Apple's HomePod 27.2 software brings Sound Glow, a light effect that debuted on the HomePod mini 2, to the second-generation HomePod and the original HomePod mini.
The update is available now as a release candidate (a near-final build) for developers and public beta testers. It should ship next week. Once it is installed, users can switch Sound Glow on in the HomePod settings. Anyone whose speakers are paired with an Apple TV can also toggle it from the Apple TV Control Center.
Sound Glow lights the top of the speaker with color that pulses in time with whatever is playing. It draws its palette from album artwork, and it works with songs, podcasts, Apple's ambient music feature, and other audio.
The change is small and purely visual. It adds no new audio capability, only a different way for the speaker to look while it plays.
Still, the rollout changes how the feature should be read. Apple introduced Sound Glow as a HomePod mini 2 feature, and a new speaker's signature trick is no longer exclusive to it. Owners of the two older models get it through a software update at no cost, and they get a second way to control it through the Apple TV.
The cutoff is the original HomePod. Of the models named in this update, it is the only one that does not get Sound Glow.