HomePod Disables Calendar, Messages, Notes, and Reminder Features When Owner Isn't Home, But Apple Music Account Remains Accessible

having read through the entire thread..

one thing I haven't read that would be a concern of mine..

Would someone at home playing music (via Apple Music) through the HomePod affect anything on the linked users Apple Music account - i.e. recently played, suggestions for new music, etc?

For that reason alone I make sure I have profiles for each member of the family for things like Netflix, etc.
 
deanthedev said:
Marginal? Please. It's far superior to an Echo (based on people who have tried it) and even the person quoted in this article places it above the Google Home Max (a $399 speaker).
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That is what’s said in the early review, that the HomePod sounded a lot better than the Echo, Google Home Max and the Sonos One. It will be interesting to see other reviews when they start coming out, maybe tomorrow?
 
So by default, everyone in the house can access your messages etc so long as you're in the house? That's a bit ****.
[doublepost=1516895294][/doublepost]Butbutbut, how will my HomePod and Watch know which one I'm talking to?
 
Dave245 said:
That is what’s said in the early review, that the HomePod sounded a lot better than the Echo, Google Home Max and the Sonos One. It will be interesting to see other reviews when they start coming out, maybe tomorrow?
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Why limit it to an Amazon product or a Google product. EVERYONE is making a compatible speaker for Alexa and Google. You'll be able to buy any quality of sound you want this year. With apple you can buy a homepod. Hard to believe it will sound better than a Sonos 5 or Google Max, though.
 
Dave245 said:
Ok I misunderstood that part, but if someone says to me a “speaker with assistant capability’s” I know what the product is in the same way imthat I would if someone said it’s a “speaker” the “speaker assistant” just means a speaker with an added assistant like Alexa for the Echo. I don’t know maybe I’m missing something here but I think it’s pretty clear what the HomePod is, just like it was clear what the AirPods were when they launched.
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I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. Are you intentionally ignoring the fact that I am clearly talking about actual functionality? It's a speaker with an assistant. We all know what it is. I'm talking about the lack of information about what it does.
 
RickInHouston said:
Why limit it to an Amazon product or a Google product. EVERYONE is making a compatible speaker for Alexa and Google. You'll be able to buy any quality of sound you want this year. With apple you can buy a homepod. Hard to believe it will sound better than a Sonos 5 or Google Max, though.
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Not sure why not

It’s a power house

One guy who spent an hour with it says it’s better sound than both the max and Sonos. Will see in due course
 
Kermit262 said:
It's funny, but I have a really nice 5.1 home theater setup (Paradigm floor speakers, SVS sub) and I almost never listen to music on it. 95% of the time I use my Bose mini-speaker. Part of the reason is that I listen to music early in the morning or late at night and don't want to disturb the rest of the family. That's part of the reason why the HomePod is appealing to me.
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Does Bose mini plays the songs at a frequency that only you can hear? Playing some early morning and late at night means everybody in your family can hear. Because that's the quietest time in 24 hours.

But still, if that's your purpose, HomePod is not your speaker. The design itself showed that it needs to sit in the middle of the room, not in a corner or against the wall. And I am not sure it's that portable.
 
69Mustang said:
I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. Are you intentionally ignoring the fact that I am clearly talking about actual functionality? It's a speaker with an assistant. We all know what it is. I'm talking about the lack of information about what it does.
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We know what it does Apple explained that at the keynote and on their website, it plays music, it uses Siri to answer music related questions, it can set reminders, alarms, it can also be used as a loud speaker when taking phone calls, it will have stereo when combining 2 HomePod’s later in the year, it will also have multi room later in the year. That is what it does.
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The Game 161 said:
Not sure why not

It’s a power house

One guy who spent an hour with it says it’s better sound than both the max and Sonos. Will see in due course
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After reading and replying to some of the comments in this thread I think some people are just choosing to ignore things like this, some people for a second can’t see how it can be better than the Google Max or Echo. Only time will tell when it’s released and we have some more reviews. I think some people (not all tho) are choosing to disregard a product that isn’t even out yet, this happens every time their is a new release by Apple, it happened with the AirPods people couldn’t understand how they would sound good and so on, now look at how well they are selling.
 
Bestevaer said:
If sound quality is all you care about there are many other options which are much better then this. If you prefer sound quality get an AV receiver with a pair of stereo speakers. Like Quadral or B&W speakers.

Then you have sound quality.

These kind of speakers are for convenience mostly.
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Sound quality is relative to the person listening.
 
The Game 161 said:
Not sure why not

It’s a power house

One guy who spent an hour with it says it’s better sound than both the max and Sonos. Will see in due course
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Sorry, but I do not believe the people (tech websites) who get an invite by Apple before all the other tech websites get review units (white listed and black listed companies by Apple). Those tech websites who are invited are rarely critical towards Apple.

So wait with buying before the other tech websites have reviewed it.
 
jakebrosy said:
"...only the person who sets up HomePod on their iCloud account will be able to send texts, set up reminders, and get calendar notifications via voice commands."​

I don't understand tying a speaker to a specific person. Speakers are (nominally) relatively communal in nature. With this setup we would need 2 speakers to enjoy the supposed benefits of having a smart speaker in the home. Which makes the smart speaker seem pretty dumb.
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Ya, if this speaker can't distinguish between mine and my wife's voice. This smart speaker is pretty dumb.
 
Want to know two reasons why this reviewer thought it sounded better than the Google Home Max?

- Very high excursion bass driver with a dedicated microphone and real-time bass modeling.
- Wider soundstage.

The Home Max might be a stereo speaker (it has a L & R woofer and tweeter), but they are literally side-by-side and will offer you absolutely zero separation. It might as well be a mono speaker. Whereas the HomePod, with its array of tweeters, can bounce the L & R channels off the rear wall to give an expanded soundstage. Not as wide as two separate speakers, but far superior to a single speaker like the Home Max or Play 3 or 5.
 
RickInHouston said:
During an apple team meeting:

"Guys, I've been on MacRumors and they are pretty much roasting the Homepod. We need an angle. What should we do?"

They go around the room and everyone is scratching their heads until someone shouts...

"Security! What security feature do we have or can we come up with so we can shout it as loud as we can? Apple users love the word security as much as they love magical!"
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We like “courage” too.
 
jakebrosy said:
"...only the person who sets up HomePod on their iCloud account will be able to send texts, set up reminders, and get calendar notifications via voice commands."​

I don't understand tying a speaker to a specific person. Speakers are (nominally) relatively communal in nature. With this setup we would need 2 speakers to enjoy the supposed benefits of having a smart speaker in the home. Which makes the smart speaker seem pretty dumb.
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Exactly, why couldn't it be set to say three AppleID's and then differentiate via which voice is making the commands. Makes it very non functional for a family.
 
Tinmania said:
I think you meant Apple is all you care about. Because if it was truly only about sound quality, there are many options that best HomePod, albeit not from Apple.
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While that may be true how can you say that without ever hearing one? Are you a beta tester? If so, please tell us more!

The idea of "sound quality" is really in the ears of the beholder. There is no *best* speaker (or best amp or best DAC, etc) which is why there are so many transducer and audio products on the market.

I have heard the old and recent Amazon and Google speakers and they are very lacking in sound quality "to my ears". They may suffice for others and their needs. I have not heard a Sonos system though but the possibilities of HomePod and eventual Apple ecosystem integration intrigue me more than what Sonos might ever be able to do. I do hope Siri catches up to Alexa and Google Assistant enough to be useful. Today I use Siri for HomeKit control more than anything else but that's due more to Siri's inability to do more than my lack of trying.

On another note, while I have wonderful sound at home it is of the conventional two-channel variety and stationary in the room where the system lives. I'm definitely interested in HomePod as a good sounding single speaker for the kitchen (or bathroom or garage, it's portable) where a conventional stereo system just doesn't work for me.

I don't have an Apple Music subscription, so the peer to peer aspect of the speaker had better support streaming music from my MBP or my iPhone over AirPlay and NOT be restricted to music purchased via iTunes. Like many of us I have purchased music from multiple sources and ripped CDs so all of that must be playable over AirPlay. Without this simple AirPlay streaming feature the HomePod is a non-starter, and yet I haven't read much about this basic ability. Is this so basic that it is an assumed feature? I hope so. This is one way to work around the music aspect of the multi-user "problem" since anyone would be able to stream a playlist easily without the need for an iCould account.
 
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Chupa Chupa said:
Honestly, if you only want nice speakers, don't care about Siri, there's an huge market of $700/pr stereo speakers from respected audio companies that are a much better value.

OTOH I have a home full of good speakers, but while I do have an iPhone and a couple iPads, they are not always with me when I'm moving around the house... or my iPhone is in my pocket out of earshot of Siri. Many time's I put my phone on the dock because I want to unplug. So it would be nice to have a small Siri speaker/mic so I could bark out commands w/o having to wonder where my iDevice is.
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How does HomePod solves the problem that I highlighted in your post? I think a portable ipad will better serve for that purpose. If your HomePod is connected in your living room, if you went to bedroom, how can you bark at HomePod? And if you can be that loud, then all your Apple devices can hear it no matter where they are and by that justification you don't need HomePod. Try again to come up with another reason why you need HomePod.
 
So if I say "Hey Siri" and I am wearing my Apple Watch and have my iPhone plugged in, in addition to my HomePod, in the same space how do the devices know which one I am talking too? Will they all activate???
 
deanthedev said:
Marginal? Please. It's far superior to an Echo (based on people who have tried it) and even the person quoted in this article places it above the Google Home Max (a $399 speaker).
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I haven't seen any reviews from these so-called people who have tried it. I only see the Refinery 29 review and they had it for all of an hour. Hard to do meaningful audio tests in an hours. Please stop parroting Apple ads. I can read too. I just don't believe everything I read. No, when you are talking about small self-powered speakers their is "unlistenable," "Passable," and "OK." Their are strata within each but, yes, they are all marginal when you are talking about playing background music. HomePods are superior to the speaker in an old 1960's transistor radio. I'll give you that.
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neutralguy said:
How does HomePod solves the problem that I highlighted in your post? I think a portable ipad will better serve for that purpose.
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Because I wouldn't have to carry my iPad or iPhone around to bark out Siri commands. Like I said I don't always have an iDevice on or around me at all times so it would be nice to have a speaker tethered that I could rely on anytime I did need to ask Siri to do something.
 
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