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HomePod Owners Will Soon Be Able to Set Songs From Apple Music as Alarms

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HomePod can be used as an alarm clock replacement to wake you up in the morning or remind you of something, and soon HomePod owners with an Apple Music subscription should be able to set alarms on the smart speaker that play their favorite songs instead of the default alarm sound.

homepod-apple-music-image.jpg

Prior to the original HomePod's release, there were rumors suggesting users would be able to set songs as custom ringtones for the alarm feature of the HomePod, but that is not possible without resorting to automations. There is currently no option to change the default sound on the HomePod when setting up an alarm.

However, changes uncovered by MacRumors in the latest HomePod beta software reveal that Apple Music subscribers will soon be able to do just that.

The beta software includes a revised interface for adding alarms to HomePod in the Home app that provides a choice of playing a tone or media as the alarm sound.

apple-music-alarms-homepod-beta.jpg

As long as you have an active Apple Music subscription, tapping "Play Media" lets you choose a song from your music library. If you don't have a subscription you'll be prompted to get one, or revert to the default alarm tone.
The latest HomePod beta software also includes new options to set up Apple's new Intercom feature, as well as the ability to select HomePods as the default home theater speakers for Apple TV.

Article Link: HomePod Owners Will Soon Be Able to Set Songs From Apple Music as Alarms
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/14/homepod-apple-music-songs-as-alarms/
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Jesus, for the last couple of years I've been using a Samsung S10e after having iPhones (and iPads) since the 3G, this is the first time Apple has taken my interest again with the iPhone 12 Mini - looking through these kinds of stories makes me realise how restrictive the old "eco-system" is, for no good reason. I've been using any music I like as my alarm for two years. I updated my iPhone SE a couple of days ago and today already 35 little red icons annoying me needing updates. The famed user experience of Apple seems far more of an irritant once you've been away from it!
 
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Jimrod said:
Jesus, for the last couple of years I've been using a Samsung S10e after having iPhones (and iPads) since the 3G, this is the first time Apple has taken my interest again with the iPhone 12 Mini - looking through these kinds of stories makes me realise how restrictive the old "eco-system" is, for no good reason. I've been using any music I like as my alarm for two years. I updated my iPhone SE a couple of days ago and today already 35 little red icons annoying me needing updates. The famed user experience of Apple seems far more of an irritant once you've been away from it!
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I know. It's good to take off the rose-tinted glasses occasionally and see things as they really are.
The world's richest tech company still refers to Bluetooth as 'magic' - go figure!
Every year they launch 'our best iPhone yet' - you'd hope so, as the tagline 'not as good as last year, but we gave it our best shot' isn't going to shift units. The sales patter gets crasser and more patronising each year as they throw superlatives at a product with ever-diminishing incrementals. I still like Apple gear - I just don't upgrade until my current stuff becomes unusable.
 
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Parkin Pig said:
I had a CD player with built in clock that did that in the 90s. Well done Apple - really raising the bar there!
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Was just going to suggest that there were tape and radio options from the 80s that could be used as alarms.
My grandparents had a record deck that had built-in clock and timers, and could be set to auto-cue...

Not really a great stretch of the imagination to consider that something designed for audio playback with alarms/alerts/timers on the device should be able to link/automate the two!
 
When is soon? Judging by WWDC'20 we were supposed to get many new features with audioOS/HomePod OS 14.0. iOS 14 came and no update to the HomePod. Now we have iOS 14.1 and still not a single word or any information from Apple on the current status of new release for HomePod? Is it coming with iOS 14.2? When can we expect the features announced at WWDC'20 to be released? Will these new features come after or will they be included when we finally get the updates detailed during WWDC'20?

And when will they start supporting additional languages? It's crazy to me how Siri is perfectly capable of working in my native language on iOS for years, yet on HomePod I'm stuck with English and it's been like this for almost three years now. Why isn't this moving any faster? It's beyond me.
 
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RamGuy said:
When is soon? Judging by WWDC'20 we were supposed to get many new features with audioOS/HomePod OS 14.0. iOS 14 came and no update to the HomePod. Now we have iOS 14.1 and still not a single word or any information from Apple on the current status of new release for HomePod? Is it coming with iOS 14.2? When can we expect the features announced at WWDC'20 to be released? Will these new features come after or will they be included when we finally get the updates detailed during WWDC'20?

And when will they start supporting additional languages? It's crazy to me how Siri is perfectly capable of working in my native language on iOS for years, yet on HomePod I'm stuck with English and it's been like this for almost three years now. Why isn't this moving any faster? It's beyond me.
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First off, what specifically are you talking about? Many new features have been added, features are added every year, This has been a particularly big year

There are 12/languages dialects already supported in settings.

No explanation about native Spotify, except hey it’s Spotify, they didn’t provide programmers to it yet. Which is weird because Spotify has an Apple Watch app, why are they not pursuing HomePod? (Spotify is the largest streaming service by far, it’s not a resource issue)

I am on beta, intercom feature is there already, but not ready for rollout

oh, and there was an update to HomePod. Maybe you didn’t realize because you have it on automatic. You can check through home app
 
Wow... I'm surprised... but not in a good way...
HomePod list of features that are so basic they should have been there from day one is continously getting longer...

MauiPa said:
You have been able to do this for years as an automation. This is just a different color of the same flower
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That's a bit like saying you can always set the IP configuration using the command line on your Mac.
Just because you can do it that way doesn't mean that should be the solution. ;)
 
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I prefer a clock face on my alarm clock. I have Amazon devices in a couple of rooms, including one that I use as my alarm clock, just because the clock face adds basic functionality.
 
FINALLY! I hope we can also set a playlist! This is the only reason why I’m holding on to a sonos so far...
 
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