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Lemon Olive

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Nov 30, 2020
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It is pretty shocking how quiet the HomePod mini is. I have one set up in a kitchen with the intention of using Intercom, but no one ever hears it unless the HomePod mini volume is left at 90%.
 
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I understand this frustration! I wish there was a default volume for intercom that could be set. I am okay with the overall volume for music, but when music is on at 40%, for example, and I send an intercom message, I want to be able to set the default intercom volume to a level that allows it to be heard clearly (80% or higher). I ended up creating a scene to change the volume of the entire house to 80%. I quickly run that before broadcasting an intercom message everywhere... It's not ideal, but it's my work-around for now.
 
That's a good idea, but largely eats into the purpose of Intercom. If it's not quick, there are a dozen other ways to get people's attention. Sent Apple feedback about this one.

Intercom/Siri should have their own volume level, or even a minimum volume to ensure they're always audible.
 
I didn't think the Mini would have great sound. I ditched our Echo Dot for the Mini and the sound is definitely better coming from the latter. Granted the sound is better on our Bose Bluetooth speaker we have in the Kitchen, but I bought the Mini strictly for the living room since we spend most of our time there.
 
It is pretty shocking how quiet the HomePod mini is. I have one set up in a kitchen with the intention of using Intercom, but no one ever hears it unless the HomePod mini volume is left at 90%.
Very. I think it’s an underwhelming smart speaker at the price point.
 
Any new workarounds for this?

I picked up a HomePod Mini from Costco, and am very disappointed in the Intercom volume.
 
For me, the max volume of a stereo pair of OG Homepods is disappointing, so...
For me, it's not so much that the overall volume is poor on the HomePod Mini - it's more that the volume in which one would comfortably listen to music is much too low for an 'announcement' to be heard clearly.
 
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Any new workarounds for this?

I picked up a HomePod Mini from Costco, and am very disappointed in the Intercom volume.
Yes, you can tell Siri on Home Pod to set her volume to 90 %. There is no manual control for it, but Siri volume can be controlled independently via Siri.
 
Yes, you can tell Siri on Home Pod to set her volume to 90 %. There is no manual control for it, but Siri volume can be controlled independently via Siri.
That sounds super kludgy - hey siri, increase volume... hey siri, announcement... hey siri, decrease volume back to normal level - every time I want to use intercom?

I guess its going back :)
 
That sounds super kludgy - hey siri, increase volume... hey siri, announcement... hey siri, decrease volume back to normal level - every time I want to use intercom?

I guess its going back :)
That's not what I said.

"Hey Siri, increase your volume to 90%" increases the Siri volume only. It does not change the Home Pod volume.
 
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That's not what I said.

"Hey Siri, increase your volume to 90%" increases the Siri volume only. It does not change the Home Pod volume.

This is correct. Very useful. You also can tell her to speak louder, and she will comply.
 
OK, so to test this I said "Hey Siri, increase your volume to 90%" - spoken to the HomePod Mini. Its response was loud - it said, "this is as loud as it gets". Promising.

I then played some music quietly on the HomePod mini.

I then used my phone - spoken to phone "Hey Siri, announce this is a test"

And it was as quiet as the music was. What am I doing wrong? I did a firmware update to make sure it was latest firmware. iPhone 11 with iOS 14.5.1 - Thanks!
 
Another test. I started playing some music at a normal volume.

I said "Hey Siri, increase your volume to 90%" - spoken to the HomePod Mini. Its response was loud - it said, "this is as loud as it gets". Great!

I then said, spoken to the HomePod "Hey Siri, what time is it?" - and the response was spoken by Siri at the same quiet volume the music is currently playing at.
 
Another test. I started playing some music at a normal volume.

I said "Hey Siri, increase your volume to 90%" - spoken to the HomePod Mini. Its response was loud - it said, "this is as loud as it gets". Great!

I then said, spoken to the HomePod "Hey Siri, what time is it?" - and the response was spoken by Siri at the same quiet volume the music is currently playing at.
This was an issue that a lot of users were complaining about. It’s buried in of these threads. It changes the volume and confirms the change, but then reverts back to what it was before. Don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.
 
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