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Home Apple Home - Horrible reviews

Ursadorable

Ursadorable

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 9, 2013
682
968
The Frozen North
I was looking at getting an Apple HomePod Mini to replace my bedroom Alexa when I started researching if it would meet my needs.

The first thing was using it as an alarm clock. Instructions indicate to use Apple Home app, so I went to download it from the Apple Store to my phone (I delete all shovelware I don't have an immediate need for from my devices). I noticed an alarming trend that Apple's Home app has absolutely horrific reviews on the app store.

Is it still worth even using anymore? I don't want to waste money on a HomePod if the app is absolute garbage.
 
compared to some of the other offerings, the controls in the home app are very basic. Things like scripting and repeating triggers are very basic or limited in what you can do.

For setting alarms on the HomePod it will work just fine.

I use a program running on a computer to do my advanced things. I use the home app and siri just to manually turn things on/off and set scenes, and it works really well for me. There are a few things like location based automations that are easier to do in the home app, since it's got some access to the OS that others don't

But even still, I've got one automation, runs every morning at 10, If I'm at work (my schedule isn't set), it checks the local weather, and will turn my AC off or to my "away" setting depending on the high temp for the day.
 
Ursadorable said:
I was looking at getting an Apple HomePod Mini to replace my bedroom Alexa when I started researching if it would meet my needs.

The first thing was using it as an alarm clock. Instructions indicate to use Apple Home app, so I went to download it from the Apple Store to my phone (I delete all shovelware I don't have an immediate need for from my devices). I noticed an alarming trend that Apple's Home app has absolutely horrific reviews on the app store.

Is it still worth even using anymore? I don't want to waste money on a HomePod if the app is absolute garbage.
Click to expand...
As far as being a home hub for Homekit and for playing music via Airplay 2, its worth every penny, get it. Automations are reliable and HKSV is great.


If you arent using Homekit, you dont really use the Home App. You certainly dont need the Home app to set an alarm or timer on a Homepod.
If you want an 'advanced' version of the Home app, try the Eve App or Controller for Homekit!

The bad: Siri is bad. Alarms cant be trusted.
 
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I ended up buying a HomePod Mini, and discovered that the Mac version of Home seems to have less features than the iOS version. Still trying to figure out how to make custom commands tho.
 
Last edited:
Ursadorable said:
I ended up buying a HomePod Mini, and discovered that the Mac version of Home seems to have less features than the iOS version. Still trying to figure out how to make custom commands tho.
Click to expand...
Use Shortcuts for custom commands. Whatever you name the Shortcut will be the command.
 
Ursadorable said:
I was looking at getting an Apple HomePod Mini to replace my bedroom Alexa when I started researching if it would meet my needs.

The first thing was using it as an alarm clock. Instructions indicate to use Apple Home app, so I went to download it from the Apple Store to my phone (I delete all shovelware I don't have an immediate need for from my devices). I noticed an alarming trend that Apple's Home app has absolutely horrific reviews on the app store.

Is it still worth even using anymore? I don't want to waste money on a HomePod if the app is absolute garbage.
Click to expand...
I use the Home app and have zero issues or complaints with it. It just works for administering my multi-room HomePods/AppleTV combos, smart thermostats, lights throughout the house, and some basic automations. Any problems I’ve had were with finicky lightbulbs and not with the Home app. I’ve never considered using it as an alarm clock because it’s trivial to use Siri for that.
 
I read some of the reviews - Several seem to be written by people who don't fully grasp the purpose of the app, or haven't really done the necessary learning about HomeKit. A few do have valid points, but overall the Home app works well in my experience.

Everyone has different needs, experiences and expectations. Apple has a 14 day return policy on their products. Why not pick one up and play with it for a week, and see what you think?
 
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Ursadorable said:
I'm just looking to do something my Alexa does easily out of the box.

Set a scheduled weekday alarm.. alarm goes off in the morning, I wake up and stop the alarm, it then tells me the weather forecast for the day.
Click to expand...
you can do this with a homepod.
 
Ursadorable said:
I was looking at getting an Apple HomePod Mini to replace my bedroom Alexa when I started researching if it would meet my needs.

The first thing was using it as an alarm clock. Instructions indicate to use Apple Home app, so I went to download it from the Apple Store to my phone (I delete all shovelware I don't have an immediate need for from my devices). I noticed an alarming trend that Apple's Home app has absolutely horrific reviews on the app store.

Is it still worth even using anymore? I don't want to waste money on a HomePod if the app is absolute garbage.
Click to expand...
I use may mini as an alarm every morning. I like it. One thing I do is also turn on my lights in my bedroom along with the alarm.
 
Ursadorable said:
Still haven't found a way to do this.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that. Look man I dont even work here.

I just told my Homepod:
'Siri, set an alarm everyday at 6:30PM'.
Then I asked:
'Siri, what alarms are scheduled on Sunday?'
She said: 'I see one alarm, set for 6:30p'.

Did you try that?
If not, why not?
If so, dunno, can't help ya.
 
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erihp said:
Sorry to hear that. Look man I dont even work here.

I just told my Homepod:
'Siri, set an alarm everyday at 6:30PM'.
Then I asked:
'Siri, what alarms are scheduled on Sunday?'
She said: 'I see one alarm, set for 6:30p'.

Did you try that?
If not, why not?
If so, dunno, can't help ya.
Click to expand...

The alarm part is easy.. it's the rest of it I mentioned..

Set a scheduled weekday alarm.. alarm goes off in the morning, I wake up and stop the alarm, it then tells me the weather forecast for the day.
Click to expand...
 
erihp said:
look into shortcuts.

or

just say 'good morning, siri, whats the weather today' when youre ready to hear it.
Click to expand...

Shortcuts is what you seek. I tell Siri “it’s time to make the donuts” (other old guys will recognize) and it disables my alarm system, turns on the bedroom lights, turns off my indoor cameras, and gives me the weather.
 
kissfan said:
Shortcuts is what you seek. I tell Siri “it’s time to make the donuts” (other old guys will recognize) and it disables my alarm system, turns on the bedroom lights, turns off my indoor cameras, and gives me the weather.
Click to expand...
not me but agree
 
I believe the phrase for Siri is “what’s my update?” and it will give you news, weather, traffic, reminders and calendar appointments. Think that came out with iOS 15. It’s a prebuilt shortcut from Apple.
 
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