How to know if you're streaming or directly controlling a HomePod

Apple's media players, accessible via the Control Center, let you see and choose how you're sending audio.

- GLENN FLEISHMAN

If you want to use your iPhone or iPad to handle audio playback from your device or to other devices that are part of the Apple ecosystem (like an Apple TV, HomePod, or HomePod mini) or that support AirPlay for streaming, Apple provides control through a media player. You find and swap among sources through the Control Center and within audio-playback apps. However, as Apple has made the player richer, it's also made it more complicated to understand what's going on.

In particular, it can be hard to figure out whether you're streaming media from your iPhone or iPad to a device or you're controlling a device so that it is streaming directly from a library on the local network or over the Internet.