In fairness this is Spotify's fault. Apple gave them the tools and they did nothing.
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HomePod Mini Turns Two as Apple Looks to Expand Lineup Next Year
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I think the HomePods are a fantastic product. The major problem is using them with the integrated smart assistant. Siri is bad at responding, understanding, correctly processing requests and is generally unhelpful.
I have four in my house and as a multi-room sound system it is amazing! Being able to send music to whatever room I want is great. Sound quality and volume is more than acceptable and the functionally in this respect is impressive!
It is a huge shame that it is let down by Siri. I wouldn’t mind but these speakers are sold with the smart assistant as being one of the main features. Siri is so frustrating to use. It can be slow, fail or misunderstand even simple requests. It’s quicker and much more accurate to use a device which completely negates the implementation of the assistant. Siri is by far the worst Apple creation I’ve ever used. Embarrassingly bad. Having said that, I find Alexa suffers from the same problems.
If Apple were to release a speaker with an audio input and no microphones I’d have paid the same price. The lack of input and poor implementation of Siri make the HimePod overpriced.
I have four in my house and as a multi-room sound system it is amazing! Being able to send music to whatever room I want is great. Sound quality and volume is more than acceptable and the functionally in this respect is impressive!
It is a huge shame that it is let down by Siri. I wouldn’t mind but these speakers are sold with the smart assistant as being one of the main features. Siri is so frustrating to use. It can be slow, fail or misunderstand even simple requests. It’s quicker and much more accurate to use a device which completely negates the implementation of the assistant. Siri is by far the worst Apple creation I’ve ever used. Embarrassingly bad. Having said that, I find Alexa suffers from the same problems.
If Apple were to release a speaker with an audio input and no microphones I’d have paid the same price. The lack of input and poor implementation of Siri make the HimePod overpriced.
Despite being a great speaker, as long as Spotify refuses to support the HomePod it has no chance to compete with Sonos or even Google Nest. It will remain a niche product for those deep into Apple's ecosystem.
I fired Siri as a Home Assistant long ago. At the time Siri could not understand requests or provided poor replies and topping it off the Apple devices were ridiculously expensive. Alexa and Amazon Dots (of which I have 12 in one house alone) are a superior product for me…and I suspect the vast majority of average users.
Apple missed the boat by neglecting the Home Assistant market.
I'm in the Apple Ecosystem but chose Alexa for my home assistants. As has been in all of Apple's long history, when Apple gets something right, it's great. But, when they get something wrong, they really get it wrong.
I tend to agree so long as it's not the only offering.
I have 3 HomePod OGs and 1 HomePod mini. I was in the market for a speaker for the bathroom, and didn't want anything plugged in that close to water. With all of my stationary HomePods, I wouldn't want batteries in them if they're plugged in 24/7 since I've had Macbook and Apple Watch batteries start swelling in the past (popped the screen off the watch, and formed a giant bubble under the trackpad of the MBP.... both of which were covered under warranty). But in general, I don't need the HomePods having that possibility if I don't need them to move around away from a power source.
For the bathroom, I ended up going with a Sonos Roam since it's waterproof but it has USB-C and a magnetic Qi charger option that snaps onto the bottom of it (so pretty similar to what you describe with MagSafe, but I would have preferred to stick with HomePods if that were an option for them). My only concern is that the battery doesn't seem to be user-replaceable in the Sonos Roam (unlike the larger Sonos Move which has a battery replacement kit available). Basically I just don't like to be contributing to electronic waste if it's avoidable, and lithium batteries inevitably die. That said, the ability to have music in that room without connecting to the wall outlet is great.
Picky ears I would say! I have a set of the Echo... latest ones paired in stereo with a sub, sound is crisp, please and fills the room with great sound. Not an audiophile, but not deaf either. I use Amazon Music and they do have HD music as well, not exactly sure what it is but I am assuming it does not mean worse audio then normal.
Siri is not a quality virtual assistant in comparison to Google and Amazon. Funny as well that Amazon, a shopping website (yes I know they do more) has better AI then Apple, a hardware and software company.
I think hate is a strong word, it is just a product at the end of the day. Siri is not as good interacting with question as the competitors are. An example I just did on my iPhone. I asked Siri where was Father Brown (a British tv show) filmed. Siri in text only tells me it was filmed in the UK. I ask the same question to Alexa and it verbally tells me that Father brown was filmed in Sudely Castle, Block and Upper Slaughter UK. This is a basic one but Alexa gives you more fleshed out answers to your questions. Siri (at least on the phone) will a lot of the time just say "this is what I found on the web" and display a link to go to. Siri reminds me more of hardware that has some basic voice functioning if you say it the right way it knows how to reply. It is obviously more, but in comparison to the other guys it feels that way.
I just regret not buying two of the full-sized HomePods. People love to whinge about the price, but they're very very good AirPlay speakers and if you go out looking for comparable units you find the price is not at all an outlier. The HomePod Mini is ok but not remotely as good.
Agree with this.
Missed out on buying a second Full-sized HomePod -didnt see the need at the time.
Ended up buying a HomePod mini and it sounds really weak in comparison.
So I look forward to a relaunched HomePod but only if it functions as a stereo-pair with the original HomePod.
Also agree that I wish Siri somehow knew which device I am actually targeting with my request. Having a timer sound on my HomePods when I just wanted a (silent) timer on my watch is a typical thing that has made me just do everything manually now.
I have the mini,
Better Siri
Needs a display of current song.
Needs mode lights emitting from the pod, as the music plays
Siri doesn’t understand many vital commands such as “Hey Siri could you play last song”, or place song in my favorites.
Yes, Siri is the key, it’s like having a car without tires.
Better Siri
Needs a display of current song.
Needs mode lights emitting from the pod, as the music plays
Siri doesn’t understand many vital commands such as “Hey Siri could you play last song”, or place song in my favorites.
Yes, Siri is the key, it’s like having a car without tires.
Too late for me. I'm heavily invested in the Amazon Alexa ecosystem and my next smart speaker may be an Echo Studio.
I have a HomePod Mini, but I do miss my old HomePod. The Mini doesn't hold a candle to the original HomePod. I'm surprised Apple hasn't released an upgraded version yet.
I was in need of a Bluetooth speaker for the cabin and rushed out to buy the HomePod mini, figuring I’m fully invested in the Apple ecosystem, give it a shot. Didn’t really realize it’s a Plug-in device that you leave in one place. Completely the wrong choice for my purposes.
I am really surprised they haven't gone for OG Homepods and HomePod minis for the rear speakers. Maybe something for the future.
I do exactly as you. Actually I am finding Alexa a bit annoying lately but still find Amazon works very well for me at home.
I use Amazon Music too and Alexa pushes all music to SONOS which plays it all around the house.
A sound bar design to sit under/over a tv with Apple TV, FaceTime and echo show functionality would be very nice
really will never understand the hate on HomePod mini’s sound quality. I cherish my stereo pair of OG HomePods to this day (if you’ve never heard them together…boy are you missin out) and still find that the mini is incredibly impressive—not “for its size,” just, incredibly impressive. perhaps I’m not privy to other speakers out there but, my father had an audiophile 5.1 setup, and I’ve owned several speakers over the course of my time…so, again, not sure what the hate is. maybe it’s the never-ending wish that Siri would be on par with Alexa/Google, whose voice assistants are only so good because they farm the sh** out of all their users’ data. I’d prefer a voice assistant that doesn’t do so, and redirects me to a search engine for a question it can’t answer.
this much I can happily agree with, as far as the evolution of HomePod’s lineup goes. a sound bar would go a long way in terms of their so-far botched attempts at Atmos in Apple Music.
this much I can happily agree with, as far as the evolution of HomePod’s lineup goes. a sound bar would go a long way in terms of their so-far botched attempts at Atmos in Apple Music.
Seriously.
I use a pair of (Apple-owned) Beats Pill+ speakers to this day, because they're the closest thing to portable HomePod speakers, and they still work amazingly. Never had any issues with them over the countless years that I've owned them, they sound great, pair effortlessly, and charge with lightning.
As much as I understand why the HomePod or HomePod mini exists, I just think a portable/wireless Apple speaker would be a million times more useful and desirable to a lot of people.
Apple is primarily a portable device company, and that is where they make the majority of their sales, so it's strange that they haven't re-entered the portable bluetooth speaker market with a speaker equipped with the H1/H2 chip, some cool advanced computational audio algorithms to adapt the eq to the environment and surroundings, automatic device switching, and ofcourse effortless speaker linking / stereo pairing.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Apple TV and HomePod Combo
A HomePod product that's still under early development is an Apple TV and HomePod combo, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman reports that Apple is developing a HomePod speaker that includes the functionality of the Apple TV, offering an all-in-one TV entertainment system with a display. The product is also reported to have a camera, possibly allowing for FaceTime and video calls. No other details are known at this time as the product launch is likely a while away, assuming it launches at all.
This frequently posted wish/rumor makes the least sense to me when one thinks it through a bit. Put a camera on it and you restrict WHERE it can be placed, ideally either directly above or below the TV screen. Anywhere else and the other ends view of you is going to see you looking off to the left or right. You can simulate this now with FaceTime on phone or iPad. Put it where this device would go and look at your TV screen (where you would be watching the other participants in the conversation). If that iDevice is NOT centered right above or below the screen, you will not be "looking" at them.
Good speakers can be just as good 10+ years later. No AppleTV survives more than about half that time before it is made obsolete. Embed an AppleTV inside a speaker and it's a "throw baby out with the bathwater" device when the AppleTV guts are made obsolete by tvOS updates.
Such wants are better implemented SEPARATELY:
- Let a speaker be a speaker (with long life usefulness), ideally with an AUX input in case Apple ever decides to obsolete these with HomePod OS updates (speaker will still be a great speaker in that scenario).
- Keep AppleTV as it's own separate piece, so that when it is made obsolete, a new one can plug in and continue to use the rest.
- Add a continuity camera-type option to tvOS. This code already exists at Apple. Implement it in tvOS and create a phone or iPad holder clip to work with TV screens.
Lastly, should Apple merge all that into this Frankenstein, the price would probably seem much too high. And it is very likely that the speaker would outlast all other parts of all such concepts.
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Exactly, no matter how great the HW, as long as Siri is ridiculously useless, I will never replace one of ours with another. I'll just get Alexa again or try Google
Yes and how does one HP seem to have ultra hearing and hog all the requests. I can be in the bedroom telling that HP to do something in a normal voice, but the LR one shouts out.