Apple Details How HomePod Can Detect 'Hey Siri' From Across a Room, Even With Loud Music Playing

[bbednarz]

All this is cool, but in reality how many would use it in this situation ? just because you can, or because you must now its here?

Shouting "hey Siri" across the room, just because your too lazy, is not my idea of fun at a party

Uh, well I use this nearly everyday.... If I am listening to music or a podcast while doing things around the house, which I do quite frequently now that I have HomePods, I want to have Siri be able to hear me when I ask her to perform a smart home command... Has nothing to do with laziness... or having fun at a party... It is a nice convenience.

 

[Gasu E.]

That being said, I'm really hoping for some improvements on Siri's intelligence. One of my kids asked, "What's the closest elementary school" and she responded with a school that is several miles away when their school is only a block and half away (much closer).

You triggered Siri's anti-pedophile feature!

 

[inkswamp]

Wish Apple would detail how to use Homepod as a speaker for my Roku TV.

 

[tromboneaholic]

All this is cool, but in reality how many would use it in this situation ? just because you can, or because you must now its here?

Shouting "hey Siri" across the room, just because your too lazy, is not my idea of fun at a party

You don’t have to shout or do it during a party, is the whole point.

 

[farewelwilliams]

But I don’t care what fancy names Apple give this stuff or how they fluff it up, I just care how it affects my usage. My echos can hear me and process what I say from other rooms when I have them playing music, or my Sonos, or my TV.

I don’t care about the steering rack in my car, I just care about turning the steering wheel and the front wheels turn, like it does on other cars.

that's fine if you don't care. what i'm saying is that your dots don't do these things. it doesn't get loud, and therefore it doesn't execute the algorithms necessary to hear the user across the room at max volume.

 

[Detnator]

Even if these HomePods would be able to cook spaghetti for me - I am restricted to having iTunes running for music, I have to stream radio stations (other than that Apple Radio whatsoever) from a second device. No: I do NOT want to subscribe to Apple Music. I have my own music at home.

Uncripple them (spaghetti optional) and we will be in the game immediately.

Until then - no joy - my wallet stays closed.

Seriously? That’s not happening anytime soon. The HomePod is literally a device designed for and around Apple Music. If you don’t want Apple Music then no, the HomePod is not for you. Plenty of other quality speakers you can buy for your “own” music.


The other way to look at it is: Apple’s generally an all or nothing company. With few exceptions their stuff is all designed to work together within the entire eco system. Rightly or wrongly, like it or not, if you’re not interested in buying everything from them they’re not really interested in you buying anything from them.
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It's obscenely overpriced when you consider it only supports music from an Apple source

I know right? Almost as idiotic as BMW engines only supported in BMW cars!! What the hell were they thinking??

I mean why would anyone ever buy a BMW engine when it’s useless in their Toyotas or Fords.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Wish Apple would detail how to use Homepod as a speaker for my Roku TV.

You can’t because it doesn’t have Bluetooth or aux out.
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Agree 100 percent. It is so important for something that can play audio. I have Echo Dots and a Spot and good luck getting them to hear you with loud music playing without standing next to them and screaming.

I have to shout at all my smartspeakers (HomePod, echo, google home) over loud music. They are all the same. Although I don’t have to stand next to them. I can shout from across the room.
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Too bad it only works with music. I have a lot of iTunes movies. I wish it was possible that getting two of these connected to Apple TV would sound really good but I saw a Youtube video that shows very poor sound.

I don’t have this issue as my HomePods work well with my Apple TV however there is a fix.

 

[Uofmtiger]

I have to shout at all my smartspeakers (HomePod, echo, google home) over loud music. They are all the same. Although I don’t have to stand next to them. I can shout from across the room.

"I’ve compared the HomePod with both the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Dot, and found that the HomePod, with its six-microphone array, performed best. The Echo Dot came in second, but the Google Home Mini wasn’t even close as far as microphone performance was concerned."
https://9to5mac.com/2018/02/11/home...-and-worst-of-apples-new-smart-speaker-video/

This is my experience, though my Dots are always hooked up to external speakers, so the audio can play louder than the Dot's external speaker.

I just don't find any of them to be as good at hearing what I say as the HomePod....it isn't even close. One night, I had trouble sleeping, so I moved to the living room and set both the HomePod and the Echo Dot to play an alarm at 7AM. At some point I went back to bed, but I could hear them when they went off. From the bedroom, I yelled to the HomePod to stop. It did on the first try even with both alarms blasting. I could still hear the Echo's alarm, so I yelled for it to stop and it continued. I then screamed, and it continued. I then walked in the hallway and yelled and it still continued. It didn't hear me until I was almost in the same room with it. Luckily, I was ready to get up!!!

For music, it is worse. At one time, I had the Dot controlling both J River Media and Plex for audio playback on my main speakers. It would never hear me over the speakers unless I moved the Dot right next to my main listening location (I actually bought another Dot because of this issue). However, the HomePod is near that same position as the original Dot and it controls audio on my main system via the AppleTV's Airplay 2 and it can hear me without any shouting.

I am not sure if you have a problem with your HomePod or if you just have the Dot closer to where you are sitting, but the Dots aren't in the same league as the HomePod when it comes to hearing over external noise like music or alarms. I have 3 Dots and that applies to all of them.

 

[Shanghaichica]

"I’ve compared the HomePod with both the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Dot, and found that the HomePod, with its six-microphone array, performed best. The Echo Dot came in second, but the Google Home Mini wasn’t even close as far as microphone performance was concerned."
https://9to5mac.com/2018/02/11/home...-and-worst-of-apples-new-smart-speaker-video/

This is my experience, though my Dots are always hooked up to external speakers, so the audio can play louder than the Dot's external speaker.

I just don't find any of them to be as good at hearing what I say as the HomePod....it isn't even close. One night, I had trouble sleeping, so I moved to the living room and set both the HomePod and the Echo Dot to play an alarm at 7AM. At some point I went back to bed, but I could hear them when they went off. From the bedroom, I yelled to the HomePod to stop. It did on the first try even with both alarms blasting. I could still hear the Echo's alarm, so I yelled for it to stop and it continued. I then screamed, and it continued. I then walked in the hallway and yelled and it still continued. It didn't hear me until I was almost in the same room with it. Luckily, I was ready to get up!!!

For music, it is worse. At one time, I had the Dot controlling both J River Media and Plex for audio playback on my main speakers. It would never hear me over the speakers unless I moved the Dot right next to my main listening location (I actually bought another Dot because of this issue). However, the HomePod is near that same position as the original Dot and it controls audio on my main system via the AppleTV's Airplay 2 and it can hear me without any shouting.

I am not sure if you have a problem with your HomePod or if you just have the Dot closer to where you are sitting, but the Dots aren't in the same league as the HomePod when it comes to hearing over external noise like music or alarms. I have 3 Dots and that applies to all of them.

There’s always a lot of external noise here (2 children) so I think it probably confuses the speakers a lot of the time! Also the TV is usually on in the room where the HomePods are situated. I do have a TV in my dining room and bedroom where the echo and google home mini are located but more often they are off. The dot in the kitchen doesn’t often have a lot of external noises unless I’m using the washing machine. I’d probably say I’m furthest away from the HomePods when speaking.

 

[Uofmtiger]

There’s always a lot of external noise here (2 children) so I think it probably confuses the speakers a lot of the time! Also the TV is usually on in the room where the HomePods are situated. I do have a TV in my dining room and bedroom where the echo and google home mini are located but more often they are off. The dot in the kitchen doesn’t often have a lot of external noises unless I’m using the washing machine. I’d probably say I’m furthest away from the HomePods when speaking.

No children here (just dogs). This sounds like "Baby-gate". Apple just doesn't like children!

 

[inkswamp]

You can’t because it doesn’t have Bluetooth or aux out.

Exactly my point.