Apple's HomePod is getting support for third-party music services

Support for third-party music services like Spotify, Tidal and Deezer is coming to Apple's HomePod, although we don't yet know which services will be supported. 

The move, combined with the recent drop in price for the HomePod, does make Apple's smart speaker more compelling and a competitor to the Amazon Echo Studio and Sonos One. 

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The revelation appeared in a press release as part of Apple's developer conference WWDC, which is taking place virtually at present. The paragraph under the heading 'Greater access to Apple platforms' says simply "HomePod also has a new program to integrate third-party music services". The recently-announced iOS 14 also enables you to choose different default apps for email and browsing on your iPhone and iPad, too. 

Siri should also work with Spotify on the HomePod - it has supported third-party music services on iOS and iPadOS since iOS 13. 

The move is particularly timely as the European Commission has recently announced investigations into Apple's practices prompted in part by Spotify's complaints over unfairness lodged in early 2019 - Spotify even has a whole site dedicated to its grudges with Apple.

Spotify also claims Apple rejected its proposals to have an Apple Watch app that enabled downloads in the same way the Apple Music Watch app does. 

We're still expecting Apple to launch a second-generation HomePod this year. 

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