HomePod Now Counts Toward Apple Music Device Streaming Limits for Single Memberships, Apple Encouraging Family Upgrades

[WolfSnap]

Well this if flipping dandy, I bought the HomePod on the basis that my family could listen to Apple Music while I wasn’t there, I was very careful to make sure that was the case before I bought it, I might even drop my subscription now and go with Amazon.

I think the word you're looking for is "theft". You're paying for a single user subscription, and you're allowing your "family" to use the subscription to listen to a second stream of music while only paying for one stream of music.

Theft of service is a crime.

Pay for what you use.

 

[I7guy]

That part is obvious but the question is, is Apple's goof unintentional incompetence or bait and switch? I'm sure a lot of customers bought into it because of the original behavior.

What's fair is for Apple to keep the original behavior for existing Homepod owners since Apple goofed and change it for new Homepod purchases.

I agree with almost nothing that you post, but I do agree with this. If it's an unintentional goof, apple should allow the original behavior. Or maybe even put a generous time limit on the "goof".

 

[WhiteHawk]

I think the word you're looking for is "theft". You're paying for a single user subscription, and you're allowing your "family" to use the subscription to listen to a second stream of music while only paying for one stream of music.

Theft of service is a crime.

Pay for what you use.

The word I’m looking for right now I’ll not mention, clearly you forgot the part where Apple allowed this and said nothing about it being incorrect from before the launch and for a year. So many when it was launched were talking about this ability and Apple didn’t say a word against it.

Tell me, if you bought a TV and you bought said TV because it had built in apps for YouTube, Netflix etc but then after a year the manufacturer pushed an update so none of them worked and called it a bug that they fixed, that you were never supposed to be able to use them on that model of TV, but don’t worry if you pay them extra each month you can use them again, would you call yourself a thief, or the manufacturer?

Tell me, how can anyone who has used this function since they bought a HomePod be a thief when it was Apple who made the feature on a device we purchased and said nothing when they knew full well it was being used that way? And why has it taken a year for them to FIX this hmm?

Sorry, but you have zero logic, theft might be the word, but in this case it’s Apple who have bait and switched us with the removing of a feature they let continue and didn’t speak against and some of us purchased the device with that ability in mind, AND that is not any sneakiness on my or anyone else’s part, to suggest otherwise makes you look a fool. We are talking about past tense here, not the future, if Apple had said at launch that this capability was only for the first year then you would have to buy an extra subscription or a family subscription after that then it would be fine, it would suck when the end came but it would at least be up front and honest. Apple is the thief here, they kept quiet and slipped in and took the feature away, they said nothing for a few more sales.

 

[unplugme71]

In fairness to Apple, Spotify works the same way. I can't stream on multiple devices simultaneously.

Thank you.

While yes it’s shocking of this change, but it makes sense. You are one user so you are either listening on your phone or HomePod.

If you want separate music streaming, you should pay for that right.

Now if I already purchased the music, I should be able to play from my downloaded music on iPhone and still stream from Apple Music on HomePod with single user subscription
[doublepost=1547522308][/doublepost]

The word I’m looking for right now I’ll not mention, clearly you forgot the part where Apple allowed this and said nothing about it being incorrect from before the launch and for a year. So many when it was launched were talking about this ability and Apple didn’t say a word against it.

Tell me, if you bought a TV and you bought said TV because it had built in apps for YouTube, Netflix etc but then after a year the manufacturer pushed an update so none of them worked and called it a bug that they fixed, that you were never supposed to be able to use them on that model of TV, but don’t worry if you pay them extra each month you can use them again, would you call yourself a thief, or the manufacturer?

Tell me, how can anyone who has used this function since they bought a HomePod be a thief when it was Apple who made the feature on a device we purchased and said nothing when they knew full well it was being used that way? And why has it taken a year for them to FIX this hmm?

Sorry, but you have zero logic, theft might be the word, but in this case it’s Apple who have bait and switched us with the removing of a feature they let continue and didn’t speak against and some of us purchased the device with that ability in mind, AND that is not any sneakiness on my or anyone else’s part, to suggest otherwise makes you look a fool. We are talking about past tense here, not the future, if Apple had said at launch that this capability was only for the first year then you would have to buy an extra subscription or a family subscription after that then it would be fine, it would suck when the end came but it would at least be up front and honest. Apple is the thief here, they kept quiet and slipped in and took the feature away, they said nothing for a few more sales.

Neither. Apple is correcting a mistake.

 

[iRutherford]

What's happening to Apple these days? They are not listening to the public on price (recent news of decline of sales, poor china growth) and they are super slow to advance their technology (Siri vs the rest). Tim Cook apparently wakes up and reads the Apple customer news every morning. I hope he's reading this thread.

I understand why Apple isn't lowering down their prices. It's going to give people the impression that they're not selling, and it kind of cheapens their overall brand. If they do it, a precedent would be set, and people would come to expect Apple to price their devices in the same range going forward. It's bad for their long-term success.

The most we can expect from them is to offer temporary discounts and promotions through carriers and third-party retailers; or from Apple, during holiday seasons.

 

[KevinN206]

I think the word you're looking for is "theft". You're paying for a single user subscription, and you're allowing your "family" to use the subscription to listen to a second stream of music while only paying for one stream of music.

Theft of service is a crime.

Pay for what you use.

Except that was not the case when the HomePod was released in February 2018. Apple never said it counted as a device. Apple CHANGED the rule a year later after it was purchased. It's asine to call it theft. Apple is the one that's stealing from consumers who originally purchased the device and used in perfectly for their scenarios and it now it doesn't work because Apple CHANGED the rule after the fact.

 

[Michael Goff]

Except that was not the case when the HomePod was released in February 2018. Apple never said it counted as a device. Apple CHANGED the rule a year later after it was purchased. It's asine to call it theft. Apple is the one that's stealing from consumers who originally purchased the device and used in perfectly for their scenarios and it now it doesn't work because Apple CHANGED the rule after the fact.

No, Apple is not stealing from customers.

 

[KevinN206]

You’re paying for a single stream. Why would you assume you can do more than one stream at the same time from a single user account?

Except this has been working since February 2018 when the HomePod was released. Apple now changed the rule after people have purchased the speaker. It's not the users' fault that Apple made this change a year afterward. I can totally see iOS and iOS but iOS and HomePod? Really? And a year after the fact?
[doublepost=1547526575][/doublepost]

No, Apple is not stealing from customers.

But it's fair for the the poster to accuse the user of stealing? The HomePod was NEVER counted against the buyer since it was released in February 2018. Apple intentionally made a change 12 months later, to no fault of the buyers, to count the HomePod as a device. That's like buying a security camera that cost $349 that offer FREE recording for 5 days only to reduce it to 1 day 12 months later. Sorry you have to pay $5/month to get five days now.

 

[ldandp0]

Anyone that actually bought a Homepod since its release should kindly return it through an Apple store window.

 

[craigmak]

The word I’m looking for right now I’ll not mention, clearly you forgot the part where Apple allowed this and said nothing about it being incorrect from before the launch and for a year. So many when it was launched were talking about this ability and Apple didn’t say a word against it.

Tell me, if you bought a TV and you bought said TV because it had built in apps for YouTube, Netflix etc but then after a year the manufacturer pushed an update so none of them worked and called it a bug that they fixed, that you were never supposed to be able to use them on that model of TV, but don’t worry if you pay them extra each month you can use them again, would you call yourself a thief, or the manufacturer?

Tell me, how can anyone who has used this function since they bought a HomePod be a thief when it was Apple who made the feature on a device we purchased and said nothing when they knew full well it was being used that way? And why has it taken a year for them to FIX this hmm?

Sorry, but you have zero logic, theft might be the word, but in this case it’s Apple who have bait and switched us with the removing of a feature they let continue and didn’t speak against and some of us purchased the device with that ability in mind, AND that is not any sneakiness on my or anyone else’s part, to suggest otherwise makes you look a fool. We are talking about past tense here, not the future, if Apple had said at launch that this capability was only for the first year then you would have to buy an extra subscription or a family subscription after that then it would be fine, it would suck when the end came but it would at least be up front and honest. Apple is the thief here, they kept quiet and slipped in and took the feature away, they said nothing for a few more sales.

If the extra 5 dollars a month is too much for you then maybe you should not have purchased a HomePod. You do realize that is the difference.

 

[0388631]

Why?? What logical reason is there for listening to two different songs at once on two devices?

To say that you can.

 

[KevinN206]

If the extra 5 dollars a month is too much for you then maybe you should not have purchased a HomePod. You do realize that is the difference.

Wow now blame it on the buyer for something that Apple originally offered for free and then suddenly changed it after 12 months of ownership. It was already PAID for when you bought the $349 speaker 12 months ago.

 

[friedmud]

This is only throwing salt in the wound of the fact that the HomePod is a single-user device.

With our Google Homes it recognizes each individual person in the family by voice and plays from _their_ Spotify account.

With HomePod that's not possible... so if the person who setup the HomePod is listening to music in their car on the way home... and someone at their house asks the HomePod to play music.... then the music stops in their car. Stupid.

The single-user aspect of a device that is always listening in your house is the most idiotic thing about the HomePod and the thing that drove me to fill my house with Google Homes....
[doublepost=1547529596][/doublepost]

I think the word you're looking for is "theft". You're paying for a single user subscription, and you're allowing your "family" to use the subscription to listen to a second stream of music while only paying for one stream of music.

Theft of service is a crime.

Pay for what you use.

What you're telling him to do isn't possible. There isn't a way for the HomePod to handle multiple accounts - no matter how much money he would be willing to throw at the situation...

 

[WolfSnap]

The word I’m looking for right now I’ll not mention, clearly you forgot the part where Apple allowed this and said nothing about it being incorrect from before the launch and for a year. So many when it was launched were talking about this ability and Apple didn’t say a word against it.

Tell me, if you bought a TV and you bought said TV because it had built in apps for YouTube, Netflix etc but then after a year the manufacturer pushed an update so none of them worked and called it a bug that they fixed, that you were never supposed to be able to use them on that model of TV, but don’t worry if you pay them extra each month you can use them again, would you call yourself a thief, or the manufacturer?

Tell me, how can anyone who has used this function since they bought a HomePod be a thief when it was Apple who made the feature on a device we purchased and said nothing when they knew full well it was being used that way? And why has it taken a year for them to FIX this hmm?

Sorry, but you have zero logic, theft might be the word, but in this case it’s Apple who have bait and switched us with the removing of a feature they let continue and didn’t speak against and some of us purchased the device with that ability in mind, AND that is not any sneakiness on my or anyone else’s part, to suggest otherwise makes you look a fool. We are talking about past tense here, not the future, if Apple had said at launch that this capability was only for the first year then you would have to buy an extra subscription or a family subscription after that then it would be fine, it would suck when the end came but it would at least be up front and honest. Apple is the thief here, they kept quiet and slipped in and took the feature away, they said nothing for a few more sales.

You're paying for a single stream. You knew you were getting more than a single stream. You used more than a single stream.

Now, you're upset that they found out and are asking you to pay for something you were using without paying for.

 

[Michael Goff]

Except this has been working since February 2018 when the HomePod was released. Apple now changed the rule after people have purchased the speaker. It's not the users' fault that Apple made this change a year afterward. I can totally see iOS and iOS but iOS and HomePod? Really? And a year after the fact?
[doublepost=1547526575][/doublepost]
But it's fair for the the poster to accuse the user of stealing? The HomePod was NEVER counted against the buyer since it was released in February 2018. Apple intentionally made a change 12 months later, to no fault of the buyers, to count the HomePod as a device. That's like buying a security camera that cost $349 that offer FREE recording for 5 days only to reduce it to 1 day 12 months later. Sorry you have to pay $5/month to get five days now.

If you don’t like the terms of use for Apple Music, there are plenty of other services. Go to one of those and make this same argument. I’m sure they’ll let you use one account to play multiple song streams.

 

[WhiteHawk]

You're paying for a single stream. You knew you were getting more than a single stream. You used more than a single stream.

Now, you're upset that they found out and are asking you to pay for something you were using without paying for.

They found out? They found out? LOL, what on earth are you talking about? you truly are a nutcase, you’re talking like everyone used a hack for this to work, you’ve lost the plot. And as for single stream, no, WE did nothing of the sort and has already been stated the HomePod DID NOT count against the number of streams and Apple said nothing, nothing about it being any different for a whole year, do you wonder why it took so long for it to be FIXED, stop spewing utter nonsense as you clearly don’t know what is going on in general.

Press the buzzer so the nurse can come and give you your pills.

 

[Shirasaki]

Why? Do individual users often listen to two songs simultaneously?

The problem here is not people listen to two songs simultaneously, it is people streaming music via HomePod, and treat it as a speaker with ability to playback music from different sources. Apple however, probably consider HomePod as a full-fledge music streaming device, not just a speaker. Hence, streaming from HomePod and iOS device “simultaneously” is not allowed.

 

[happyslayer]

I use my HomePod a lot and have never had a reason to stream through it and my iPhone at the same time. I honestly can't think of a reason why I would do this. I would never listen to two streams of music simultaneously. However, I do have the Apple Family plan so I guess it's a moot point.

 

[Marshall73]

Well this if flipping dandy, I bought the HomePod on the basis that my family could listen to Apple Music while I wasn’t there, I was very careful to make sure that was the case before I bought it, I might even drop my subscription now and go with Amazon.

Amazon operate the same way.
[doublepost=1547535926][/doublepost]

The word I’m looking for right now I’ll not mention, clearly you forgot the part where Apple allowed this and said nothing about it being incorrect from before the launch and for a year. So many when it was launched were talking about this ability and Apple didn’t say a word against it.

Tell me, if you bought a TV and you bought said TV because it had built in apps for YouTube, Netflix etc but then after a year the manufacturer pushed an update so none of them worked and called it a bug that they fixed, that you were never supposed to be able to use them on that model of TV, but don’t worry if you pay them extra each month you can use them again, would you call yourself a thief, or the manufacturer?

Tell me, how can anyone who has used this function since they bought a HomePod be a thief when it was Apple who made the feature on a device we purchased and said nothing when they knew full well it was being used that way? And why has it taken a year for them to FIX this hmm?

Sorry, but you have zero logic, theft might be the word, but in this case it’s Apple who have bait and switched us with the removing of a feature they let continue and didn’t speak against and some of us purchased the device with that ability in mind, AND that is not any sneakiness on my or anyone else’s part, to suggest otherwise makes you look a fool. We are talking about past tense here, not the future, if Apple had said at launch that this capability was only for the first year then you would have to buy an extra subscription or a family subscription after that then it would be fine, it would suck when the end came but it would at least be up front and honest. Apple is the thief here, they kept quiet and slipped in and took the feature away, they said nothing for a few more sales.

Apple didn’t advertise this function and you didn’t purchase it because of a feature Apple advertised. So you are SoL. If you want your family to be able to use it too then stump up the cash, stop being a cheapskate.

 

[xyz01]

Why?? What logical reason is there for listening to two different songs at once on two devices?

Note that this does not impede you from listening to one song on numerous HomePods at once via AirPlay2. So what's the big deal?

The only offensive part about this is how they push Family Sharing instead of just saying, "Can't play right now because you're streaming on another device. Do you want to stop that device and play here, or cancel?"

Playing music for small kids too young for a family plan might be one scenario?

BTW: If you have a family plan, does that mean that your own account can be used multiple times or just that each account connected to the family can play their own? Given what I understand of the HomePod being a single account device, the latter would be trouble. Same for other devices in the home that connect to an account, like Sonos - yes, you can add multiple accounts for each service there but for some scenarios (guests, small kids) this can cause issues.

 

[fatboyslick]

Back in September my two homepods kept pausing each other. I’m not on the family sharing plan. I’ve been speaking to Apple about it for months.

They have both acknowledged I should be be able to play on two at the same time without a family subscription AND told me to work around by asking Siri to play on one device and then use airplay from my phone to play on the other!!!!

 

[James_C]

I understand why some people are frustrated that Apple has changed the service so that you have to pay for multiple streams (Although as I understand it it is still possible to play different songs on different home pods, just unable to steam from IOS and have HomePod play another stream without a family plan.). I understand everyone has a different view, but from my perspective I have four Homepods, and they replaced an Sonos system that I had previously. For me the sounds quality of the Homepods, particularly the two linked Homepods I have beat Sonos hands down. I personally don't think there are overpriced for the quality. People say that Siri 'sucks' on Homepods, however I rarely have any problems using Siri to play music around the house. Using voice is so much easier than using an App, and I listen to music all the time. I also use the home pods to control the smart lighting that I have. Works very well. Personally I get value from a family Apple Music plan and understand that it makes sense that people can't play separate streams without a family plan, as most people would not want to listen to two tracks at the same time. Presumably The main reason for wanting to stream two different songs at the same time is that it's in different rooms with different people. I would not be surprised if the Music Industry forced the change on Apple as they were unhappy, as they were the ones losing out. As someone else said this is how Spotify works, so Apple is not doing anything different.

 

[Shanghaichica]

If you don’t like the terms of use for Apple Music, there are plenty of other services. Go to one of those and make this same argument. I’m sure they’ll let you use one account to play multiple song streams.

They don’t.

 

[Michael Goff]

They don’t.

Wait. You’re telling me Apple is just going by the same rules as everyone else? Who could have foreseen these events? Who could have foreseen MacRumors readers ******** on Apple for doing the same thing as others?!

 

[Arran]

All those homepods that sold for $100-off before Christmas?

This is Apple getting their money back.