I don’t understand what you’re going on about. You can easily control the HomePod from almost any Apple device without having to say “Hey Siri” directly to the HomePod (which works flawlessly by the way)...iPhone, iPad, Watch, Mac, Apple TV. The functionality is already available, why are you calling for an app to do so?
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HomePod Struggling to Gain Market Share Alongside Cheaper Amazon Echo and Google Home Speakers
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No sign of HomePod in Italy. I went to pay a visit to my daughter in Germany 20 days ago. One of her friends had an HomePod set up in her room. Maybe my expectations were set too high, but it has been a really disappointing experience. Some enthusiastic comments in here (even before release) were and are simply not reliable, in my opinion.
Seems to work for Amazon & Google.
So you’re saying that HomePod’s speaker system is bad at making music sound good? I just want to be clear that that’s what you’re saying. Shall we assume this is based on your personal experience?
It actually matters greatly. Apple wouldn't have a thriving iOS eco-system if iOS had a tiny marketshare. Developers just wouldn't bother.
Add: I remember back in 2001, OSX hardware support was poor. Since OSX has become a lot more popular, support has become better.
ani4ani sums things up nicely:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...le-home-speakers.2168503/page-7#post-27067370
You are conflating things. iOS has a comparitively large (for apple) market share (but tiny overall!). Great. That doesn’t mean that every accessory needs to have a big market share. As long as everything supports airplay 2, apple is happy. Apple also doesn’t have to dominate the keyboard market, the case market, the cable market, etc. These are all just accessories, just like the HomePod.
I don’t have a 5.1 system to connect my echo devices to. Also my echo dots won’t read me my messages, or reply to my messages, or make lists but the notes app on my iPhone or find my MacBook or iPads when I can’t find them.
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Absolutely not. iOS has significant chunk of marketshare with a large user base so this attracts a large amount of developers. In turn, this feeds more users to buy other Apple services and products.
Why does Apple have to dominate the keyboard market, as you give an example for - keyboards are irrelevant. HomePod is very much tied into the Apple eco-system.
Why does Apple have to dominate the keyboard market, as you give an example for - keyboards are irrelevant. HomePod is very much tied into the Apple eco-system.
Correct. Have you ever been to a party where the music was playing over a HomePod? If so, how many hands of pinochle were played?
In developed countries their market share is higher. This is just the overall worldwide market.
iOS just doesn't run on Smartphones...
Try this:
http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide
Mobile OS: 22% marketshare - that comes with a large user base. 22% is not insignificant when you factor in user base.
I'm not sure how that is relevant when the discussion is about iOS overall marketshare and how many developers the platform attracts.
It actually does matter. Consumers in developed countries tend to have more disposable income to buy more related services ( think Apple Music, Apps etc )
Yes the overall iOS marketshare is larger when you account for devices other than smartphones.
Do you have the figures for how much marketshare the iPhone had after 1 year to compared to the HomePod? They are very comparable markets (Apple joining an established market).
Well the developers have to be confident of being paid. They are going to target the OS which is popular in countries that have more disposable income to spend on apps.
So even if android has and a much larger market share worldwide why do you think that developers prefer to make apps for iOS?
See, Apple... Bring out an over-priced unit that people are not buying. Solution? Keep it but bring out a 'low-cost' version which will be $50 cheaper, have the features cut in half so as not to compete with the device that is not selling and it still won't compete with Echo or Home.
That's exactly my point. Despite iOS having a far lower marketshare than Android, iOS is where the quality and money belongs. Quality over quantity.
I wasn't referring to just smartphones. I always referred to 'iOS' and never mentioned any category of device.
I do not have the statistics. I suspect they wouldn't be very reliable in any case when comparing iPhone and HomePod.
The user base is still large. If the user base was a couple of millions, then few developers would touch iOS. More effort would go into competitors. That is way I also compared OSX and hardware support back in the early 2000s.. and improved as Apple PCs become a lot more popular. The same could be said about software too.
I do not have the statistics. I suspect they wouldn't be very reliable in any case when comparing iPhone and HomePod.
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The user base is still large. If the user base was a couple of millions, then few developers would touch iOS. More effort would go into competitors. That is way I also compared OSX and hardware support back in the early 2000s.. and improved as Apple PCs become a lot more popular. The same could be said about software too.
Agreed, i love my HomePod. However, SIRI is still troublesome -- a friend accidentally called the police on us trying to turn up the volume.
But you can't go from zero to huge marketshare over night. It takes time to build.
I think the HomePod is a great sounding speaker, but its price is off-putting to most casual music listeners who would be satisfied with an Echo or Google Home (or even a Sonos One for something higher end). I'm perfectly okay using an Echo Dot (new gen) for the times in my apartment I don't want to have headphones on. It cost me $40 on sale instead of close to $500 CDN after tax. Now that Apple Music support is coming, the HomePod is pretty much a dud in an overcrowded market.
As good and high end as it is, the price killed it for most people.
As good and high end as it is, the price killed it for most people.
Yes, I agree there are many parallels between the two products and market conditions. One major difference is that the 11+ year old HiFi is still functional today with its Aux in. Odds are an 11 year old HomePod will literally be a doorstop.
I got it at half price, and I still barely use it. If it had been released with stereo streaming I might've gotten two and used them as the sound system in an auxiliary tv room, but that wasn't available. What is severely lacking, and what I loved about the old iPod speaker from years back, is that you can't dock the your phone on it, you can't even plug your phone or any other device into it. That, and apparently the setup is tied to one iPhone/account, so family members can't even change settings if they need to.
It sounds GREAT and is definitely the best speaker out of the comparable devices I've heard, but the setup and lack of other usefulness just keeps it mostly unused.