Hands-On With Apple’s Intercom Feature for HomePod and HomePod Mini

With the iOS 14.2 update and the HomePod 14.2 software, Apple enabled full functionality for Intercom, a new feature that was introduced alongside the HomePod mini. Intercom is now fully functional and works across all of your devices, and we thought we’d test it out so MacRumors readers can see just how it works.

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Intercom, as the name suggests, is designed to let you use your devices as an Intercom platform to communicate with members of your household. It is designed primarily as a feature for the ‌HomePod‌ and the ‌HomePod mini‌, and to use it, you need at least one ‌HomePod‌. Intercom is managed and activated through the Home app in the Settings section, and if you want instructions on setting it up and using it, make sure to check out our how to.

With Intercom, you can use Siri to send a message to the people in your home through the ‌HomePod‌. Just say “Hey ‌Siri‌, Intercom [message]” and it will be relayed right to all of the HomePods in the household using your voice. You can use any of your devices to send an Intercom message to the ‌HomePod‌ using ‌Siri‌.

You can also use the little waveform in the top of the Home app to record and send an Intercom message instead of using ‌Siri‌, but it’s generally quicker to use ‌Siri‌ commands.

A ‌HomePod‌ is required for Intercom, but there are some neat little features that involve other devices. If you have multiple ‌HomePod‌ or ‌HomePod mini‌ devices, you can put them in different rooms and direct Intercom messages to all rooms or to specific rooms of the house.

Family members that are not at home can get the Intercom messages on other devices, with the voice memos sent to iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, CarPlay, and AirPods, so no one in the household will miss an important message.

Replying to an Intercom message is as simple as activating ‌Siri‌ and then saying “reply [message]” for the response to be relayed back to the person who sent the original message.

Intercom is a feature that Apple designed with the ‌HomePod mini‌ in mind, and it is at its most useful when multiple ‌HomePod‌ minis are in the home in different rooms allowing for hands-free room to room communication without the need to shout. Have you tried out Intercom? Let us know what you think in the comments.