How to Install the audioOS 27 Beta on HomePod

HomePod software (officially audioOS) is the quiet member of Apple's beta family: it shares its foundation and build numbers with tvOS, updates through the Home app, and mostly just works. The reason to run its beta is Siri — voice features ship here early, and audioOS 27 carries the new Siri architecture.

The trade-off: a beta smart speaker affects everyone at home, and there's no downgrade. Here's how to enroll a HomePod deliberately, and how to keep one speaker stable if you have several.

What you'll need

Step-by-step

1. 1Open the Home app's HomePod settings

   In the Home app on iPhone/iPad, long-press your HomePod tile, scroll down and open the gear icon, then find Software Update.

2. 2Enable beta updates for this HomePod

   Inside Software Update, toggle beta updates on. The option appears only when the home owner's Apple Account is enrolled in the beta program. Stereo pairs enroll together.

3. 3Install audioOS 27

   The beta build appears as an available update — start it and leave the speaker powered. The status light pulses white during the update; 15–30 minutes is typical.

4. 4Give Siri a test round

   Music request, timer, one smart-home command and an intercom message — the four things a family actually notices. If all four work, your beta HomePod is in good shape.

After installing

Future betas install automatically overnight while the toggle stays on. If you'd rather approve them manually, turn off automatic updates in the same Software Update screen and trigger each build yourself.

Troubleshooting

Before You Start: What This Actually Involves

There is no profile to download and no file to find. Apple removed configuration profiles from the beta process in iOS 16.4, and audioOS 27 is enrolled through your Apple Account instead — you sign in once in a browser, then pick the channel on the device itself. Anything offering you a "audioOS 27 beta profile" download is offering something that has not existed for years, and our piece on those files explains what they usually contain instead.

Enrolment is free on both channels. The developer channel receives each build first; the public channel gets a later, more settled build two to three weeks behind. On a device you depend on, that lag is a benefit rather than a cost — the builds carrying the serious regressions have already been replaced by the time the public channel sees them.

Can Your Device Run audioOS 27?

Being on the compatibility list and getting every feature are two different questions. Apple Intelligence in particular is gated well above the compatibility floor. A device can be fully supported and still show none of it.

Our compatibility checker answers both questions for your exact model in one step. If your model has reached its last version, staying current on that version is a supported position rather than a dead end.

Getting Back Out

Turning off Beta Updates stops new builds but leaves you on the one you have until the finished release overtakes it. To go back sooner you need a recovery-mode restore from a signed IPSW, which erases the device — so the archived backup you make before installing is the only route back with your data. An iCloud backup taken on the beta cannot be restored onto the older version.

Our guide to leaving the beta program covers every device, and the backup guide explains the difference between a backup that works as an escape route and one that does not. If you would rather wait, the release candidate in early September is the lowest-risk point in the whole cycle — see what that means.

Frequently asked questions

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