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How to Turn Off HomePod Mini Proximity Notifications and Vibrations on iPhone

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Apr 12, 2001
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With the launch of iOS 14.4, Apple added a new feature for the HomePod mini that's designed to provide haptic feedback when your iPhone 11 or 12 is near the speaker to facilitate the simpler handing off of songs from one device to another.

HomePod-mini-iOS-14.4-feature.jpg

When moving your iPhone closer to a HomePod mini after installing the iOS 14.4 update, the iPhone vibrates quicker and quicker as it gets closer to the speaker, and HomePod mini controls pop up on the screen. If you happen to keep your HomePod mini on a desk or another location where it's often close to your iPhone, the proximity notifications can get frustrating fast.

If you've run into this problem and want the popups and vibrations to stop, follow these directions:
  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap on "General."
    homepod-mini-handoff-settings.jpg
  3. Tap on "AirPlay & Handoff."
  4. Toggle off "Transfer to HomePod."
    disable-homepod-transfer.jpg
With this feature, your iPhone will no longer attempt to transfer music or media to your HomePod mini when it's near the speaker, preventing the haptic feedback and song transfer interface from showing up. The haptic vibrations and transfer features are limited to the HomePod mini and the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models, but the option can also be disabled on other iPhones to prevent the standard transfer interface from coming up.

Article Link: How to Turn Off HomePod Mini Proximity Notifications and Vibrations on iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/turn-off-homepod-mini-proximity-notifications/
this was the feature is expected to use the least when I bought my HomePod mini. It’s actually quite nice.
 
I bought a HomePod mini before the new 14.4 updates and had to return it because it was so slow and unintuitive compared to my regular bluetooth speakers. I then bought another last week hoping the new updates would make it better, and it's even more clunky and slow. I'm hoping they continue to improve it because in theory it's a great device, although it may just me be
 
For some reason Handoff stopped working after 14.4 update. I don’t even have a notification when my phone gets near the Homepod mini, let alone any kind of vibration (the “handoff” on my phone is on). Does anyone else have the same issue?
 
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My 12 Mini kind of worked with Handoff. It was so slow to work, but it eventually would. It never did work with the 12 Pro Max. That’s even after going through every bloody suggestion on the Apple Community thread about it, except deleting the entire Home and starting over because WTF kind of solution is that?


Fortunately we paid $15 for the HomePod mini, but it went right back. Being an unwilling beta tester is not my thing.
 
I like how, with iOS 14, Apple is releasing, step by step, new features on each update, instead of cramming all of them into the release build like they did with previous releases (we all remember the disaster of iOS 13 on its launch). This way they can keep polishing the operating system while they add, slowly, some of the remaining features along the year.
 
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This feature makes no sense and is so frustrating. This is Apple adding something just because they can. The old behavior was fine for handing off. Can anyone explain how this is supposed to be useful?
 
This might sound like a stupid/insane question, but is anyone using a HomePod (mini or otherwise) without Siri? I like the idea of a good AirPlay speaker but my wife and I just don't particularly care to have Siri on all the time.
 
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ignatius345 said:
This might sound like a stupid/insane question, but is anyone using a HomePod (mini or otherwise) without Siri? I like the idea of a good AirPlay speaker but my wife and I just don't particularly care to have Siri on all the time.
Click to expand...
I asked something similar in the past. Some said ”if you don’t want a smartspeaker why are you buying a smartspeaker?”, but there was a useful answer among all of them. Someone told me: “You just ask Siri to stop listening”. I hope this answers your question.
 
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Populus said:
I asked something similar in the past. Some said ”if you don’t want a smartspeaker why are you buying a smartspeaker?”, but there was a useful answer among all of them. Someone told me: “You just ask Siri to stop listening”. I hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...
On the other hand why do you buy an apple smartspeaker if you don’t want Siri?
 
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I cannot get intercom via Siri to work with both my wife and my phones. Works great on mine yet it only works hitting the HomeKit button for my wife’s phone. And it will not connect with her Series 6 watch at all. All devices are updated.

I don’t know if it’s the update but something is not working properly.
 
I must say I have found this transfer just bringing phone close to HomePod can be irritating - more often causing unintended transfer than not - so have turned that feature off. I find transfer by means of Airplay using control centre much more effective.
 
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Romeo_Nightfall said:
On the other hand why do you buy an apple smartspeaker if you don’t want Siri?
Click to expand...
Never said I wanted a "smart" speaker. I do, however, want a high quality speaker with AirPlay and good integration with other Apple products. Since Apple doesn't make one, I asked this question.
 
Populus said:
I asked something similar in the past. Some said ”if you don’t want a smartspeaker why are you buying a smartspeaker?”, but there was a useful answer among all of them. Someone told me: “You just ask Siri to stop listening”. I hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, thanks! Just wanted to confirm that it won't just refuse to function without Siri active.
 
Last edited:
Good tip. Stupid feature. Have my mini on my desk and was battling this. The even worse part of the feature is that it BLURS THE SCREEN too. Stupid. I try to read emails, surf, text.. resting the phone on my desk and get constant interruptions from the F’ing mini. Really bad.
 
  • Disagree
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ignatius345 said:
This might sound like a stupid/insane question, but is anyone using a HomePod (mini or otherwise) without Siri? I like the idea of a good AirPlay speaker but my wife and I just don't particularly care to have Siri on all the time.
Click to expand...
I have Siri listening mode turned off on both Home Pod and Home Pod mini as it used to play music or said something randomly. However I use Siri on my iPhone and Mac frequently.
 
zachz said:
I bought a HomePod mini before the new 14.4 updates and had to return it because it was so slow and unintuitive compared to my regular bluetooth speakers. I then bought another last week hoping the new updates would make it better, and it's even more clunky and slow. I'm hoping they continue to improve it because in theory it's a great device, although it may just me be
Click to expand...
I also didn’t like the usability prior to 14.4 and didn’t really like the mini, but now find it much more intuitive and love the mini, my issue now is consistency, the vibrate feature is a bit hit and miss, I’m hoping further updates will improve.
 
Alexander_im said:
For some reason Handoff stopped working after 14.4 update. I don’t even have a notification when my phone gets near the Homepod mini, let alone any kind of vibration (the “handoff” on my phone is on). Does anyone else have the same issue?
Click to expand...
I have this intermittently (probably 30% of the time) I haven’t noticed a pattern to when or why, I hope a future update will improve. Sorry if this is patronising but have you updated the HomePod as well as the iPhone?
 
ignatius345 said:
This might sound like a stupid/insane question, but is anyone using a HomePod (mini or otherwise) without Siri? I like the idea of a good AirPlay speaker but my wife and I just don't particularly care to have Siri on all the time.
Click to expand...
We have a few homepods and minis around and generally use Siri on them, but the one in my study is used exclusively as a speaker for my iMac. I haven’t actually turned Siri off on it (although it is just a case of toggling a switch in settings to turn off “listen for hey Siri).

As a plain Bluetooth speaker it was obviously expensive, but it sounds great and has been very reliable).
 
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