HomePod Owners With an iTunes Match or Apple Music Subscription Can Access Their iCloud Music Library Using Siri

[Brandhouse]

No, unless you have iTunes library stored in the cloud via ITunes Match.
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Thanks for the reply chicago19. What a have, the HomePod is turning out to be! Unless I pay a $12.99 p/mth subscription just so I can listen to my own music in my iTunes library via Music Match - stuff that. I can't see HomePod being a success without a rethink from Apple. Big fail.

 

[H-J]

You can use peer-to-peer AirPlay to stream (ripped) songs/albums from your iPhone, iPad and Mac's with Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F2511) and greater. Cumbersome, yes, but it works. In fact. I am testing it right now

 

[The Game 161]

No, unless you have iTunes library stored in the cloud via ITunes Match.
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I have a Google Home Mini and it does indeed recognize different voices. I am as big of an Apple fanboy as they come, but Siri (and maps) is definitely one place where Apple has dropped the ball. I have an Amazon Echo as well and both Alexa and Google blow Siri out of the water and it’s not even close.

google assistant and alexa are certainly smarter I agree but for what I use smart assistants for siri does all the basic tasks well for my needs. For clever answers siri isn't as good as the other two but for sport scores, reminders, podcasts, music, switching lights on and off it does things no different.

 

[BvizioN]

I think Apple assumes that "Siri" will come up in conversation like "Ask Siri is she knows how to..." or "Tell Siri to..." or of course on the TV or radio playing in the background. If Siri was as beloved and truly used as much as Apple thinks, this might actually be a problem but not yet.

I thought that too but then again we have Amazon Alexa that does seem to be alright without "hey" and is a more common person name I think.

 

[KeithJenner]

Thanks for the reply chicago19. What a have, the HomePod is turning out to be! Unless I pay a $12.99 p/mth subscription just so I can listen to my own music in my iTunes library via Music Match - stuff that. I can't see HomePod being a success without a rethink from Apple. Big fail.

Just to clarify. You can listen to your music in your iTunes library on the HomePod.

To do so, you will need to control the music via the device or computer that the library is on, and then use Airplay to send it to the HomePod.

What you can't do is access that library directly from the HomePod (i.e. as Siri to play a certain artist or song).

You probably understood that, but I think there is a danger of people thinking that your iTunes library literally can't be played through the HomePod without having Apple Music.

 

[Rogifan]

Has Apple explained why HomePod can’t be used as a normal Bluetooth speaker? AirPods aren’t limited to just iOS devices, why is HomePod?

 

[OllyW]

Has Apple explained why HomePod can’t be used as a normal Bluetooth speaker? AirPods aren’t limited to just iOS devices, why is HomePod?

Apple hasn't explained anything yet. It seems like they have taken the approach of hiding details like that unless one of their favourite bloggers hassles them about it.

After all, why would any potential customers need to know anything about the functionality of the HomePod other than it works great with Apple Music and its 'magical'.

 

[Arran]

Just to clarify. You can listen to your music in your iTunes library on the HomePod.

To do so, you will need to control the music via the device or computer that the library is on, and then use Airplay to send it to the HomePod.

What you can't do is access that library directly from the HomePod (i.e. as Siri to play a certain artist or song).

You probably understood that, but I think there is a danger of people thinking that your iTunes library literally can't be played through the HomePod without having Apple Music.

Or, instead, buy a $50 refurb airport express and plug it into your home stereo. Voila! Same functionality.

For about a decade, I’ve been using one to drive an amplifier/speaker combo I bought back in 1984. It still sounds great and will be fine in another decade when today’s HomePods are likely gathering dust due to discontinued firmware upgrades.

 

[gnipgnop]

I'm far from an expert on licensing issues, but it doesn't seem too unlikely that licensing may allow matching by both iTunes Match and Apple Music, but not making those songs available for general listening on Apple Music.

Why would iTunes Match still exist if that were true? Why pay $25 for a year to get your library matched when you could pay $9.99 for a single month and get the exact same result? There has to be a difference in the catalog.

 

[Loge]

Why would iTunes Match still exist if that were true? Why pay $25 for a year to get your library matched when you could pay $9.99 for a single month and get the exact same result? There has to be a difference in the catalog.

Because you want to store your non-iTMS music in iCloud.

 

[wigby]

I thought that too but then again we have Amazon Alexa that does seem to be alright without "hey" and is a more common person name I think.

Yes but Alexa has many more false triggers especially when the TV runs in the background. Ask any Echo user. Before my Alexa died, it went off almost every time some one on TV said words like "exit" or "extra". We'll see home HomePod fares in this respect.
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Why would iTunes Match still exist if that were true? Why pay $25 for a year to get your library matched when you could pay $9.99 for a single month and get the exact same result? There has to be a difference in the catalog.

Apple Music uses DRM for all downloaded songs but Music Match does not. At least that is why I pay for both simultaneously. I need to use music in timelines for editing and content all the time so DRM is my enemy.

 

[gnipgnop]

Apple Music uses DRM for all downloaded songs but Music Match does not. At least that is why I pay for both simultaneously. I need to use music in timelines for editing and content all the time so DRM is my enemy.

That's how it originally worked, but Apple Music matching was later updated to also supply DRM-free files. I got corrected on that earlier in the thread.
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Because you want to store your non-iTMS music in iCloud.

I see what you're saying. Depending on the size of the collection, that could be more cost effective than the standard iCloud storage rates.

 

[KeithJenner]

Why would iTunes Match still exist if that were true? Why pay $25 for a year to get your library matched when you could pay $9.99 for a single month and get the exact same result? There has to be a difference in the catalog.

Because the actual idea of iTunes Match is to make your library available in the cloud, not to upgrade the bitrate of your music.

Certainly, if you want to subscribe just to upgrade the bitrate then a month with Apple Music is the way to do it, but if you just want to get your music in the cloud then $25 a year sounds like a far better deal to me than $9.99 a month.

If it wasn't for the rest of my family wanting Apple Music to access the library for streaming then I would cancel it tomorrow and subscribe to iTunes Match instead. On a cost basis it is by far the better deal for me.

 

[Robotti]

I haven’t found any reliable information, whether ithe HomePod can be used at all without an in-house wifi network. Can I take it with me when I travel, go camping, go to my studio where there’s no wifi, and just play music via bluetooth? Can my Android-friends play theirs?
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I haven’t found any reliable information, whether ithe HomePod can be used at all without an in-house wifi network. Can I take it with me when I travel, go camping, go to my studio where there’s no wifi, and just play music via bluetooth? Can my Android-friends play theirs?

Oh, I just found out about peer-to-peer Airplay. Didn’t know it exists... I guess that solves my problem, but not my Androidy friends’.

 

[KeithJenner]

Or, instead, buy a $50 refurb airport express and plug it into your home stereo. Voila! Same functionality.

For about a decade, I’ve been using one to drive an amplifier/speaker combo I bought back in 1984. It still sounds great and will be fine in another decade when today’s HomePods are likely gathering dust due to discontinued firmware upgrades.

Absolutely. For many people the HomePod doesn't fit into their requirements. The best advice to them is to not get one.

Now, if you want the speaker in a room which doesn't already have a home stereo (or other speakers) in it, then your solution probably doesn't work as well.

 

[Arran]

Apple hasn't explained anything yet. It seems like they have taken the approach of hiding details like that unless one of their favourite bloggers hassles them about it.

After all, why would any potential customers need to know anything about the functionality of the HomePod other than it works great with Apple Music and its 'magical'.

Yeah, the whole “magical” thing is beginning to grate.

It’s starting to feel like a ruse to avoid responsibility. You know: promise a customer ‘magic’, take their money and then haggle over the meaning of ‘magic’ in court.

 

[Brandhouse]

Just to clarify. You can listen to your music in your iTunes library on the HomePod.

To do so, you will need to control the music via the device or computer that the library is on, and then use Airplay to send it to the HomePod.

What you can't do is access that library directly from the HomePod (i.e. as Siri to play a certain artist or song).

You probably understood that, but I think there is a danger of people thinking that your iTunes library literally can't be played through the HomePod without having Apple Music.

Thanks for that. No I didn't understand that, and therein lies the problem, there is no definitive communication coming out of Apple as to how HomePod works with your music from various sources.

 

[Squuiid]

Is anyone having problems with their iTunes Match music playing over their HomePod again? Siri keeps correctly identifying the music but saying I don’t have it!
I’m getting sick and tired of the HomePod bugs. The latest HomePod OS 13.3 is a disaster and the device really seems like an afterthought to Apple.

 

[V_Man]

Yeah, the whole “magical” thing is beginning to grate.

It’s starting to feel like a ruse to avoid responsibility. You know: promise a customer ‘magic’, take their money and then haggle over the meaning of ‘magic’ in court.

That’s the new Apple, they managed to make people think they care about you. They care about your wallet. Their track record this years seems to prove that.