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

[Keirasplace]

It just seems to me that as currently marketed and based on current software, the market for this is people who like better sound, but not TOO much better (otherwise they’d demand at least stereo), who don’t also want speakers for home theater applications (or they’d demand 5.1 at least), who also own iPhones but not TOO many iPhones (since only one person can share iCloud features with the device), who like music but don’t like music too much (since it won’t play music stored on a mac via home sharing), or who use Siri but keep their iphone too far away (but still have an iphone in the house) and who don’t already own apple watches (or they’d always have Siri at hand).

I’m sure it can evolve into something useful, but right now the marketing and software seem pretty muddled.

It gives you stereo of a sort, look it up.
Most times people with two speakers are NOT GETTING STEREO where they're actually listening the music from.
That's a key thing a lot of people seem to not realize.
Also, those systems don't adapt to the music they play, or the room and thus are providing something entirely different, they're providing a better sound in a much wider area.
[doublepost=1516921712][/doublepost]

Alas, with my bad hearing and tinnitus, your example of bigger better more expensive speakers make my listening experience no better than a smaller quality output speaker. Maybe louder but I’m not by myself enough to turn up those kinds of volumes. I simply can’t differentiate the quality beyond a certain level.

Also, there’s the matter of enjoying music for the music. I honestly think there a middle ground where I can enjoy music without having a perfect reproduction of the sounds. I enjoy listening to music in my car for instance, or thru headphones or ear buds.

Well, having a speaker that can adjust its output to its environment dynamically according to the volume it plays and what it plays, should enable someone to put the volume lower to get a clear, non echoey sound everywhere.
With many speakers it can do echo cancellation and remove a lot of the crap that comes from just bouncing sound from one source off walls.

 

[citysnaps]

numerous great-sounding speakers already exist

But they don't employ the signal processing technology with speaker and microphone arrays that permit adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization, producing much better sound for its relative size. Nor are they tightly integrated with Apple's services.

 

[cmaier]

But they don't employ the signal processing technology with speaker and microphone arrays that permit adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization, producing much better sound for its relative size. Nor are they tightly integrated with Apple's services.

Many small speakers sound great. I am happy to provide you with a list.

And, again "tightly integrated" is marketing speak. I've yet to see anyone explain how that currently benefits me. So far it seems it's actually a hassle because if my kid asks it to play music, suddenly my iPhone is suggesting Liv & Maddie soundtrack in the music app for me.

 

[dilbert99]

"Home Pod Siri, Please turn on the TV"
"Sorry, you need to buy our Apple TV before you can do that"

 

[falainber]

But they don't employ the signal processing technology with speaker and microphone arrays that permit adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization, producing much better sound for its relative size. Nor are they tightly integrated with Apple's services.

"signal processing technology with speaker and microphone arrays that permit adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization". We'll see. It sounds to me like a pure marketing. Just like the "retina" displays and a lot of other mysterious and non-technical terms Apple loves to use. Beamforming is normally used to mimic the audio system with multiple speakers (placed apart). I doubt HomePod will do better than a regular stereo system. Also, adaptive systems (like the ones in audio receivers) optimize sound stage for a given stage by placing the test microphone in the location of the listener's ears. With HomePod, there is no target location and the microphones (while multiple) are all located in the speaker. I am not sure there is an algorithm/technique good enough to improve sound everywhere in the room at the same time.

 

[Brookzy]

Wait...does this look like UK prices have come down, or is it just me?

Agree, UK pricing was lower than I expected.

It's just you. It was announced the other day at £319, but even with US tax added and our VAT taken into account, UK buyers still pay about £45 more than US buyers.

It's only fair to compare tax free prices, so £319 inc. VAT = £265.83 without VAT = $376.53, so it's only £19.45 more here, not £45.

It's just you - the speaker was always going to be ~£320 as far as we know.

When iPhones, Apple TV, and other audio accessories including AirPods, etc. etc. are all at dollar parity? It was very surprising that it wasn't £349.

 

[cmaier]

It gives you stereo of a sort, look it up.
Most times people with two speakers are NOT GETTING STEREO where they're actually listening the music from.
That's a key thing a lot of people seem to not realize.
Also, those systems don't adapt to the music they play, or the room and thus are providing something entirely different, they're providing a better sound in a much wider area.
[doublepost=1516921712][/doublepost]

Well, having a speaker that can adjust its output to its environment dynamically according to the volume it plays and what it plays, should enable someone to put the volume lower to get a clear, non echoey sound everywhere.
With many speakers it can do echo cancellation and remove a lot of the crap that comes from just bouncing sound from one source off walls.

Most people with stereo speakers are smart enough to place them on opposite sides of the listening area.

And most people who CARE about sound go beyond that and use the adaptive features of their receiver or amp to calibrate the sound for the sound stage.

There’s no way one speaker will do a better than two speakers when they have equivalent-quality drivers. There’s no way anyone who cares about audio quality is going to buy HomePod instead of equivalent priced pair of speakers just for sound. Which is why HomePod has to offer more than that (and it’s not clear whether or not it does yet).

 

[citysnaps]

Many small speakers sound great. I am happy to provide you with a list.

And, again "tightly integrated" is marketing speak. I've yet to see anyone explain how that currently benefits me. So far it seems it's actually a hassle because if my kid asks it to play music, suddenly my iPhone is suggesting Liv & Maddie soundtrack in the music app for me.

"Many small speakers sound great. I am happy to provide you with a list."
No need. I own a few. Fully understanding the technology employed and its potential (I'm an engineer specializing in signal processing), I'm confident HomePod will sound much better and will offer pretty neat services/options. And there's loads of potential going forward for additional features. Can't wait.


"And, again "tightly integrated" is marketing speak."
If you don't understand what that means, no worries mate. Didn't mean to dazzle-dazzle with what to you might be unusual words/phrases. Many people, however, understand what tightly integrated means and depend on that integration between Apple devices, software, and services everyday. I sure do. HomePod will add another device to the mix and am looking forward to it.

"I've yet to see anyone explain how that currently benefits me."
If that doesn't benefit you, that's cool. Stay with what you currently use and be happy.


"So far it seems it's actually a hassle because if my kid asks it to play music, suddenly my iPhone is suggesting Liv & Maddie soundtrack in the music app for me."
How long have you had your HomePod for?

 

[cmaier]

"Many small speakers sound great. I am happy to provide you with a list."
No need. I own a few. Fully understanding the technology employed and its potential (I'm an engineer specializing in signal processing), I'm confident HomePod will sound much better and will offer pretty neat services/options. And there's loads of potential going forward for additional features. Can't wait.


"And, again "tightly integrated" is marketing speak."
If you don't understand what that means, no worries mate. Didn't mean to dazzle-dazzle with what to you might be unusual words/phrases. Many people, however, understand what tightly integrated means and depend on that integration between Apple devices, software, and services everyday. I sure do. HomePod will add another device to the mix and am looking forward to it.

"I've yet to see anyone explain how that currently benefits me."
If that doesn't benefit you, that's cool. Stay with what you currently use and be happy.


"So far it seems it's actually a hassle because if my kid asks it to play music, suddenly my iPhone is suggesting Liv & Maddie soundtrack in the music app for me."
How long have you had your HomePod for?

So you decline to tell me how the “tight integration” benefits users? I’m a smart guy. If you tell me I’ll understand. I have two doctoral degrees (electrical engineering is one of them).

So far I’ve seen no features that don’t already exist in other products or in other combinations of products (iPhone plus Sonos, for example).

 

[citysnaps]

So you decline to tell me how the “tight integration” benefits users? I’m a smart guy. If you tell me I’ll understand. I have two doctoral degrees (electrical engineering is one of them).

So far I’ve seen no features that don’t already exist in other products or in other combinations of products (iPhone plus Sonos, for example).

"So you decline to tell me how the “tight integration” benefits users?"
No, I didn't decline. I simply responded to your claim they didn't benefit you, asserted in post# 178. And that was and still is ok. I use Apple's integrated features everyday between different devices and they clearly benefit me. And likely many others in the Apple eco-system.

"So far I’ve seen no features that don’t already exist in other products or in other combinations of products (iPhone plus Sonos, for example)."

I never claimed, nor has anyone else here claimed, that Apple is the only company that has a system of services that are integrated across multiple devices. Smells like you're trying to raise a straw man now.

 

[GTO]

The HomePod is the first thing that Apple has made that I have no interest in.

Exactly! No interest for me either....

 

[erinsarah]

Most people I know listen to music on the go a lot more than at home. And family subs give each family member their own profile for curated music which a huge part of the experience -- you don't want your listening experience filled with your parents' or kids' music preferences.

Given my teenage daughter's penchant for Broadway show tunes and her younger sibling's interest in all things Taylor Swift, I wholeheartedly agree.

I'm curious about how this whole tying it to the owner thing works. I "own" the AppleID in my household, but I work in an office and the wife works at home. If certain features get locked when I'm not there, it's pretty pointless. But then again my wife hates technology and will probably never use it anyways, most likely making annoyed comments about how I just bought the HomePod as an eventual replacement for her. Isn't love grand? But I digress...

 

[deanthedev]

Actually some do. And at $700 for a pair, you can get some pretty nice speakers (none that auto-adjust that I know of at that price, though). That said, auto-adjusting is not all that valuable to most people since people don’t tend to relocate the speakers daily or relocate their walls or furniture daily. When I set up my home theater I adjusted everything once (automatically! My speakers came with a mic which you place in the listening position, then the speakers play a series of tones in order to adjust everything). I haven’t adjusted since.

If the value proposition of HomePod is “you can carry it around from room to room” or something then I would expect it to have a handle and be battery operated, but that doesn’t seem to be what apple is selling it for.

Auto-adjusting isn't about moving your speaker around constantly. It's about taking your environment and your speaker location into consideration to make it sound as good as possible.

I guarantee you what your speakers did is nothing compared to the HomePod. What they did was set up the EQ to match your room. Which make/model speakers are you talking about?
[doublepost=1516937651][/doublepost]

So you decline to tell me how the “tight integration” benefits users? I’m a smart guy. If you tell me I’ll understand. I have two doctoral degrees (electrical engineering is one of them).

So far I’ve seen no features that don’t already exist in other products or in other combinations of products (iPhone plus Sonos, for example).

"I've seen no features that don't exist in other products..."

So you know of other speakers that can do beamforming? How about bass modeling with a dedicated mic just to monitor the movement of the bass driver? Speakers that can identify their location in a room, measure that room and modify its output accordingly?

 

[X38]

Tell me why we need another voice assisted speaker again?

For people who don't want to get life-raped by the Google/Amazon borg.

 

[Keirasplace]

Most people with stereo speakers are smart enough to place them on opposite sides of the listening area.

And most people who CARE about sound go beyond that and use the adaptive features of their receiver or amp to calibrate the sound for the sound stage.

There’s no way one speaker will do a better than two speakers when they have equivalent-quality drivers. There’s no way anyone who cares about audio quality is going to buy HomePod instead of equivalent priced pair of speakers just for sound. Which is why HomePod has to offer more than that (and it’s not clear whether or not it does yet).

Right.. And they sound like **** in a with a very small area that is the sweet spot and just terrible everywhere else.
Are those people hovering in the middle of the living room at all time in both axis huh.
What about other rooms, speakers covers every position in stereo all over the room... That's some feat of acoustic you have going there with 2 speaker just spitting out sound waves with no cares in the world.
That's the reason why sales of those traditional system have gone way down; fullfilling all their needs...

Also, there are more than one source in this "speaker" . Man, please go look at the info.
I'm not going to read it to you.

I've owned great sound systems in the past and know their limitations in use,
so you can stop talking to me like I'm a child. Keep it for your kids.

As for not knowing, the physics of what they show on the inside seems sound and the tech behind it ( and yeah, got a background in physics engineering (2 years before transferring to computer engineering), and people that actually heard them says it is true. What else should I base my opinions on: your feelings, your gut, your "logic". I don't think so.

 

[Bestevaer]

Alas, with my bad hearing and tinnitus, your example of bigger better more expensive speakers make my listening experience no better than a smaller quality output speaker. Maybe louder but I’m not by myself enough to turn up those kinds of volumes. I simply can’t differentiate the quality beyond a certain level.

Also, there’s the matter of enjoying music for the music. I honestly think there a middle ground where I can enjoy music without having a perfect reproduction of the sounds. I enjoy listening to music in my car for instance, or thru headphones or ear buds.

Then why go for a $350 homepod instead of a $80 bluetooth speaker? I don't see the incentive to go for the homepod in your case. You can stream Apple music over bluetooth...

 

[citysnaps]

"signal processing technology with speaker and microphone arrays that permit adaptive beamforming and dynamic self-equalization". We'll see. It sounds to me like a pure marketing. Just like the "retina" displays and a lot of other mysterious and non-technical terms Apple loves to use. Beamforming is normally used to mimic the audio system with multiple speakers (placed apart). I doubt HomePod will do better than a regular stereo system. Also, adaptive systems (like the ones in audio receivers) optimize sound stage for a given stage by placing the test microphone in the location of the listener's ears. With HomePod, there is no target location and the microphones (while multiple) are all located in the speaker. I am not sure there is an algorithm/technique good enough to improve sound everywhere in the room at the same time.

"Beamforming is normally used to mimic the audio system with multiple speakers (placed apart)."
It can. But it can also do much more. Which other low-cost compact speakers use such techniques, especially speakers that are dynamically adaptive, rather than static, characterizing and then taking into account the acoustical response of the listening environment?

"Also, adaptive systems (like the ones in audio receivers) optimize sound stage for a given stage by placing the test microphone in the location of the listener's ears. With HomePod, there is no target location and the microphones (while multiple) are all located in the speaker."
First of all, please list which inexpensive desktop speakers use even a single microphone for such characterization. And realize that's just a single microphone which can only be used for frequency response characterization at a point, rather than model the room's acoustics the speaker is placed in. HomePod uses an array of six microphones for characterizing the the listening environment's acoustics, including echo response, and can be used for determining subject location for best response while canceling echo due to an imperfect environment (don't know if Apple is doing that now, but is certainly within the real of a future update).

Beamforming a six element microphone array could also be used for other purposes, such as taking phone calls. After subject location is determined, a beam could focused on the subject while rejecting other sources and echo responses in the room for superior subject audio quality during a phone conversation. Potentially, the microphone beam could be steered as the subject moves about the room during a phone call. That would also be useful for taking and understanding Siri commands as well.

I have no idea if Apple is doing that now, but the potential is there.

 

[Newtons Apple]

For people who don't want to get life-raped by the Google/Amazon borg.

Apple will be no different and use every bit of information to its advantage. It is the whole purpose of these devices.

 

[Rogifan]

Another preview, this time from Lance Ulanoff. Pretty much tells us what we already know, that the sound quality is excellent. Of course the question people are really asking is all about Siri and why Apple isn’t trying to compete with Echo and Home. Rene Ritchie tweeted tonight that Apple needs a VP of Siri to drive the product forward.

https://medium.com/@LanceUlanoff/up-close-with-apple-homepod-siris-expensive-new-home-22f1ee0e682

 

[brunswickgreen]

Guessing it will be available 18.00hrs in the UK.

 

[mazz0]

Still not available here. What's the deal yo?

 

[The Game 161]

Guessing it will be available 18.00hrs in the UK.

Was told 1.30pm

 

[Rcbooth14]

Then why go for a $350 homepod instead of a $80 bluetooth speaker? I don't see the incentive to go for the homepod in your case. You can stream Apple music over bluetooth...

That’s like saying AirPods are the same experience as $15 Bluetooth headphones. Yes they do the same thing but one connects when I open the case and the other connects after 15 seconds of searching. It’s the small details that set AirPods apart from the rest. Only time will tell if it’s the same case with the HomePod.

 

[citysnaps]

Just ordered a HomePod in Space Gray. And pick it up at the nearby Apple Store on February 9.

 

[Tiger8]

For people who don't want to get life-raped by the Google/Amazon borg.

Your iPhone has been listening to you nonstop since 6s