Apple Hosting Live HomePod Question-and-Answer Event on July 25

[Skeptical.me]

Have a question about the HomePod?

Apple announced that it will be hosting a HomePod live event in its Support Communities on Wednesday, July 25, providing customers with an opportunity to ask Apple support representatives questions about the Siri-enabled speaker.

Specialists will be on hand between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Pacific Time, answering questions about a variety of topics in real time:To participate in the event when it goes live, head to the HomePod Community on the Apple Support Communities, sign in to or create an Apple ID account, click Post > Discussion in the upper-right corner, and submit a question.

Specialists already monitor the Apple Support Communities, and occasionally answer questions, but this event should lead to faster answers.

It'll be interesting to see how this goes.

Article Link: Apple Hosting Live HomePod Question-and-Answer Event on July 25

Shortcuts and third party SIRI integration has given me a real reason to purchase a Homepod. Sure the HP is great for music but I want a functional AI assistant more than anything else.

 

[zantafio]

Why can't Siri understand foreign artists names? So much for a musicologist....

 

[yourfan]

It’s 4 hours long. I own a HomePod and I like it somewhat but you could talk about all the features in 3 minutes or less.

 

[raymondrushing]

I actually really like my HomePod. Looking forward to eventually getting a second one to pair them.

Getting a 2nd one is a game changer. It’s hard to describe how freakishly good they sound in stereo mode.

 

[citysnaps]

I actually really like my HomePod. Looking forward to eventually getting a second one to pair them.

Yeah, same here. Another great Apple product. I use mine a 3-4 hours everyday. Also looking forward to a second unit for my shop.

 

[InfoTime]

I bought one and installed it for a client. I didn't get much hands on time with it. Maybe someone can answer this for me: why does it start randomly playing stuff music?

I *think* she was pressing the button on top to "turn it on". I tried to explain that it's always on, no need turn it on.

Not sure where the music was originating, or how to stop it. I looked on her iPhone, iPad and Mac and couldn't see anything connected. Was there a specific app for the device? It's been several months, so I may not be relating all the details correctly.

 

[kjvmartin]

Look at the top skills on Amazon's site. Whale noises. Really. Super powerful.

I ordered an Echo Spot (and smart plug) on Prime Day. So I've had it all of 2-3 days now. So far, in my limited toying around with skills, it can voice control start/stop/unlock my Chevrolet. It can voice control view my baby monitor camera. It turned my old Sonos Speaker into a smart speaker. Both my spouse and I can update our shopping list with Alexa from our phones or the Echo Spot. Not to mention, it can play soothing white noise during bedtime.

It's got a routine for when I wake up, turning on a light, turning off a light, giving me traffic, weather, and relevant news.

I have had Siri on my devices for years and can barely get her to do anything besides a phone call.

 

[avanpelt]

When the primary way to interact with a $349 device is flawed/subpar, a Q&A with specialists is pretty tone deaf on Apple’s part. Clearly, somebody in Cupertino thinks they just need to educate more consumers about what the product can do.

While that may help sales numbers a bit, my anecdotal take from my circle of friends is that the HomePod is overpriced and Siri can’t provide meaningful answers to many queries on HomePod that an Echo Dot or a Google Home Mini can; and those devices cost 10-15% of the cost of the HomePod. Put those two reasons together and I think we can understand why supply of HomePods is far exceeding demand.

 

[Aston441]

Prime Day happened, so I decided to enter the world of "smart homes" with 1 plug and an Echo Show. Very cool. My first experience with Alexa. Apple is as rich & powerful of a company as any other, so what excuse do they have for being so bad at this stuff? I didn't consider a HomePod for 1 second. All they had to say was "Siri" and I knew it wouldn't work for me.

And as a bonus - I didn't even know this would happen - Alexa can control my Sonos speaker! Apple is so far behind I'm embarrassed for them.

My house is completely automated through Alexa now and I hardly even tried. Stuff I couldn't imagine could be automated suddenly is, things made decades ago.

There's a cheap Chinese solution to automate ANYTHING now through Alexa.

At a certain point, Apple is going to have to sell off the remnants of its once great manufacturing divisions and go the way of IBM and Xerox: they'll be a "services" company.

 

[aaronhead14]

My question: "Can you make a version that doesn't destroy furniture?" A speaker shouldn't have to sit on a coaster.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Love my HomePod, but will it play stereo if I'm playing a video to my ATV from my MacBook Air? Really debating buying a second one.

 

[teejaysyke]

That sounds like a question for Apple Support.

I've already been to them, they replaced my original unit with a new one and I'm still having the same issue

 

[macsrcool1234]

I don't need a Q&A to tell me there's nothing the homepad can do that the competition can't do better and cheaper.

 

[DeepIn2U]

1) I asked alexa the exact quote you gave. "Tell me about the paul manafort issue". The answer was Paul manafort is a lawyer yada yada - it was the first line from Wikipedia. It didn't answer the question, about the "issue". I asked Siri the same and it admitted it didn't know. I then said "Who is Paul Manafort" and it said the same line from wikipedia that Alexa did. Neither knew but Alexa pretended to and instead said the wrong thing. Would you have preferred Siri to provide that wrong answer as well?

2) HomeKit and SiriKit are different things. SiriKit is closer to Skills/Third Party. Look at the top skills on Amazon's site. Whale noises. Really. Super powerful. What Alexa does have is more devices integrated with it. That's closer to HomeKit. Until this year (I think) they said they required a hardware integration for security reasons. WeMo just announced the software integrated device for HomeKit (see macrumors this week) so hopefully more will roll out. I have lifx bulbs, lutrons, garage, locks, fans, everything you could imagine for the smart home and HomeKit actually outperforms on those significantly. Where it fails is on media - I don't understand why I can't turn on the tv, play shows, etc. using it. As for third parties, I want Spotify because everything I have is in Spotify so it's hard for me to just adopt Apple Music.

3) I prefer this. I don't want a guest in my house to ask for any sensitive info via the HomePod if I'm not there. The phone requirement helps me avoid that. If I forgot my phone in the car, I would prefer to go get it and not leave it there and if my phone is dead, I prefer to plug it in. I think most people would start looking for their phones the minute they couldn't find it and not just say "eh i'll find it when i find it...maybe it's in the car...i don't need it now" since we are all so addicted to our phones and also want to not lose them.

Bookmarked for points 1 & 2 spoken eloquently.

 

[Mike MA]

why the hell is it still only available in a few countries?

Language support quite obviously?

 

[Kaibelf]

While I think this is a good think, it’s a bit unusual. I think it shows that the general community either isn’t sold on the device or really doesn’t understand more than its basic functionality.

I love my two (and really want a third), but it’s not super simple to manage. I think the home app I’m general is not very intuitive.

I have a different take. This might be the start of a series of events and due to the naturally smaller audience this would be a good testing ground for consumer engagement.

 

[Z3man]

HomePod sound quality is only average, you can get a decent sound out of it when Airplaying to it from you Mac because you can use the presets or equaliser settings to improve it, but when using it as a streaming device which it is what it is intended for, the sound quality is quite poor.

Functionality is virtually non existent, it is just a very expensive egg timer.

Siri is hopeless, but i think everyone knows and expects that anyway.

It is useless as a radio streamer here in the UK, you can hardly get any decent stations, they need to do a deal with the BBC.

I have owned two home pods and returned both of them, even if they were only £100 i still wouldn't buy another.

The homepod needs massive improvement and i think it will be version three in a couple of years before it is any good.

 

[Piggie]

Despite some here perhaps thinking I an anti Apple, which is not true as such, I'm just VERY anti the idea of putting design over function.

I have always wanted a Mac Computer with Nvidia Graphics that would turn the tables on the PC market, but Apple does not have the mental ability to allow themselves to make a device like this.
They are too mentally locked into their own little world till Tim and Jonny finally leave and we get fresh blood.

However, saying that, I hear and understand all the Homepod points, and yes, another example of Apple over-engineering a product, which missing the target.

I'd still say there is one similar product that's not out yet that's even worse, and the company making it won't listen to customers either.

Samsung Bixby Assistant/Speaker.

No-one wants this item, Samsung are still going to make it, it WILL die and be discontinued.

Why, is Apple like Samsung, and Simply won't listen to what people want?

 

[Morgenland]

While I think this is a good think, it’s a bit unusual. I think it shows that the general community either isn’t sold on the device or really doesn’t understand more than its basic functionality.

I love my two (and really want a third), but it’s not super simple to manage. I think the home app I’m general is not very intuitive.

I fully agree:
The home app is absolutely not the place to manage/pair/specify good acoustics. Certainly not if dolby atmos will somehow be managed there (atmos is downward compatible to future cinema arrangements apple currently is working on).
[doublepost=1532250931][/doublepost]

HomePod sound quality is only average, you can get a decent sound out of it when Airplaying to it from you Mac because you can use the presets or equaliser settings to improve it, but when using it as a streaming device which it is what it is intended for, the sound quality is quite poor.

Functionality is virtually non existent, it is just a very expensive egg timer.

Siri is hopeless, but i think everyone knows and expects that anyway.

It is useless as a radio streamer here in the UK, you can hardly get any decent stations, they need to do a deal with the BBC.

I have owned two home pods and returned both of them, even if they were only £100 i still wouldn't buy another.

The homepod needs massive improvement and i think it will be version three in a couple of years before it is any good.

I have 4 HomePods, and I can't wait to see what Apple will do with them in the cinema sector.
I have owned many speakers in the past (the equally good Sonos were my previous experiment) and have a deep understanding of acoustics and I am very satisfied with the HomePods.
I wonder what worlds others live in just to hate Apple.
And I definitely don't want to join their pubertal narrowness and hate.
[doublepost=1532251456][/doublepost]

Despite some here perhaps thinking I an anti Apple, which is not true as such, I'm just VERY anti the idea of putting design over function.

I have always wanted a Mac Computer with Nvidia Graphics that would turn the tables on the PC market, but Apple does not have the mental ability to allow themselves to make a device like this.
They are too mentally locked into their own little world till Tim and Jonny finally leave and we get fresh blood.

However, saying that, I hear and understand all the Homepod points, and yes, another example of Apple over-engineering a product, which missing the target.

I'd still say there is one similar product that's not out yet that's even worse, and the company making it won't listen to customers either.

Samsung Bixby Assistant/Speaker.

No-one wants this item, Samsung are still going to make it, it WILL die and be discontinued.

Why, is Apple like Samsung, and Simply won't listen to what people want?

Whow, thats really your answer to Apples initiative "Hosting Live HomePod Question-and-Answer Event". Funny guys around these days...

 

[The Game 161]

HomePod is only going to get better with time as Siri improves with updates. I love the sound on my HomePod and does the job that’s required. It’s not the final product and needs time to improve with software updates.

 

[Shanghaichica]

HomePod is only going to get better with time as Siri improves with updates. I love the sound on my HomePod and does the job that’s required. It’s not the final product and needs time to improve with software updates.

It will get better and it’s the only really viable smart speaker for people that are heavily entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. It doesn’t really need to do that much more to be good. Just things like making calls and having greater control over the Apple TV. I think if you don’t have any Apple devices or only have one or two then there might be better alternatives out there but if you’re all in on Apple it’s the best one to have. Apple support their products so I have every faith they will improve it as time goes on. I’m not an audiophile so at the moment I’m not interested in having another but if they could add the ability to make calls I’d get another one to use in another room.
[doublepost=1532255012][/doublepost]

Despite some here perhaps thinking I an anti Apple, which is not true as such, I'm just VERY anti the idea of putting design over function.

I have always wanted a Mac Computer with Nvidia Graphics that would turn the tables on the PC market, but Apple does not have the mental ability to allow themselves to make a device like this.
They are too mentally locked into their own little world till Tim and Jonny finally leave and we get fresh blood.

However, saying that, I hear and understand all the Homepod points, and yes, another example of Apple over-engineering a product, which missing the target.

I'd still say there is one similar product that's not out yet that's even worse, and the company making it won't listen to customers either.

Samsung Bixby Assistant/Speaker.

No-one wants this item, Samsung are still going to make it, it WILL die and be discontinued.

Why, is Apple like Samsung, and Simply won't listen to what people want?

Bixby isn’t too bad, at least in what it tries to do. However I just think it’s not needed when people have google assistant on their phones which is a lot better. I did try it out but it just stopped responding to me after a few days and kept saying it couldn’t understand me. It got disabled on the S8 plus and I’ve done the same on the S9 plus. I disabled it as soon as I set the phone up. It’s a bit better than S voice but that’s not saying much because S voice was a pile of crap. Siri is a hundred times better than Bixby.

Samsung are trying to build an ecosystem so that’s why they are insisting with bixby. However it’s too late in the day even if it were any good which at the moment it’s not.

 

[hotlap]

While I think this is a good think, it’s a bit unusual. I think it shows that the general community either isn’t sold on the device or really doesn’t understand more than its basic functionality.

I love my two (and really want a third), but it’s not super simple to manage. I think the home app I’m general is not very intuitive.

[doublepost=1532257276][/doublepost]I also have 2, stereo paired.

But what annoys me is that I alway have to go back to my Apple TV settings to make a movie play through both devices, after I may have used the two HP’s to broadcast an Apple Music channel or Podcast.

Surely iOS should be able the learn that given we have multiple devices - and we come into the HP space it should automatically understand that any device that is of priority, sends audio via HP.

But no! Every time, you must go to ATV and change to HP.

How do you set HP as default?

 

[skorpeon]

If they can answer the question of "How the hell is my HomePod/Siri so damn stupid?" I will be satisfied.

I have a HomePod sitting next to an Echo show. I always *want* to use the HomePod because the microphones and speaker are so far superior, but what good is being heard and hearing great audio back when it's never what you asked for and usually "Sorry, I can't do that on HomePod".

maybe because they do not track your data as much as google ? did you know that Siri only collects data when yo say hey siri ? and did you know google collects all the time your location, voice etc ?

 

[penajmz]

“When will we be able to pair more than two?”

“When will voice recognition come to the HomePod?

“How come Siri sucks?”

 

[Piggie]

maybe because they do not track your data as much as google ? did you know that Siri only collects data when yo say hey siri ? and did you know google collects all the time your location, voice etc ?

Errr, no it does not and it's silly to suggest such a concept.