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Apple Shares New Video on Getting the Most From HomePod
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I think it’s about getting a speaker that sounds 90% as good, costs less, has app functionality, works with Spotify, isn’t totally closed off, and works with an assistant that isn’t totally incompetent.
I just returned mine today. I am a huge fan of Apple products. Have a mac, 2 laptops 5 phones, and 3 iPads in the house. I really wanted to love this product, but after using it for a week, i just can't see what everyone is raving about. My Sonos Play 3 blows it out of the water. Did i get a defective unit? After i returned it this morning i strolled over to the display area and listened to the one they had playing. Sounded the same as the one i just returned. Im a little disappointed because we had planned to buy multiple HomePods and place them throughout the house.
The one bright spot was Siri worked perfectly for us. Always getting errors when using with the phone but rarely with the HopePod.
The one bright spot was Siri worked perfectly for us. Always getting errors when using with the phone but rarely with the HopePod.
There are plenty of Spotify choices. Simply buy one of them and be happy.
Siri is totally incompetent? Really. You probably are not aware that Siri's purpose with respect to HomePod relates to playing music. And for me, it does that to perfection. Siri has been batting 1,000 for all my music requests so far over the nine days I've been using HomePod extensively.
If you're looking for a digital assistant to order a box of detergent from Amazon, recommend a brownie recipe, hail an Uber, etc, then simply get a device whose main purpose is being a digital assistant. Easy.
HomePod is about playing music; ideally for those who are into Apple Music or have an iTunes library. And it does that incredibly well in a wide variety of listening environments, through a superb voice-driven user interface that works amazingly well over large distances in noisy backgrounds.
I'll be purchasing two more units in the near future, and my wife will be getting one for her studio.
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One of the most obtrusive and terrible sounding speakers you can buy. Hope you like it.
My echo 2 is sitting at my gfs place and it nearly ordered cat food today when her mother who is visiting from the U.K. was reading an article from the newspaper out loud.
Neither one of us has a cat....
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This pretty much sums it up perfectly.
I care a lot about functionality and I don’t like it when a company closes off everything so that it only works with their vertically-integrated software. Siri’s functionalities are obviously limited, beyond not being able to buy groceries. I don’t doubt that you are very loyal to Apple, but some of us like practicality over brand.
"but some of us like practicality over brand."
Oh... Some of us. Got it. You apparently feel you have a lock on practicality over brand, unlike others here.
On brand... I wouldn't call it being loyal or married to a brand. It's more about I'll continue to purchase Apple products that meet and/or exceed my requirements, are reliable, play well together, and are well-priced. If Apple continues to do that for me, I'll continue to open my wallet for them. They have no lock on loyalty.
"I care a lot about functionality and I don’t like it when a company closes off everything so that it only works with their vertically-integrated software."
I hear ya bro... I get steamed every time I need ink cartridges for my Epson 4800 printer and for some reason they didn't have the foresight to design it so it would take Canon or HP ink cartridges as well. Those meanies! But I like the end-result print quality. So I continue to purchase printers that give me superior output. No need to hold my breath and stamp my feet because a manufacturer refuses to meet my demands.
Fortunately, I'm super-pleased with Apple Music after trying Spotify a couple years ago. At $8.33/month it's an outstanding deal. And Siri has been flawless for my music requests. My wife's, too.
Why in the world would I consider another speaker when Apple has exceeded my expectations at a decent price? Why would I need BT connectivity when AirPlay works much better? And AirPlay 2 is just around the corner.
I don't need a vocal digital assistant. But fortunately for you, there are a lot of options out there. Why not just pick one and be happy. I promise that's OK with me, and likely others here as well.
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Funny how similar are the "it's not for me" posts to the ones for the AirPods not long ago.
Wait a few more months before the HomePod starts picking up again (especially when it's updated with its intended features). The AirPods had their fair share of hating but they are everywhere nowadays and people can't stop raving about them. I mean they are not the best sounding wireless headphones out there but with their portability/functionality coupled with good enough sound, I pick them up more than my other bulky headphones.
Wait a few more months before the HomePod starts picking up again (especially when it's updated with its intended features). The AirPods had their fair share of hating but they are everywhere nowadays and people can't stop raving about them. I mean they are not the best sounding wireless headphones out there but with their portability/functionality coupled with good enough sound, I pick them up more than my other bulky headphones.
I’m willing to bet the “mono” signal that Airfoil is sending is in fact two identical stereo channels. I doubt the AirPlay protocol support true mono.
The threat to Sonos isn't Apple or the homepod. It's their ability to survive in a smart speaker market when they have no meaningful way of distinguishing themselves from the rest of the competition. Being "open" here is more of a liability than an advantage.
I am looking at the whole iOS vs Android fight, how Apple has basically gone on to suck the majority of profits from each of the markets it chooses to compete in, and am struggling not to see a parallel between the homepod and non-Apple-branded hardware.
Let's look at their respective user bases.
For the homepod, the value proposition is clear. Apple has over 30 million Apple Music subscribers, and it is attempting to leverage this to sell homepods. If you use an iPhone and are subscribed to Apple Music, it's assumed that you are also familiar with Siri and the homepod is a natural choice (and pretty much the only choice). Apple might eventually open up the homepod to support Spotify and other music services in the future, but for now, I think it has a large enough user base of iPhone users to market to.
Though looking at how the Apple Watch supports only Apple Music, I don't think it's likely that Apple will open up the homepod to competing music streaming services. I think that Apple's strategy here is becoming increasingly clear - they are going to increasingly leverage on Apple Music to sell more (profitable) hardware. But we will see.
For the Sonos speaker, the target market is shaping up to be a Spotify user who also desires access to Alexa. However, the issue here is that Sonos won't be the only player in the market. If I am not that big on sound quality, or simply want Alexa, or have an existing sound system, I can easily get an Amazon echo for a fraction of the price. What's stopping other companies from also jumping into the market with their own smart speaker offerings?
At the same time, because Sonos is a hardware company without any ecosystem to call its own, it is all but forced to use Alexa in its speakers rather than develop its own voice assistant (because a high-end hardware company is by definition more inclined to suck at services). Sonos is effectively betting the company on being able to differentiate on hardware, and we have all seen how that worked out for multiple industries, not least the smartphone market, where android phone OEMs have seen their margins tank simply because they couldn't sufficiently differentiate their products from the rest of the competition.
Then, you are also assuming that spotify users stay spotify users instead of jumping ship to Apple Music. Airplay 2 will soon be available as well. These are all legitimate threats to Sonos.
To sum it up, I feel that a partnership with Amazon was the best option there was for Sonos, but that doesn't mean this wasn't a faustian bargain. I think that moving forward, we will see the smart speaker market effectively become the speaker market.
The winners here will be Apple (as always), Amazon and Google (to a lesser extent). Hardware companies like Sonos and Bose will soon face competition from all sides that amounts to nothing less than an extinction-level threat. We may in turn see another wave of mergers and acquisitions take place across the industry. Samsung acquired Harman last year, if memory serves me correctly. I wonder who the next casualty will be...
*On a side note, this is why if Spotify were to ever put itself up for sale, Amazon would be my number one guess.
I have both Sonos and HP and agree with your post. Also like to add, Home Kit is far superior to controlling connected devices than Alexa and Siri whilst not a general knowledge champion it does the basics very well and less fussy than Alexa. Siri on the HP works very well.
I like practicality over brand too.
As someone who happens to have a Mac, an iPhone and subscribes to Apple Music, and values audio quality over all the smart speaker stuff, it made practical sense for us to get a HomePod rather than go for Sonos because of its brand.
Seriously, is this crap about people buying Apple products because of the brand, rather than them actually being good solid products that make practical sense to a lot of people ever going to stop?
Actually I found a way to run stereo to homepods via iphone now. But you also need a mac with airfoil as well.
Basically you set up airfoil like I described before to make a stereo connection to the homepods from the mac. Then set up reflector which you can get here: http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/
Now you can airplay stereo music from your iphone to the homepods - via the mac and the 2 apps airfoil and reflector running simultaneously.
No updates required from apple now.
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Every once in a while Apple comes up with these little projects that are destined to flop. The HomePod is crippled by Siri, and it's support of only one music platform. Unfortunately like most Apple products the hardware is top of the line, it's the software that destroys it. Why release a product that is only compatible with trash software.
Love Apple Music. Does what it says on the tin. Love iOS too. Much better than any others. No trash software here.
I feel stupid for buying one now.
Honestly if I decide to buy a smart speaker it will probably be by google, as I’m considering switching over to Android. I’m tired of Apples bs. You spend a ton of money on phone just to have it slowed down after one year. That is ridonculous!
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If Apple Music had public playlists like Spotify as well as easier navigation to artists and albums then I would agree. I wish I wouldn’t have to jump between the two when I’m trying to find something new. Spotify’s radio feature is far more superior. When I play a song radio in Apple Music I usually get about 10 to 15 songs that have absolutely nothing in common with what was playing previously. If Spotify had an interface like iTunes I would switch in a heartbeat. I love iOS as well, until my Device gets slowed down by the the next update.
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Practicality comes in many different ways, and means different things to different people.
For me, practicality is about the ease of the experience. I spent many years with absolutely no brand loyalty and in the end I got fed up with trying to get everything to work together (not just with relation to computers/phones etc). I am now fairly loyal to a few brands, but that is driven by practicality, rather than any strong feelings towards those particular brands.
I chose Apple as the walled garden actually fits in well with the way I want my stuff to work. I could have picked another company or system. Apple are far from perfect in much that they do, but the ease of getting all this stuff to work together is the reward for my brand loyalty. Whether it is technically the best kit, or whether it is a bit expensive is rather less important to me.
In many ways, all these discussions about which speakers work with which services is further evidence that I have made the right decision for me. I don't have to worry about it. It is irrelevant to me whether the HomePod has bluetooth or an aux input, or whether it works with Spotify. It works with what I have.
Of course, what is right for me isn't right for others. I'm just pointing out that there are many reasons for brand loyalty.
You do realise SOME android phones slow down after a year or even less than that. Generally phones do not slow down certainly those on a two year or even one year cycle. You can still use amazon alexa and apple products if you simply want a better voice assistant.
I'm still on the fence but will probably buy one soon.
I wish Apple would have sweetened the pot and added an Apple Music promo since you really need it to use it.
But my question is, they delay it like 3 months and still release it with beta iOS and missing features?
What have they been doing for 3 months?
I wish Apple would have sweetened the pot and added an Apple Music promo since you really need it to use it.
But my question is, they delay it like 3 months and still release it with beta iOS and missing features?
What have they been doing for 3 months?
The way I see it is that an echo or google mini are so cheap that if I wanted a different AI, it's simply an addon. I have one of each. Hey google..or alexa. I never had music or tv systems in mind with these. That would be Sonos because it offers soundbars, subs, speakers, etc. Homepod is interesting. Obviously i'd rather have something by Apple that offers much better integration for my apple universe of stuff.
Except Homepod doesn't. Not right now. It's offered with apple music in mind. I don't really need just that. When it's offered with apple tv in mind (with apple music being a bonus), I'll be interested. If making a choice for present, it has to be Sonos. Maybe a lone homepod for the heck of it is about as good as interest as i can muster but not enough to buy one as limited as it is.
Except Homepod doesn't. Not right now. It's offered with apple music in mind. I don't really need just that. When it's offered with apple tv in mind (with apple music being a bonus), I'll be interested. If making a choice for present, it has to be Sonos. Maybe a lone homepod for the heck of it is about as good as interest as i can muster but not enough to buy one as limited as it is.
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Is it OK with you? Because the reason I called you out was because you seemed to think it was unacceptable for someone to switch from HomePod to Sonos.
I don't have Apple Music, and my HomePod works just fine - (I do, however, have iTunes Match ($25/yr) )
Plays all 7,000+ tracks of mine.