HomePod HomePod questions

[sajr]

Hello All,
I apologise if these questions have been answered before but I couldn't track them down. I am thinking about getting a HomePod but have a couple of questions;

• Can I use the HomePod to play music from my iTunes/Msic Library that was ripped from CDs and or vinyl?
• Can I use Siri to control my iTunes/Music library via HomePod?
• Can I use it across different users iTunes/Music Libraries?

Thanks

 

[JustMartin]

Yes, you can play from your iTunes library. You'll need to do it through Airplay and then you might find the Apple remote app handy for browsing your library and choosing songs.

No, Siri does not understand your music library unless you've synched it to Apple Music

That should be possible through the remote app as that can connect to different libraries as long as they're public or shared with you

 

[sajr]

Thanks @JustMartin

 

[boltjames]

Hello All,
I apologise if these questions have been answered before but I couldn't track them down. I am thinking about getting a HomePod but have a couple of questions;

• Can I use the HomePod to play music from my iTunes/Msic Library that was ripped from CDs and or vinyl?
• Can I use Siri to control my iTunes/Music library via HomePod?
• Can I use it across different users iTunes/Music Libraries?

Thanks

Something that should be pointed out is that HomePod is really designed to work with Apple Music, and that can make your setup a whole lot easier to manage than you can imagine.

If you get an Apple Music subscription, which can be as low as $2.50 per person on a family plan, you can upload thousands of your own personal boots, imports, and rarities straight into the Apple Music platform along with all of your Playlists so you don’t need to use iTunes or connect your computer to HomePod in any way.

I have a HomePod in my master bathroom, and just by using a Siri command I can have it play me a playlist made of boots that I have ripped over the years. And I can listen to the other 45 million songs on the platform and add them to those playlist just by using my voice; these will sync across devices including your notebook.

Similarly, I have CarPlay in all of my vehicles and can connect my iPhone and run Apple Music to do exactly the same thing.

Apple Music is so expensive and so easy to use I think he will find you will no longer need your notebook in the mix at all. You will use that to control which songs go where and build playlists that wind up on all of your devices but as for the actual playing of the I have a HomePod in my master bathroom, and just by using a Siri command I can have it play me a playlist made of boots that I have ripped over the years. Similarly, I have CarPlay in all of my vehicles and can connect my iPhone and run Apple Music to do exactly the same thing.

Apple Music is so inexpensive and so easy to use I think you will find you will no longer need your notebook in the mix at all. You will use that to control which songs go where and build playlists that wind up on all of your devices, but as for the actual playing of the music, you won’t need it at all.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Something that should be pointed out is that HomePod is really designed to work with Apple Music, and that can make your setup a whole lot easier to manage than you can imagine.

If you get an Apple Music subscription, which can be as low as $2.50 per person on a family plan, you can upload thousands of your own personal boots, imports, and rarities straight into the Apple Music platform along with all of your Playlists so you don’t need to use iTunes or connect your computer to HomePod in any way.

I have a HomePod in my master bathroom, and just by using a Siri command I can have it play me a playlist made of boots that I have ripped over the years. And I can listen to the other 45 million songs on the platform and add them to those playlist just by using my voice; these will sync across devices including your notebook.

Similarly, I have CarPlay in all of my vehicles and can connect my iPhone and run Apple Music to do exactly the same thing.

Apple Music is so expensive and so easy to use I think he will find you will no longer need your notebook in the mix at all. You will use that to control which songs go where and build playlists that wind up on all of your devices but as for the actual playing of the I have a HomePod in my master bathroom, and just by using a Siri command I can have it play me a playlist made of boots that I have ripped over the years. Similarly, I have CarPlay in all of my vehicles and can connect my iPhone and run Apple Music to do exactly the same thing.

Apple Music is so inexpensive and so easy to use I think you will find you will no longer need your notebook in the mix at all. You will use that to control which songs go where and build playlists that wind up on all of your devices, but as for the actual playing of the music, you won’t need it at all.

I think you meant 'Expansive' vs expensive (highlighted in purple in your quote).

The one SPECIFIC issue we NEED a VERY EASY way to resolve with Apple is this:

Your personal library of music that YOU OWN may have tracks that are unique to Apple Music's 45 million library (concert records, underground DJ music sessions, and more specifically versions of tracks that where one off's and not featured in Apple's Album offerings by the same artist/group/collaboration).

This has vexed me to no end since iTunes Match first began and was NEVER resolved. I want to upload the music I own to my Apple Music library and NOT have it replaced. When it's replaced it's replaced on my iPhone, Apple Watch (sync'd iTunes library) and on my Mac.

To the op ... if you do NOT want to go through this frustration yet also take advantage of Apple Music streaming service I suggest:

Keep 2 backup copies of your personal music library - stored away.
Create a separate account on your Mac, enable iCloud and sign into your iTunes with your personal library installed there - have THAT sync to Apple Music.
On your primary Mac account ... Disable Apple Music there ... just to avoid some tracks being replaced.

If anyone has a repeatable and full proof solution to avoid personally owned music from being replaced (or neutered with a non explicit version or a concert version you loathe) please DO SHARE!

 

[boltjames]

This has vexed me to no end since iTunes Match first began and was NEVER resolved. I want to upload the music I own to my Apple Music library and NOT have it replaced.

I’m living proof that it is possible. I never did Match. Just Apple Music sync a few months ago.

None of my 100s of boots or other unique tracks were replaced. In fact, I’m frustrated because I have thousands of low bitrate common songs that I expected to be automatically upgraded to high bitrate versions and that didn’t happen for 80% of them.

I use iTunes on Windows, did a clean wired sync to my iPhone, and it’s worked extremely well.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I’m living proof that it is possible. I never did Match. Just Apple Music sync a few months ago.

None of my 100s of boots or other unique tracks were replaced. In fact, I’m frustrated because I have thousands of low bitrate common songs that I expected to be automatically upgraded to high bitrate versions and that didn’t happen for 80% of them.

I use iTunes on Windows, did a clean wired sync to my iPhone, and it’s worked extremely well.

share your steps man share please!

 

[boltjames]

share your steps man share please!

Backed up all songs on iTunes for Windows on a USB drive.

Deleted all songs and playlists from iPhone.

Rebooted Windows laptop, hard rebooted iPhone.

Used Lightning cable to do a virgin sync of iTunes Library to iPhone. Did a second backup + sync just to make sure.

Disconnected iPhone from Lightning cable, connected laptop to Ethernet cable for fastest speed possible.

Stayed in iTunes for Windows, chose Edit > Preferences > iCloud Music Library and checked the box.

Waited 2 hours for iTunes to compare my 15,000 songs to the Apple Music library and upload what it needed from my boots and rarities. When the progress bar was full and the sync was complete, I closed out of iTunes for Windows.

Launched Music on iPhone, went into settings and turned Apple Music sync to 'on'.

From that point forward, both physical libraries on my Windows notebook and my iPhone are completely in sync. If I make a change on my iPhone, it changes on iTunes for Windows and the other way around too, add a playlist, delete a song, add a song, replace a song.

FYI, on my Apple TV, same thing. My ATV doesn't have internal storage so unlike the laptop and the iPhone its pulling straight from the cloud.

In this manner, I found that none of my songs were replaced by those in Apple Music at all. Now, that's good when it comes to boots and such, I didn't want those replaced. But there are thousands of old rips of common songs at 128kbps that I wanted to get replaced with brand new 256kbps versions and that didn't happen for many of them.

Hope this helps. Note this was my first sync ever to Apple Music. I never sync'd it before and never did iTunes Match back in the day. So my library was virgin in that regard.