Siri needs work. I know that. But for very simple things, Siri on my HomePod has been near flawless.
The HomePod not been without a couple of oddities. Twice I heard a loud <pop> and thought something bad happened, but no. On one occasion, Siri refused to acknowledge a command several times. Then I used the Home app to execute, and after that Siri behaved normally.
Something I do a lot is talk to Siri as quietly as possible to test its hearing. It's very impressive that Siri hears me talking quietly or normally with the music loud, or hear me from a distance that leaves Alexa mute. I want two more – one for the bedroom (or a mini HomePod) and another to make a stereo pair for the living room.
I still have a lot to learn to fully utilize the HomePod, but at $249, I consider it a very worthwhile purchase that will only get better. Something that would put the HomePod way over the top of Echo devices would be the ability to summon the internet radio stations Alexa can. Or spirits from the other side.
but you're stuck with Apple's own cable as that's hard-wired into the HomePod.
It is removable, but not for the faint of heart. You're stuck because it's a proprietary connector. If that's what's meant by the use of 'hard-wire' then never mind.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Nope, it’s free. No cost associated. I’ll check it closer in the morning.
So we can share one Photo library and also share one iCloud Drive. I don't think that we're the only ones with this requirement and this solution. However, I certainly agree that it brings problems in other areas.
You can minimize this problem with just a little discipline. The shared Apple ID should ONLY be used for iTunes/Photo library. Then each of you have an individual Apple ID for mail, sync, basically everything else.
Is there any way to prevent my iphone from also responding when talk to homepod? They don't know from each-other what timers have been set, so I frequently cancel a timer because my phone is in the room or my phone suddenly responds with 'there is no timer' or conversations get broken up due to one device responding slower then the other..Or I want to call someone using siri and my homepod is the only one to respond even though my phone is in front of me and even unlocked...All feels really dumb.
One thing that I'd like to see Apple do with the HomePod is to make the power cord retractable (and lockable at whatever length desired). The cylindrical design seems like it would lend itself perfectly to having a power cord that retracts into a reel in the base so only as much power cord as absolutely needed is exposed. I love having the HomePod on my kitchen countertop, but the big wad of power cord is rather unsightly and often inspires stink-eye from my spouse. It's not like retractable power cords haven't been a thing for decades in other home appliances for many decades. If anyone can come up with an aesthetically pleasing and reliable solution you'd think it would be Apple. These are the kind of attention-to-detail features that separate good products from awesome products. C'mon Apple, show us what you've got.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
we have 6 HomePods and it feel like Siri is still in beta. When I want to bypass Siri and get actual concrete results, I can set alarms in the Home app and I can see which music to play in the Music app (as long as I go through a two minute dig and tap routine every time I launch Music). To really use Siri on HomePod to listen to music, you have to have Apple Music. Having an extensive iTunes collection and Music Match isn't good enough and becomes very difficult to manage. When the HomePods haven't been rebooted for 30 days or so, they begin to require us to say everything twice, and they begin to get less accurate. "Hey Siri, Next Track. [wait a couple of seconds] Hey Siri, Next Track" will make it go to the next song most of the time, but about 20% of the time it responds with something from left field like "Who do you want to send it to" or the like. Since there is no reboot command anywhere that I can find, we have resorted to plugging all of the HomePods into HomeKit enabled smart plugs so we can turn them off and on to reboot them. Once they are rebooted they work like magic again for 20 to 30 days until they start getting confused again. Apple really needs to give us a dedicated HomePod app that can play music on the HomePods, monkey with settings like alarms and timers, offer to update the software when needed, and give us a manual way to reset them. Here's hoping that we'll get that with updates this year...
I decided to have a go at some very rudimentary home automation. An echo dot was $15, and I got some wemo smart plugs on sale for like $10. The latter are compatible with home kit, but Siri is far less reliable than Alexa. When asking Siri to do things from my Apple Watch, i get 30s of nothing. I repeat 3-4 times, and it usually just sort of gives up. The only place Siri works well is in CarPlay, where hands free is quite helpful. Siri's sole use on Apple TV is "what did he say?" I'm just not buying any more Siri crap. I would consider a HomePod...if it came with a lifetime Apple Music subscription for free on that device. And that isn't ever happening.
Siri works great on the Home Pod. I was amazed at how well actually. First she hears really well even while music is playing and I’m in another room. She seems to understand me better than on some other devices. She also is really good at knowing when to respond via the Hope Pod as opposed to my phone.
I also get a lot of use using her on the home pod. I use her to make calls. Set a timer while cooking, tell me the weather, tell me things like when did a particular album come out, tell me a joke, play music, and the list goes on. She is actually getting a lot better at telling me things like where is the closest pizza place or who won best actor in 2006. I also use her with my Apple TV.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Notice This document has been removed from Scribd.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid...byon Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Please tell me HomePods will seamlessly work with my ATV/TV? Where all I need is my Apple TV remote!
I.e., replacing my crappy sound bar and it's crappy remote!
And, how do I turn my TV on and off with my Apple remote so I can get rid of my crappy TV's remote?
Best.
personally as a homePod owner, I think they do much better with music than dialogue as they are tuned to pressurize a lot of bass energy and diffuse sound throughout a room. i sometimes use my my homePod in the kitchen for podcasts and have used it for television audio (it’s in the adjacent room) but i find i miss dialogue (but i am middle-aged and have some high frequency hearing loss).
the advantage of a true 5.1 or 7.1 home media system is that you get localization of sound which is important for multimedia soundtracks and is not as important for music reproduction as other things.
and yes i listen to vinyl and have a stereo as well. everything needs it’s own solution. and love my airpods too.
i would be interested to get other opinions about using homepods as a multimedia sound source but personally i feel they need to be used for music and should be solitary animals.
If anyone is considering buying one, do yourself a huge huge favor and don't bother.
It doesn't even work reliably as an airplay speaker. It doesn't show up as a connecting device 1/4 of the time, and even then, it regularly drops the connection then disappears as a connecting option.
The only thing it has done reliably is relay homekit commands. But then again, siri not only sucks (eg only one command at at time: hey siri, turn the hallway lights white, [pause] hey siri, turn the hallway lights to 50%, [pause] hey siri...), but siri continues to be incredibly obnoxious with her very limited 'personality' (every time.. siri has to say some crap like "the scene is set" or "home sweet home" or something obnoxious about going to bed when I set my "goodnight" scene. It's intrusive and annoying. At least half the time I just use my iphone for homekit commands to avoid having to deal with siri on homepod.
Also, homepod does not work well if it's anywhere near a TV. You'd think it could tell the difference between your voice and the TV. But not really.
I gave up on using it for direct music playing a long time ago. Just no way to control it effectively, and that's assuming it can even find what you're looking for (if it's remotely obscure, there's no way, even if I'm looking at the apple music app and dictating the exact phrasing).
Great (phenomenal) physical design, horrible product.
As with the vast majority of failures with apple products, the faults are almost all from the services aspects.
Comments
The HomePod not been without a couple of oddities. Twice I heard a loud <pop> and thought something bad happened, but no. On one occasion, Siri refused to acknowledge a command several times. Then I used the Home app to execute, and after that Siri behaved normally.
Something I do a lot is talk to Siri as quietly as possible to test its hearing. It's very impressive that Siri hears me talking quietly or normally with the music loud, or hear me from a distance that leaves Alexa mute. I want two more – one for the bedroom (or a mini HomePod) and another to make a stereo pair for the living room.
I still have a lot to learn to fully utilize the HomePod, but at $249, I consider it a very worthwhile purchase that will only get better. Something that would put the HomePod way over the top of Echo devices would be the ability to summon the internet radio stations Alexa can. Or spirits from the other side.
Is there any code-fu that would let me download the Official Apple HomePod online User Guide as a .pdf?
It is removable, but not for the faint of heart. You're stuck because it's a proprietary connector. If that's what's meant by the use of 'hard-wire' then never mind.
And now that I look more closely at the Scribd link: New HomePod User's Guid... by on Scribd was this article intended to be sold, as in ... buy on Scribd?
So I was hoping to find a .pdf of the article but if it's intended to be sold, then I won't try to get it free.
Looks like I'm just going to have to import a HomePod. I have no idea when Apple will release it here in India.
I hope they are not on a quest to get Siri working with local languages before they release it here.
We have about 18 official languages, dozens of others and hundreds of dialects.
Just take advantage of the fact that we are Anglicized and release it with English Support. We'll be fine.
Something about the Scribd embed isn't playing nice.
I also get a lot of use using her on the home pod. I use her to make calls. Set a timer while cooking, tell me the weather, tell me things like when did a particular album come out, tell me a joke, play music, and the list goes on. She is actually getting a lot better at telling me things like where is the closest pizza place or who won best actor in 2006. I also use her with my Apple TV.
Im going to get a second one for sure.
the advantage of a true 5.1 or 7.1 home media system is that you get localization of sound which is important for multimedia soundtracks and is not as important for music reproduction as other things.
and yes i listen to vinyl and have a stereo as well. everything needs it’s own solution. and love my airpods too.
i would be interested to get other opinions about using homepods as a multimedia sound source but personally i feel they need to be used for music and should be solitary animals.