It looks like YouTube Music integration will finally be coming to your Apple HomePod and Apple HomePod Mini, according to code found by @aaronp613 in the YouTube Music app. The downside is, there's no indication of when we'll be getting it.
Apple leaker @aaronp613 tweeted a screenshot of a section of the YouTube Music app's code that is labeled 'connect with homepod', suggesting integration with the Apple HomePod might be on its way to us all soon.
Making YouTube Music your default
Integration of YouTube Music with both Apple's Siri and HomePod is a long time coming. Several music services have been available through the Apple HomePod over the past few years already, like Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn Radio, among others.
However, even though Apple has granted third-party developers the option to add this sort of native support since iOS 14, you won't find every music service offers slick integration with the Apple HomePod. (We're looking at you, Spotify.)
The benefit of having a third-party service as an integrated, default option in this way means that whenever you ask Siri to play something it'll play it directly from that service unless you instruct it not to. That's good news for Google and YouTube Music, as it means that it might become the first streaming port of call for more Apple HomePod users over time.
This integration would make sense and be the latest in a string of new developments from YouTube Music that could help the streaming service compete with several of its biggest rivals. For example, earlier in the year, Google brought podcasts to its music streamer, adding a new library of content all helpfully included in one app. In this way, it's offering up a similar all-in-one destination to the most popular streaming, Spotify.
