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HomePod HomePod mini - multi user environment

M

MrCookieMonster

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 13, 2014
143
37
Hi

I am buying a HomePod mini as a Christmas gift for my son.

However, should this be set up under my account from my iPhone or from his iPad? It would be used in his room.

*We have family sharing in place - hence the question on how the device should be best "managed". Not sure if this is even an issue?
 
MrCookieMonster said:
Hi

I am buying a HomePod mini as a Christmas gift for my son.

However, should this be set up under my account from my iPhone or from his iPad? It would be used in his room.

*We have family sharing in place - hence the question on how the device should be best "managed". Not sure if this is even an issue?
Click to expand...
I have two kids, six and seven, each with their own HomePod mini. I put it under my AppleID so I can manage it but it does support multi user support so they can still have their own experience with it.
 
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Thanks. That’s great to hear.

Really wasn’t sure if there was any benefit to either way of setting it up.
 
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MrCookieMonster said:
Is that part of the initial setup of the HomePod?
Click to expand...
It’s done on the primary device (iPhone, iPad) whatever your child uses with their AppleID. The Siri section in settings where you train Siri to recognize your voice. They also have to be added to the Home in the HomeKit app. There’s also a section in the HomePod settings (in HomeKit) to allow personal requests.
 
Use his iPad to set it up if it is for him, assuming his account is part of the family sharing and there is an Apple Music family plan.

Also multi user only works best when people are part of the home in the Home app, same with the Apple TV.
 
My kids are each getting a HomePod for Christmas and the plan is to add each from my iPhone and add them to the main home setup. The current HomePods we have recognize them fine and I figure adding them like I do with the others helps with consistency.
 
MrCookieMonster said:
Could you expand on this please?
Click to expand...
Below article should help. Once the device is in the Home app, people who are part of the home will be able to enable the following options. Basically Siri knows who is speaking so it can play your playlist on Apple Music and more importantly it won't affect the personal music recommendation.

IMG_1266.jpeg


Share control of your home​

Share control of your home - Apple Support

Invite people to control your home, edit their permissions, and allow them to control your home remotely with the Home app.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
Thanks.

Probably made a bigger deal than it needed to be with this question, but feel anything around Family sharing generally has a couple of ways of approaching it and not always obvious which is the best.
 
Here’s a related question - can I set up a HomePod to respond to my kids if they don’t have their own devices? They’re too young for their own phone but I’d like to let them use the HomePod to place calls to my wife and me or their grandparents.
 
tlab said:
Here’s a related question - can I set up a HomePod to respond to my kids if they don’t have their own devices? They’re too young for their own phone but I’d like to let them use the HomePod to place calls to my wife and me or their grandparents.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure not. Making a call is a personal request and they would need a primary device to set up voice recognition.

1638228422627.png
 
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Nuts, that’s inconvenient. I suppose one of them could sign into our iPad and the other one could be signed in to my old phone. Would they need to be powered on at all times for it to work?
 
tlab said:
Nuts, that’s inconvenient. I suppose one of them could sign into our iPad and the other one could be signed in to my old phone. Would they need to be powered on at all times for it to work?
Click to expand...
Yes, they would. Just tested by turning off my iPhone. Siri (HomePod) responded with, “I’m having trouble…, please check that your iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi network to…”
 
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tlab said:
Nuts, that’s inconvenient. I suppose one of them could sign into our iPad and the other one could be signed in to my old phone. Would they need to be powered on at all times for it to work?
Click to expand...
Also, I just remembered, I don’t think it will work with an iPad. My kids only have iPads and while voice recognition works for them for certain things, they can’t make phone calls with voice because I believe it needs an iPhone as the primary device.
 
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That’s interesting. I wonder if it would make FaceTime audio calls. Maybe I just need to get one and try it out.

I wonder if Apple has any plans to make the HomePod less reliant on connected devices and allow you to set up user profiles directly on the HomePod as a stand-alone device.
 
tlab said:
That’s interesting. I wonder if it would make FaceTime audio calls. Maybe I just need to get one and try it out.

I wonder if Apple has any plans to make the HomePod less reliant on connected devices and allow you to set up user profiles directly on the HomePod as a stand-alone device.
Click to expand...
Well, that’s what I tried it for… FaceTime audio on the kids’ iPads via the HomePod Mini and it didn’t work. That was about a year ago since the Mini came out. Not sure if anything’s changed since.
 
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