Apple Details HomePod's Gesture Controls for Siri and Music Playback

[MacRumors]

Apple today updated its HomePod product page with new details about the speaker's gesture controls for Siri and audio playback.

Apple has confirmed that users can tap the top of the HomePod to play, pause, skip a song, or adjust the volume, or touch and hold to talk to Siri. A colorful, animated LED waveform will appear when Siri is listening.

A single tap plays or pauses music, a double tap skips to the next track, and a triple trap returns to the previous track. Tapping and holding the digital plus or minus sign raises or lowers the speaker's volume respectively.

The touch and hold gesture to invoke Siri is in addition to the "Hey Siri" voice command that can be said from anywhere in a room.

Apple today announced that the HomePod will be available to order starting Friday, January 26, with in-store availability and orders arriving to customers starting Friday, February 9, in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Apple also revealed some other HomePod information today: the speaker will launch in France and Germany this spring, while multi-room audio and stereo sound support for multiple HomePods will be included in a software update later this year.

HomePod comes in White or Space Gray and is priced at $349 in the United States, £319 in the United Kingdom, and $499 in Australia.

Article Link: Apple Details HomePod's Gesture Controls for Siri and Music Playback

 

[Saturnine]

Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.

 

[scrapesleon]

I don’t talk to Siri just need it to play music and buy my neighbor house when they complain about the noise

 

[the_magikpants]

They should have used the gestures for the iPod. Why isn't that one big click wheel?

 

[neutralguy]

Do they expect me to always get up and go to HomePod to interact with it? I thought it was all about voice?

 

[JTR555]

Do they expect me to always get up and go to HomePod to interact with it? I thought it was all about voice?

Exactly. Plus multiroom sometime later this year? They needed this to come out before Christmas and since they delayed it, they needed a product that was all around ahead of where Amazon Echo and Google Home are now. Other than quality of the speaker, I don’t get the impression they accomplished that. I’m glad I broke down and got Echoes and Echo Dots earlier this month.

 

[Mike Oxard]

Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.

I asked Siri to "Set me a reminder for tomorrow", she did, I got a reminder that read "tomorrow"

 

[omihek]

I asked Siri to "Set me a reminder for tomorrow", she did, I got a reminder that read "tomorrow"

I told Siri to "remind me to text Grandpa tomorrow". She texted Grandpa "tomorrow" right then.

 

[sblemmy]

HomePod seems rather underwhelming. Having said that, I'll likely end up getting one to replace my Sonos Play:1, which has great sound quality but a less than stellar interface for using Apple Music. Really, I can only see the HomePod appealing to people like me.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Lots of questions about how this product will work. For instance, can it stream from any source other than Apple Music? Podcasts? From third-party apps, such as NPR One?

 

[omihek]

Lots of questions about how this product will work. For instance, can it stream from any source other than Apple Music? Podcasts? From third-party apps, such as NPR One?

I would guess it will stream from anything the AirPods can, meaning audio from any source including third-party apps.

 

[ck2875]

I told Siri to "remind me to text Grandpa tomorrow". She texted Grandpa "tomorrow" right then.

...Why did you send it once Siri said, “Ok, I’ve written a message to Grandpa that says “tomorrow”. Would you like me to send it?”

Siri doesn’t randomly text someone without confirmation.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I would guess it will stream from anything the AirPods can, meaning audio from any source including third-party apps.

AirPods can stream from any app loaded on your phone, right? So maybe my question is whether those apps can be loaded onto the HomePod.

 

[omihek]

...Why did you send it once Siri said, “Ok, I’ve written a message to Grandpa that says “tomorrow”. Would you like me to send it?”

Siri doesn’t randomly text someone without confirmation.

I wasn't paying attention and thought she was asking me to confirm the reminder to text him tomorrow so I told her to go ahead and do it. My mistake and my fault, but she could have been more helpful.

 

[ck2875]

I would guess it will stream from anything the AirPods can, meaning audio from any source including third-party apps.

I’m guessing that will require a nearby iOS device. I figure it will stream Apple Music on the HomePod without a nearby iOS device, but allow you to Airplay any audio to it. I’m curious if it can connect to a TV, personally but I’m not holding my breath

 

[omihek]

AirPods can stream from any app loaded on your phone, right? So maybe my question is whether those apps can be loaded onto the HomePod.

Haven't seen anything to suggest you can load apps on the HomePod, but I would be surprised if you aren't able to stream audio from any app loaded on your phone, just like AirPods.

 

[poppe]

Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.

I ask siri to take me to the nearest Target and even though I'm heading towards one that is 4 miles away on the freeway in the direction I'm traveling - while using AppleMaps - she tries to tell me the nearest one to me is 17 miles to it and in the opposite direction of what I'm traveling.

Siri and suck it. She pushes me closer to getting off the apple train and that's someone who is deep in the sandbox with the watch, the phone, the tv, a laptop, and all my accounts synced in between and what have you.

I'm extremely skeptical she'll work better than where she is currently at which seems to some how have taken two steps backwards and five steps diagonally. The Amazon Echo can hear me in a room where people are talking and the TV is on, but Siri can barely do Hey siri in a quiet room if someone else is talking.

 

[gnipgnop]

Do they expect me to always get up and go to HomePod to interact with it? I thought it was all about voice?

Read the full article...that's in addition to both voice control and control via an iPhone/iPad/iPod.

 

[Jetfire]

Exactly. Plus multiroom sometime later this year? They needed this to come out before Christmas and since they delayed it, they needed a product that was all around ahead of where Amazon Echo and Google Home are now. Other than quality of the speaker, I don’t get the impression they accomplished that. I’m glad I broke down and got Echoes and Echo Dots earlier this month.

They need a touch screen version of this, like the Echo Show. Echo Show is great for the Kitchen. Other rooms this should be fine but I already have Airplay support on my Pioneer receivers that are hooked up to my TVs.
I'm getting one to see if it's really that good or just a nice Bluetooth speak. All PA seem to suck right now, but I think Amazon has the leg up with their echo system compared to Apple.

Apple needs to get it together and come up with a game changer or loose to Amazon on this. If they are relying on the speaker quality then Amazon is going to win. I can use a Echo dot and Third party speaker to get as good or better sound. Amazon is also working with third parties to integrate Alexa into their products. If Apple can't make Siri good enough to keep you in their Ecosystem. You may go elsewhere because Alexa works better for you. Than you might start looking at non-Apple products for other things.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Haven't seen anything to suggest you can load apps on the HomePod, but I would be surprised if you aren't able to stream audio from any app loaded on your phone, just like AirPods.

Well sure, at a bare minimum. If it could not do that much, it would be taking a step backwards from AppleTV functionality. I can't recall a product released by Apple recently if ever that was so vaguely described.

 

[rbgaynor]

Do they expect me to always get up and go to HomePod to interact with it? I thought it was all about voice?

No, they do not.

 

[Braderunner]

Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.

Siri needs a lot of work. I work on a college campus. Yesterday I asked Siri to "remind me to go to room three hundred one" at a certain time. She had "300 one". I mean, sure, I knew what she meant. And the reminder was good enough to remind me. But....

 

[BlueBook]

Not liking the volume controls; I’d prefer more feedback, preferably a physical button to click and/or a visual volume display.

 

[fpsBeaTt]

Earlier today I asked Siri to make a calendar entry for 1:25pm. Siri interpreted this as 1 20 5 PM and spat out her dummy.

And that’s the reason I could never spend £319 on this, regardless of the sound quality.

I use it for this purpose on a regular basis, without issue; try enunciating better.

 

[CarlJ]

I ask siri to take me to the nearest Target and even though I'm heading towards one that is 4 miles away on the freeway in the direction I'm traveling - while using AppleMaps - she tries to tell me the nearest one to me is 17 miles to it and in the opposite direction of what I'm traveling.

I can beat that, I asked Siri to give me directions to "Whole Foods" (was meeting some people across the street, it was the simplest shorthand I could think of)... I was a couple miles away, I just wanted the optimal path. She gave me directions to a Whole Foods... near San Francisco. Over 8 hours away. Didn't notice right away, because the first mile was the same either way. When I noticed she wanted me to get on the freeway, I pulled over and double-checked, and then typed it into the maps app (which found the nearby one).

You'd think there would at least be a sanity check, with her saying, "the location I found is more than two hours away, is that really what you want?"

Also, related, Siri knows understands when you tell her to do anatomically impossible things. I think I got, "I won't dignify that with a response." (Actually, it might be good for that to generate an anonymized error report with the text of the last 5 things said, and the location, so they could look so a human at Apple could look at it, figure out how Siri was wrong, and submit useful feedback to the Siri folks - though I'm sure there's the potential there for privacy problems even if the data is disconnected from your account.)

I've also told Siri various versions of "cancel navigation" before, only to have her respond that she can't do that because no navigation is currently taking place (followed by "helpful" instructions on how to get directions from her) - right before she returns to telling me when the next turn is. Sigh.