All is good but Siri feels like the girlfriend who wants to prove how much she knows without really understanding the question. Yeah, I get you know about music, but not everything I ask is about music. If she doesn't understand she goes on a diatribe about some band and it's history named "off" or "weather" or whatever . . . one day and I'm pretty tried of her. Siri in my HomePod and Siri in my phone are sisters from another mother I think. Clearly we need to get to know one another a little better . . . but jeez
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HomePod Hands-On: Unboxing and Overview
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You can use the „Remote“ app on an iPhone or iPad to control iTunes playback (including airplay).
Thanks! On your recommendation I just tried HomePod on a phone call and it works great!
With the texting issue, try this:
1. Hey Siri, send "XXX" a text message
2. Siri will reply with "what do you want to send XXX"
3. Then say what the message is.
4. Siri will acknowledge the message and then ask for your permission to send it.
I used this and it worked perfectly! No issues with the text either. Typed perfectly.
Stereo pairing DOES NOT work (11.3 b2)
When adding a second HP , the create stereo pair comes up and goes through motions of creating a Stereo Group.
In the Home App they are listed as grouped pair.
When actually playing music , only ONE plays . The other is silent
Hope this clears things up for now
When adding a second HP , the create stereo pair comes up and goes through motions of creating a Stereo Group.
In the Home App they are listed as grouped pair.
When actually playing music , only ONE plays . The other is silent
Hope this clears things up for now
Quick question - can you disable Siri so that it is no longer listening and just use it as an airplay speaker? My partner does not like the idea of these devices listening to all the conversations and sending it back to Apple HQ and the CIA for analysis.
Cheers
Cheers
So I ended up picking up a HomePod and the one thing that is unclear to me when I play song from my Iphone to the HomePod, if it's streaming directly to the HomePod or streaming from my phone to the HomePod. So my question is, can I select a song from Iphone and have it play directly to the HomePod (i.e. not stream from my phone to the home pod via airplay).
Listened to it at Best Buy. Cancelled my order, I was not impressed. I guess I’m in the minority here as I don’t see it as being worth $350+tax. I’m a die hard Apple fanboy fully invested in the ecosystem too.
Lol, a ‘ginormous’ BestBuy store will make Macintosh Audio, KEF, SVS sound horrible. Bring it home, try it in a small room, and return it if you’re not satisfied.
I get what you’re saying. The issues I had with it were not from the store / environment.
Well I’ve just asked it to play radio 1
And it said playing radio 1 playlist. So not sure if that’s just a playlist they play or live. Likely just a stored playlist
You opened your comment with listening at Best Buy. If the audio wasn’t the issue what was?
So you want your iPhone to control the HomePod, but for the HomePod to directly stream from the network, and not via AirPlay from the iPhone?
That's how the AppleTV works, so presumably the HomePod does too.
That said, I'd be more interested in the alternative -- where I'm not connected to a wifi network, and want to stream from my phone to the HomePod. The HomePod could be a great addition to an RV in that case. The Apple TV was a great disappointment in that it would not stream a movie directly from an iPhone, but insisted on handing off the video stream to the ATV, which was not connected to a network.
When I first got mine, I installed it in the kitchen/great room area. Didn’t like the sound. Room is too big for this little sucker. Installed it in the bedroom and haven’t looked back, blew me away. Ordered a few more. HomeKit devices work surprisingly well and response is quick. AM just works, HP connects to my bedroom AppleTV & works with movies, and other apps. Couldn’t really ask for more right now.
To be honest I’ve been critical of Apple these past few years. I wasn’t expecting much. But this product is a throwback to the Apple of old. I want more products like this from Apple.
Now bring on the ‘HomePod Tower Pro’ !
How did you get such a fundamental thing wrong? This great speaker runs not only via Siri, but via Airplay, so you can use lots of other things like Spotify, etc.
On top of it, how did you arrive at the conclusion that Siri on HP is not dependable? LOL. Siri works exceptional with the Homepod, and while more features are coming via over the air updates, right out of the box Siri does everything that surveys show the vast majority of people use their smart speaker for. Number 1 by far is to listen to music-duh! Having the best sounding speaker kind of makes sense huh? After that is sending messages, checking traffic/weather, and setting a timer. Check out the article/survey below. It turns out that the large majority of Echo owners haven't activated even a single skill. No, even though more is on the way, it's clear Siri is already hitting it out of the box/cylinder.
And every reviewer agrees that Siri can hear much better than Alexa over noise, and now you don't have to shout to have your personal assistant hear you when you're listening to something loud.
Here's a short and fun demonstration of the Homepod and Siri
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I don't have any other smart speaker and this is my first. I am 100% Apple.
I love the sound quality and I am used to Siri so don't expect the world from her!
Yes its 320 quid but, to me, it looks better than the competition which is often the obvious advantage when you join the game late and I love Apple's build quality.
It became a no brainer when Sonos offered two of their speakers for one of Apple's! Master move? Maybe not!
I love the sound quality and I am used to Siri so don't expect the world from her!
Yes its 320 quid but, to me, it looks better than the competition which is often the obvious advantage when you join the game late and I love Apple's build quality.
It became a no brainer when Sonos offered two of their speakers for one of Apple's! Master move? Maybe not!
Your mention that video sounds distinctly mono, is a little disappointing. I can understand that being true for most network TV, but that shouldn't be true for a feature film. I wonder if it has anything to do with the audio codec being streamed to the HomePod, like a Dolby 5.1 matrix being reduced to a mono track?
Is it possible for the ATV to output both HDMI audio and wirelessly to the HomePod at the same time in sync? I've got a subwoofer attached to my TV to enhance the built-in speakers. I could optionally turn off the built-in speakers, and use the HomePod with my subwoofer.
Well, you only have Tim Cook's word for it, if you're paranoid, but no Siri device that has "Hey Siri" enabled sends any audio outside of the device until the magic words are spoken. The device itself waits for "Hey Siri" and then and only then is audio shuttled back to the cloud for analysis.
That's what Apple has consistently said about "Hey Siri" since day one. You can believe it or not.
That said, you can turn off "Hey Siri" on the HomePod with a switch in the Home app. The issue is, if you don't believe Apple about the functionality anyway, why would you believe the switch did anything?
Audiophiles don't own speakers that "...just don't sound that great." I own Acoustat Model 3's (only one of my speaker sets of course), therefore this little trinket is utter trash in my eyes. But have fun with your toilet paper speaker haha! I'm sure it will go great with your "household paper products" decor...paper towel lamps perhaps? 
"The HomePod sounds amazing!" Wow, some people have no clue what good sound is all about. Just because it's made by Apple, doesn't mean it's great, or even good. Oh, and just because it's better than Echo, Sonos, or Google Home (all garbage) doesn't mean it's great or even good either. Just being brutally honest here folks, that's all.
"The HomePod sounds amazing!" Wow, some people have no clue what good sound is all about. Just because it's made by Apple, doesn't mean it's great, or even good. Oh, and just because it's better than Echo, Sonos, or Google Home (all garbage) doesn't mean it's great or even good either. Just being brutally honest here folks, that's all.
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[doublepost=1518289762][/doublepost]Thanks for the unboxing and initial set-up video. I'm SOLD! I'll be buying the black version next payday!
Today's the official launch day of the HomePod, Apple's new Siri-powered smart speaker. As of now, the HomePod is available in all three launch countries -- the United States, UK, and Australia.
The first orders have gone out to customers who purchased a HomePod starting on January 26, and Apple retail stores also have plenty of supply for walk-in purchases.
We picked up a couple of HomePods this morning, and MacRumors videographer Dan has spent the last few hours testing out the sound quality, the Siri integration, the HomeKit controls, the touch gesture integration, and more.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Design wise, the HomePod is deceptively small, but it's also heavy and has a solid build. It's covered in a soft, pliable mesh material meant to enhance sound, and there's a fabric-covered cable at the back.
After a bit of a snafu with the setup process, which appears to be related to HomeKit and iCloud keychain and is something we'll need to investigate further, we had the HomePod up and running with an alternate Apple ID.
Sound, as previous reviews and impressions have suggested, is incredible. Music is crisp and clear, with the HomePod highlighting and separating every element of a song. Even if you're not an audiophile, you're going to notice the high-quality sound of the HomePod right away.
We tested HomePod with Apple Music, which is how HomePod is meant to be used, but you can also play music from other third-party music services like Spotify using AirPlay.
HomePod's voice detection works impressively well, with Siri able to pick up a "Hey Siri" command from across the room even with music playing loudly. Siri is useful for playing content from Apple Music and controlling your HomeKit devices, but if you're used to something like Amazon Alexa, you're going to notice a few shortcomings.
Siri on HomePod is basically like Siri on the iPhone, and the personal assistant has almost the same feature set on both devices. Apple didn't make major improvements to Siri for the HomePod, and that's definitely one of the most disappointing aspects of the device.
For HomePod owners out there, how are you liking the HomePod so far? Let us know in the comments. Make sure to check out our HomePod roundup if you're new to HomePod or planning to purchase one -- it's got everything you need to know about HomePod along with a running list of our HomePod how tos.
Article Link: HomePod Hands-On: Unboxing and Overview
Say what? My house is filled speakers that aren’t very good. Like the ones attached to our computers (for example). Do you think audiophiles put high-end components in every single room in their house?
This is why I can’t wait to try the HomePod. I can put them pretty much anywhere and expect good quality sound.
According to my iPhone X, Siri uses 25% of the battery over a week when Siri is unused, but listening. And I listen to music on it all day at work, besides taking calls and texts, so Siri is a major power hog. I finally turned it off because in ten years of iPhone use, I've never yet had Siri answer to "Hey Siri" when I really wanted it to do something.
The HP sounds interesting, because I have a set of ancient Klipsh computer speakers that really need replacing. However, not being able to play any music that is on my computer kind of ruins that for me (I have only five or six songs from iTunes, and iTunes match sounds to me as if they could take my music from me at anytime, just like the do the books I've purchased). Too bad as I have a lot of other Apple products.
To answer your question, yes I do expect that, if a person claims to be an audiophile. Just because the speakers attached to your computer aren't very good, doesn't mean everyone else has terrible speakers hooked up to their computers.