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Apple Confirms HomePod's Supported Audio Sources in Tech Specs
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I think HomePod is a fantastic product, but here is the reason I'm not getting it:
1. The "audio" in my house is maybe 30% music. 70% is audio from video. I don't have confidence in HomePod being a reliable output source for Apple TV (AirPlay =/= permanent audio connection).
2. Hands-free Hey Siri control is something I want, and in this context, it will do nothing but initiate music playback on the device itself. This does not help me control Apple TV, so its a non-starter.
1. The "audio" in my house is maybe 30% music. 70% is audio from video. I don't have confidence in HomePod being a reliable output source for Apple TV (AirPlay =/= permanent audio connection).
2. Hands-free Hey Siri control is something I want, and in this context, it will do nothing but initiate music playback on the device itself. This does not help me control Apple TV, so its a non-starter.
I'd say it does the opposite of force you to stay within the Apple ecosystem - it forces you out. If you already use a single other non-Apple device or service, then you're not going to buy this device, but interest in it might lead to you buying an Echo or Google Home, which will work with all your devices, Apple or otherwise, leading to you decreasing the mix of Apple devices you own.
Yep, Sonos is an option for sure - my ex has Sonos and it sounds pretty good for the size. My personal preference would be for something with Siri/HomeHub - I'm pretty keyed into the Apple walled garden and I'm quite happy with it for my purposes. Others' mileage may vary.
As to "better sound" well, since I''ve heard Sonos over dozens of hours and, like almost everyone around here, never heard HomePod for a millisecond, so I'll have to reserve judgment until I have one in my home I can listen to properly.
You associate with non-Apple device friends? Disgusting.
No, their strategy is to sell as many HomePods as possible while further locking one into their ecosystem.
Why doesn't the Apple Watch support limited android functionality? Because, buying into the Apple ecosystem makes it harder to leave. It is simple logic. Plus, once you are in the ecosystem, you are more willing to pay the higher price for items like the HomePod.
I have an Apple Watch. The Pixel XL 2 my wife looks really nice, for example, but I am not willing to give up my apple watch. Thus, I bought an iPhone X. Apple wins here, and I am okay with that. Both are great products.
But the iOS/macOS ecosystem is large, so Apple doesn't have to just purely "sell as many HomePods as possible".
Edge case.
There's plenty of other good reasons to have bluetooth support.
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No spotify support? This shouldn't come as any surprise. Apple wouldn't give support in these speakers to competitive music services. They want you to use Apple Music only.
Disappointing that HomePod can't recognize different people and use their iCloud accounts as appropriate.
Great point, actually. I was strongly considering the Homepod, due to its audio quality. But I own a PC desktop and Laptop. My wife has an android, and I have a Nest, etc. All these work well with Google Assitant and Alexa.
So....I bought the pair of Sonos One's instead. All the advantages of the HomePod' sound, etc...while swapping out Siri for Alexa (and Google Assitant support, soon).
HomePod is not a mono speaker. Apple specifically states that audio is split into left/center/right channels. The issue regarding the "stereo pair" is that two Homepods provide two woofers, so technically every level of audio (high/mid/low) can be split into more than one channel. With a single HomePod, high/mid range is split, while the low can't be split due to only one woofer.
No, they can just play virtually every piece of music in existence without needing any phone at all.
I don't think this surprises anyone. Looks to have some good options which will meet the needs of most users.
Instead, let's come up with conspiracy theories and call them "more than likely".
The good news in all this is that the Google Home Max will most definitely at least match the HomePod's price (and probably undercut it). Competition is good.
This (HomePod) will probably be about as useful to Apple as a product line as the Watch: modest sales for a niche market. I definitely would've considered it had it at least had Spotify support, and I imagine I'm not the minority. I am not knocking it because it doesn't have it - I'm sure it will be a great product for whoever can utilize it, just that it won't be for me.
Google Home already does everything nearly perfectly and has the added bonus of connecting to Chromecasts, allowing one to craft a build-your-own Sonos system, or play video to any TV.
This (HomePod) will probably be about as useful to Apple as a product line as the Watch: modest sales for a niche market. I definitely would've considered it had it at least had Spotify support, and I imagine I'm not the minority. I am not knocking it because it doesn't have it - I'm sure it will be a great product for whoever can utilize it, just that it won't be for me.
Google Home already does everything nearly perfectly and has the added bonus of connecting to Chromecasts, allowing one to craft a build-your-own Sonos system, or play video to any TV.
Quite the opposite. I tried both, Wifi streaming and Bluetooth, and Bluetooth was always WAY more reliable, disconnects basically only through wifi. As for sound quality, there's nearly no audio quality loss that you can hear, even with a decent stereo system.
Try e.g. this link if you think you can hear the difference between loss-less and compressed sound on your system - you'll be surprised to find that you're at chance level:
http://abx.digitalfeed.net
(see also e.g. https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/7/8872115/apple-music-tidal-spotify-audio-quality-test )
I'm also very invested in the Apple ecosystem, but I fail to see the value in the HomePod for what it offers. Which is why I will always advise to get an alternative to an HomePod. Now, if the HomePod were like $99, perhaps then it'd make sense.
My guess is the software is not robust enough yet for BT. Apparently you need an iDevice (and an AppleID) to set up HomePod, so that's a wrinkle right there for those with just an Android phone.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Because Bluetooth is "the future."
No wait, that's the wrong application of that concept.
What do you mean Sonos doesn’t need to? There’s a great Jazz radio streaming app that I love. No way to play it with Sonos without biuetooth as it’s not natively supported.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Don't you know? You are supposed to get your friends to throw away their non-Apple junk and replace it all with only Apple stuff. Only Apple stuff is good. Your poor friends need to be brought into the light.
OR, get some new friends. Obviously, they are not smart people.
That's not how I read it. It specifically states that it will play songs *purchased* in iTunes - i.e. not songs that are ripped off cds - and only songs that are uploaded to the icloud. I have 70 gigs of music in my library, the chance of me uploading that to iCloud is nil. As far as I read it, you can only play music from your iTunes library if (a) it has been actually purchased through iTunes, and (b) if it has been uploaded to iCloud. Am I wrong? Am I missing something?
Giant fail, Apple. You create what appears to be the best sounding "smart" speaker on the market and you hamstring it by not allowing SIRI-activated access to competing streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify.
I tried to like Apple Music but it really sucks compared to Pandora. When I create a station on Pandora, 99% of the music it plays is EXACTLY what I want to hear. Apple Music stations were filled with songs that I not only didn't want to hear but actually abhorred.
Looks like I'll be waiting for SONOS to do a PLAY 3 or PLAY 5 with built-in Alexa. I listened to the SONOS ONE and it's just not good enough.
Mark
I tried to like Apple Music but it really sucks compared to Pandora. When I create a station on Pandora, 99% of the music it plays is EXACTLY what I want to hear. Apple Music stations were filled with songs that I not only didn't want to hear but actually abhorred.
Looks like I'll be waiting for SONOS to do a PLAY 3 or PLAY 5 with built-in Alexa. I listened to the SONOS ONE and it's just not good enough.
Mark