Submitted by Fred Straker on
It may be a rare occurrence, but the HomePod and HomePod mini can freeze up and become unresponsive to any input. When this happens, there is no reset button to press or power switch to toggle. Luckily, there are ways to power cycle the HomePod without losing any settings or data in the process.
Rebooting the HomePod or HomePod mini lets the operating system start fresh, much like restarting your iPhone or rebooting a computer. After all, the HomePod has an Apple A8 chip on board, while the HomePod mini sports the S5 processor from Apple Watch. Both HomePod models run a variant of tvOS, which itself is derived from iOS.
Follow these steps to restart your HomePod or HomePod mini. You must be logged into the same iCloud account as the HomePod:
- Launch the Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac
- Make sure your iPhone is within Bluetooth range of the HomePod
- Tap and hold or select the HomePod to restart
- Choose Settings (gear icon)
- Scroll down and tap Reset HomePod
- Tap Restart HomePod
Of course, if all else fails you can unplug the HomePod from its power source. Wait at least ten seconds then plug it back in. The HomePod will reboot and the device should preserve your settings and configuration options.