Thanks for explaining this to us all. Could you also explain how the rumoured clean coal version works too? Will it be completely wireless or will it have an optional power cable?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Confirms HomePod's Supported Audio Sources in Tech Specs
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You don’t have to look for the single product profit but for the whole set of tools and service Apple wants you to pay for. And I guess it is safe to say they’re good at making a profit from almost anything
You do realize that Bluetooth 5.0 is backwards compatible with Bluetooth 4.1, right?
One of the problems for me is the lack of a line-in.
I know this product is meant for the Apple ecosystem, and without a physical connection to get audio from the only way to listen to music is AirPlay or Apple music.
I'm deeply into their ecosystem now, but what about 10 years from know? A speaker is not something I want to buy every other year or even after 5 years like a Mac, but is something I expect to use for 10/15 years at least. What if I switch to Android or to another platform in the future? I'd need to sell that thing, and I bet I won't get good money from an old product.
If it costed less I'd consider it, but buying at least a couple of those for a big living room and maybe another for the bedroom means spending at least $1000, and its big money.
And let's forget about the line-in and use it online all the time, what about Spotify or other music services? Being able to run them natively on the speaker would be a plus, but you need an iPhone or an iPad to stream music via Airplay and it isn't as convenient.
I know this product is meant for the Apple ecosystem, and without a physical connection to get audio from the only way to listen to music is AirPlay or Apple music.
I'm deeply into their ecosystem now, but what about 10 years from know? A speaker is not something I want to buy every other year or even after 5 years like a Mac, but is something I expect to use for 10/15 years at least. What if I switch to Android or to another platform in the future? I'd need to sell that thing, and I bet I won't get good money from an old product.
If it costed less I'd consider it, but buying at least a couple of those for a big living room and maybe another for the bedroom means spending at least $1000, and its big money.
And let's forget about the line-in and use it online all the time, what about Spotify or other music services? Being able to run them natively on the speaker would be a plus, but you need an iPhone or an iPad to stream music via Airplay and it isn't as convenient.
This is from the HomePod tab on MacRumors site. It has changed since last Friday:
“As outlined by Apple, HomePod (and Siri) will work with the following music sources:
- Apple Music
- iTunes Music Purchases
- iCloud Music Library with an Apple Music or iTunes Match Subscription
- Beats 1 Live Radio
- Podcasts
- AirPlay from iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and Mac”
I think that this bulletpoint should have read something like “In addition you can play other music sources using AirPlay but Siri will not be functional when using AirPlay sources.”
If I’m wrong and someone has a source please post that information.
Yes you can get it to play any music via airplay. When it says Apple Music/ iTunes March/ iTunes purchases it means you can ask Siri using voice commands to play music from those sources.
For example in my iTunes library I have bring it on home by Mariah Carey. I do not subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match and I did not buy the song from iTunes. Therefore the only way I can get the HomePod to play the song is by air playing from my iPhone or Mac (because the song is stored locally on there. I can’t say hey Siri play bring it on home.
Now in my library I have a song called I don’t by Mariah Carey. I purchased this song from iTunes so I can say hey Siri play I don’t and it will play.
As I have songs in my iTunes library which I didn’t purchase from iTunes the only way I can play these songs is via airplay. If I want to use hey Siri then I’d need to pay for an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription.
[doublepost=1517578878][/doublepost]
You can use Spotify with it just not via Siri. You can airplay from your iPhone in the Spotify app to the HomePod.
To be honest they shouldn't be allowed to use it if they don't have an iPhone, they are not cool enough
When your marketing uses long established words to describe your new product then you have to accept that most people will have long established preconceptions that they attach to those words.
Stereo has meant 2 speakers since at least the 1960’s when the first push of higher quality sound aimed at a mass market first occurred. I don’t remember who used it but there was an ad in the 60’s or 70’s saying that you have 2 ears why would you settle for just one speaker. Stereo has meant 2 speakers for decades.
Sonos describes their surround sound as a 5.1 system. It only has 3 speakers. They replace the front/center/right speakers using a sound bar. Bose and other systems do the same. They didn’t use existing terms to describe this unit they invented new terminology and told you why it was better than individual speakers. I’ll leave whether that’s true to other websites.
Point is, they didn’t use phrases that people already have long and strong preconceptions of what those words mean to describe their product. They used new terminology and told you why it’s better. Apple DOES say stereo will be available for available for the HomePod ‘soon’ when AirPlay2 is rolled out. You use the terminology you accept the baggage.
My card got charged tonight too and status changed to "Order in progress"
My order is now "preparing for dispatch"
Amazingly that was all covered by what I just wrote and you just ignored. Congrats. You just played yourself.
Aren't there Android apps that can use Airplay to stream audio? Or have those been disabled by Airplay updates?
Anyway, saying the HomePod is "anti-competitive" is kinda funny. I mean that would be Apple's entire product line if you twist that logic into place. Their products are primarily for their products. No one is forcing you to buy a HomePod if you have a Galaxy Note 7.
If you are streaming audio from your phone via Bluetooth to anything and your phone rings, all of the sounds from your phone are going to come from the Bluetooth speaker.
That's one of the reasons why wifi speaker like Sonos, Google Home, and HomePod are better, because the music is streaming from the internet directly to your speaker. With Sonos, you're basically using your phone as a remote control telling the speaker "play this song from this service." With Google Home and HomePod, you can take the phone out of the equation, as the built in assistant finds the song on the supported music services.
I get that, but I don’t think it is clearly defined anywhere, including here on MacRumors in their HomePod tab. Something like:
HomePod sources you can use with Siri Commands:
- Apple Music.
- Songs you have purchased on iTunes.
- Songs you have uploaded to iTunes Match-iTunes Match subscription required.
- Beats 1 Radio .
- iTunes Podcasts.
- Songs or audio physically stored on your devices and not on Apple Music/iTunes Match.
- Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Music and other similar non Apple streaming music providers.
[doublepost=1517583822][/doublepost]
Thanks for pointing out that everyone who was complaining about ‘stereo ‘ in this thread is a complete idiot and doesn’t understand either sound technology or what audio terminology like someone superior such as you. And when someone replies to your post, doesn’t call you names, explains his points, tells you why some people might be missing what stereo really is you belittle that attempt, insult the person directly, and claim that your explanation already covered everything necessary.
What a shining example of humanity you are.
I thought AirPlay 2 prevents audio stopping when a call is received or am I wrong?
Does anyone know if it is possible to set up an Apple TV to airplay to HomePod by default? Is it possible to set up the Apple TV to automatically connect to HomePod every time I wake up my Apple TV or will I need to manually change the audio output every time I use the Apple TV?
I think the article should have pointed out that the Homepod does not support Home Sharing and so, unlike the Apple TV, it cannot play non-Apple-purchased music directly from an iTunes library on a Mac in the same house. It not even clear if all Apple-purchased music has to be streamed from the internet rather than a local Mac.
I realise Airplay will allow me to play all music from my Mac via iTunes but that is not nearly as convenient as having a "smart" speaker that finds the music for me.
Next thing I suppose iTunes will lose support for Home Sharing (oh... maybe I shouldn't have given Apple the inkling of an idea!)
I realise Airplay will allow me to play all music from my Mac via iTunes but that is not nearly as convenient as having a "smart" speaker that finds the music for me.
Next thing I suppose iTunes will lose support for Home Sharing (oh... maybe I shouldn't have given Apple the inkling of an idea!)
Last edited:
I believe you're right, but that's because it's streaming over your wifi network and Bluetooth. If you were just using Bluetooth audio from an iPhone or an Android phone, a phone call would stop the music playback.
I know someone with a Bluetooth soundbar and an Android phone. They answered their phone when it rang, and they were super confused that the person's voice was coming out of the soundbar instead of the phone held up to their ear.
The spec were posted last week.
I read that when it was posted.
I am getting two Homepods only because of my interest in hearing the difference with a "mono" and "stereo" setup.
The homepods will ultimately end up in separate rooms.
You are aware that the two won’t work together at the moment?
[doublepost=1517605553][/doublepost]
I think it’s clear that if you use Siri to request a song, it will take it from the internet rather than a local library. I’ve not seen anything which even suggests that the HomePod is able to draw from a local library. The only way to play music from your Mac is to airplay it from that Mac.
Basically, if you want to request a song from the HomePod using Siri then you have to have a copy in the cloud (purchased, matched or uploaded) and it is that cloud copy which will be played.
I've sold plenty of "old apple products" and I'm always amazed by the value they retain...
Wrong. Their strategy is to sell as many APPLE DEVICES as possible. Forcing HomePoop owners to buy iPhones and iPads is more to their liking than to allow Android users to use the speaker.
[doublepost=1517657326][/doublepost]
If you're looking for Sonos level audio performance, keep looking. The toy category doesn't have anything that supports your requirements. My speakers have integrated Spotify Connect, Tidal HiFi, Deezer and whatever else. They support bluetooth, Airplay and whatever else. They have optical inputs and they're connected to my LAN. Or rather, wifi because I didn't want to have all those cables on the floor. They play all of those without a hitch, from Windows, from Mac, from iPhone, from Android and whatever else. They sound amazing. I could purchase as many as I wanted and set them up in different rooms in the house should I have too much money. They also serve as my TV's sound system. All that combined with a sound quality Sonos and HomePod can only have wet dreams about.
Should the Chrome casting be a dealbreaker, hook one of those up to your TV and you're set. I'll make do with all of the options I have already. Oh, did I forget to mention - I can use every single one of those speakers as a separate bluetooth target OR use them as a stereo pair.
Now waiting for people to flock in as promised. And no, it's not 'perfect'. I could get much better audio out of a setup that costs about three times as much but it's not as portable, doesn't have all the same wireless connectivity as this one. And I can't afford it.
[doublepost=1517657664][/doublepost]
I bet Siri works as usual. "Hey siri, play hotel california in living room". -"Calling mother...." -"NOOOOOOOOOO!"