Where Does Homepod stream Itunes Music Library From?
Over the weekend I have discovered some thing interested about the Homepod. When you ask Siri on the Homepod to play my music library it is not clear which device if in fact it is actually play from an iOS device or a Mac on the home network it is playing from.
When I asked Siri to play my music library, I assuming it was streaming the content from my iPhone. However, my iPhone was turned off, so I then assumed it was play from my Ipad, but it did not seem to play from there as well, so I thought it was using the wife's iPhone, but Homepod was playing a song which was only on my iPhone and not on her iPhone nor my iPad. So I thought it might be playing from my Mac in the home office since it had a complete catalog of all my music. The problem with this the mac was asleep and ITunes was not up and running.
The other thing we noticed when you asked Siri to play the library, the only way to control the volume is to ask Siri to turn it up or down, you can not use any of the iOS devices to change the volume like you can if you play the music on your iOS device and then air playing it to the Homepod. Lastly, the only way to find out what is playing on the Homepod, you need to swipe up from the bottom to get the control center tap on the music icon and then it will show Audio controls for your iOS device and the air play list of devices but another indicator comes up and show the song playing on the Homepod, but you can change the volume.
The question is, where is the Homepod getting the music it is streaming and playing. I did read somewhere the Homepod will sync the playlist as all your other iOS devices via the icloud account. However, I do not have the Homepod locked to my iPhone. At this point I am suspecting the Homepod knows the songs I have on my iPhone, but it is actually streaming them from Apple own servers. Reason I believe this is I know a few of my songs which I ripped from CD were on crappy side, the volume was lower than the balance of the songs so they do not play as loud as other songs, but all the songs on the Homepod play at a constant volume level. According to apple it looks as your library and any songs you bought from apple will be automatically available to play on the homepod.
Also, do not have iCloud Music Library, or ITunes Match, or Apple Music.
When I asked Siri to play my music library, I assuming it was streaming the content from my iPhone. However, my iPhone was turned off, so I then assumed it was play from my Ipad, but it did not seem to play from there as well, so I thought it was using the wife's iPhone, but Homepod was playing a song which was only on my iPhone and not on her iPhone nor my iPad. So I thought it might be playing from my Mac in the home office since it had a complete catalog of all my music. The problem with this the mac was asleep and ITunes was not up and running.
The other thing we noticed when you asked Siri to play the library, the only way to control the volume is to ask Siri to turn it up or down, you can not use any of the iOS devices to change the volume like you can if you play the music on your iOS device and then air playing it to the Homepod. Lastly, the only way to find out what is playing on the Homepod, you need to swipe up from the bottom to get the control center tap on the music icon and then it will show Audio controls for your iOS device and the air play list of devices but another indicator comes up and show the song playing on the Homepod, but you can change the volume.
The question is, where is the Homepod getting the music it is streaming and playing. I did read somewhere the Homepod will sync the playlist as all your other iOS devices via the icloud account. However, I do not have the Homepod locked to my iPhone. At this point I am suspecting the Homepod knows the songs I have on my iPhone, but it is actually streaming them from Apple own servers. Reason I believe this is I know a few of my songs which I ripped from CD were on crappy side, the volume was lower than the balance of the songs so they do not play as loud as other songs, but all the songs on the Homepod play at a constant volume level. According to apple it looks as your library and any songs you bought from apple will be automatically available to play on the homepod.
Also, do not have iCloud Music Library, or ITunes Match, or Apple Music.