPhone from the list that appears.

Managing multiple calls on HomePod

If another comes in, in the middle of another phone call whereby you are using your HomePod as a speakerphone, you can answer it on the speaker between multiple in-progress calls at will:

• To end the current phone call and answer a new one, tap and hold on the green light on the top of the HomePod.
• To answer an incoming phone call and put the current one on hold, tap on the green light on the HomePod top.
• To switch between calls, tap on the HomePod top.

Apple cautions that in certain situations, CDMA networks might not be able to swap or hold calls. You are advised to contact your carrier to see if these features are supported in the first place.

Wrapping Up

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to share them in the comments section below.