Apple Releases HomePod 16.3 Software With Humidity and Temperature Sensing, Find My Improvements, Audio Tuning, and More

[DMinTX]

The biggie for me is being able to start a HomePod playing an ambient sound as a scene. We have a HomePod in our bedroom that we use every night to play ambient sounds. I can now add starting that to my “Good Night” scene.

I actually submitted a suggestion for this, so maybe I had a small hand in getting this feature…

 

[scottlitch]

Anyone having success with the ambient sounds and automations?

If I attempt to add one using the personal automation for “when bedtime starts”, I can see ambient sounds as a new option to play audio, alongside Apple Music, but it throws up a “please try again later” error.

My good night scene plays white noise from Apple's ambient selections. No problems. The scene starts at 11:30pm as scheduled.

 

[ralpa]

Took 2 years to activate this function, pure business decision, nothing technical.

 

[Davidglenn]

See my post above. Behavior just changed to subtle SFX rather than voice, on both my HomePod Mini and iPhone.

I am glad Siri is quiet for you I still get the annoying responses on all my devices. Siri continues to be annoying, especially when you want a light turned off at night.

 

[zapmymac]

Well I was going to update, but I think I’ll wait till the weekend or longer on my OG’s as they currently are behaving well. 😁😁

I too, would like a HomePod emoji. 😬

 

[phrehdd]

802.11n? Really? Anyone invested in WiFI 5 or 5/6 or 6/6e only has to add this????

 

[B/D]

Sound wise, this is a HUGE update, guys.

The improved Homepod sound tuning (clearer midrange, AKA voices/dialogue, and crisper highs) on audioOS 16.3 -source, the actual release notes of 16.3- combined with the completely revamped Dolby Atmos stack/render engine of tvOS 16.3 -source, flatpanelshd.com-, has yield a BIG IMPROVEMENT. So much louder, crisper and fuller now.

I still prefer to have "reduce bass" on because I feel the sound signature is closer to reference with it enabled, but even with the extra bass thump, it sounds SO MUCH better than before.

Clearly this has been done in anticipation of the new big homepod release, but is very nice that Apple has been able to port the improvements (to an extent, I´m sure the new model will sound even better than the original homepod).

 

[dburkhanaev]

Sorry to report bad news, but it's all vocal. Hate it. Wish it were at least optional. Get it all the time on my iPhone too, for Home requests. "The table light is on!!!!!" Shut up about it.

UPDATE 1/25: Suddenly (with no new downloads), it's just confirming with a subtle ding. Awesome. SO much better.

I wish Apple would give an option instead of changing something wholesale and assuming it would be the route everyone will like.

Now I have no idea what was turned on. Did Siri hear me and understand my requests? Because that’s a thing. No I get some quick, hollow tone I won’t hear from the other room when I call out. And I wont have confirmation unless I ask or check the HomeKit control panel. Way to go Apple. Thanks.

 

[jasonmichaelh]

I’ve seen reports of lowered overall volume on both models. Looking for feedback on this

These “reports” concerned me so I performed pre and post measurements on one of my minis using pink noise. It had reduce bass on. No significant change pre and post.

I did the same on one of my OG’s, but remembered to test also with reduce bass off. Pre and post measurements showed no significant changes. Volume was relatively low, at 50%.

The above measurement were taken ~2 feet from the HomePod with an phone13 mic using SPL pro app.

Befor updating my 4th and last OG HomePod, I measured at max volume: 82dB A-weighted and 88db C-weighted both pre and post measurement with reduce bass off.

 

[Dylan33x]

These “reports” concerned me so I performed pre and post measurements on one of my minis using pink noise. It had reduce bass on. No significant change pre and post.

I did the same on one of my OG’s, but remembered to test also with reduce bass off. Pre and post measurements showed no significant changes. Volume was relatively low, at 50%.

The above measurement were taken ~2 feet from the HomePod with an phone13 mic using SPL pro app.

Befor updating my 4th and last OG HomePod, I measured at max volume: 82dB A-weighted and 88db C-weighted both pre and post measurement with reduce bass off.

Thank you very much for doing this and so detailed. I got feedback later that this wasn’t the case, but seen a few people still swearing it was. Still going to do some small tests myself, but thank you very much for your objective data

 

[Swift]

Update OG HomePods - downloaded fairly quick but the updating process for a stereo pair is now at 1 hour - ideas?

I just opened up Apple TV, and noticed my OG HomePods sounded better. Overnight, Yes, the new firmware had arrived. The overall sound, and the Atmos, was better. Not a huge change, but quite nice. Soundstage a bit more open. My next HomePods would ideally be that Sony set of four speakers. Also, did you know if you push the Siri button on the Siri Remote, you can say, “Open [movie of your choice] in Netflix”? or just call out any app’s name.