HomePod PISSED about HomePod

[Arran]

Nobody in this thread is suggesting that it is unreasonable to travel with good speakers. They are merely pointing out how ludicrous it is to travel with the HomePod and expect it to work on a public hotel captive portal wifi. As if putting "Home" in the name wasn't clear enough.

By the way, I travel a lot for my job. I've seen some people traveling with some odd things. What always surprises me is that there is always someone that makes a portable version of whatever anyone needs. Need dual monitors to work remotely on your laptop? There are portable monitors. Need an inversion therapy table for your back? Don't bring the big one you have at home, they make one that folds up into a small carry-on bag. (yes, I've seen someone set it up in an airport lounge) Likewise, there are very good speakers designed for use away from home.

Also, I agree that the HomePod sounds really good at low volume. But so do other speakers. The HomePod is hardly the best in this regard. There are plenty of options, especially if looking in the $350 range, that are designed for on-the-go or portable use that sound just as good. Just because it doesn't have an Apple logo doesn't mean it's bad.

Bring a HomePod to a hotel room is like bringing a floor jack to a rental car. Sure, it's a tool that will work; but it's plainly the wrong tool for the situation. Floor jacks are for your home garage, not for traveling with. The HomePod is the same.

The HomePod's actually pretty portable. I was surprised how small it was when I got mine. You could even argue it's designed to be moved around: Handy size, a single unit, wireless, easy to pack (no accessories, cables, power cords/bricks/wallwarts), padded exterior, gently rounded edges, ability to automatically configure itself to any room's acoustics whenever it's re-located.

I'll admit it's unlikely I'd take it with me on weekly trips - simply because the wife and kids back home need it. But what if I was single? Why spend $350 on a speaker that sits unused at home?

And then there's vacation rental homes and apartments. Why wouldn't anyone not want to take it along?

 

[legacyb4]

If you have your laptop with you, set up your laptop to share WiFi and connect to that instead?

http://www.delora.com/advice/networking_guide/adhoc_wifi2/

 

[oneMadRssn]

The HomePod's actually pretty portable. I was surprised how small it was when I got mine. You could even argue it's designed to be moved around: Handy size, a single unit, wireless, easy to pack (no accessories, cables, power cords/bricks/wallwarts), padded exterior, gently rounded edges, ability to automatically configure itself to any room's acoustics whenever it's re-located.

I'll admit it's unlikely I'd take it with me on weekly trips - simply because the wife and kids back home need it. But what if I was single? Why spend $350 on a speaker that sits unused at home?

And then there's vacation rental homes and apartments. Why wouldn't anyone not want to take it along?

There's something we agree on.

I have a good Sonos setup at home. 2x Play:1, and 1x Play:5 for the big kitchen/living/dining area. They all sound awesome, in every room. I would never bring any of them on vacation, even though the Play:1 is a handy small size, single unit, wireless, easy to pack (no accessories, cables, power bricks/wallwarts), rectangular for optimal space but with gently rounded corners, and it also configured itself to any room's acoustics.

For backyard / vacation / grilling outside / rental homes etc., I have a Bose SoundLink speaker and an Astro bluetooth speaker i got from a KickStarter. Both sound awesome, are battery powered (so actually wireless, no power cable needed), and will work without wifi or any network connection whatsoever. Sure, bluetooth has it's limitations, but so does the HomePod or Sonos. Bose supports AAC over bluetooth, so the sound quality when listening to Apple Music is top notch. Choosing the right tool for the job is always about balancing needs with limitations.

 

[Arran]

Choosing the right tool for the job is always about balancing needs with limitations.

Agreed. But sometimes the product limitations seem artificial.

After all, not long ago Apple called this their $350 portable speaker:

Look. It even has two carry-handles.

I have one on my desk. Just measured it. You could comfortably fit three home pods inside it and still have room for the four D cell batteries.

 

[Endorphine88]

Thanks to those who actually gave me solutions, I’ll try them when I get back to the hotel.

I paid for a speaker, it’s so silly that a speaker requires WIFI to even be allowed to play music.

It's a way to maintain lossless playback (pure assumption) since bluetooth wrecks fidelity. I too was very surprised that the HomePod would not support bluetooth streaming, but I actually haven't missed it at all. It's also not meant to be a portable speaker really although I did almost take it with me on a trip recently but figured it wouldn't work on the hotel's unsecured network.
I think the only solution would be to use your phone as a hotspot but that kind of defeats the whole point of ease of use.

 

[A MacBook lover]

It's a way to maintain lossless playback (pure assumption) since bluetooth wrecks fidelity. I too was very surprised that the HomePod would not support bluetooth streaming, but I actually haven't missed it at all. It's also not meant to be a portable speaker really although I did almost take it with me on a trip recently but figured it wouldn't work on the hotel's unsecured network.
I think the only solution would be to use your phone as a hotspot but that kind of defeats the whole point of ease of use.

This issue has been resolved.

Hidden very well in the home app is an option that allows WiFi-less playblack. So no WiFi required. But open WiFi is required for initial pairing. After changing the setting I can see my HomePod in airplay menu without using WiFi.

 

[Endorphine88]

This issue has been resolved.

Hidden very well in the home app is an option that allows WiFi-less playblack. So no WiFi required. But open WiFi is required for initial pairing. After changing the setting I can see my HomePod in airplay menu without using WiFi.

Interesting. Care to share instructions ?

 

[oneMadRssn]

Agreed. But sometimes the product limitations seem artificial.

After all, not long ago Apple called this their $350 portable speaker:

Look. It even has two carry-handles.

I have one on my desk. Just measured it. You could comfortably fit three home pods inside it and still have room for the four D cell batteries.

The iPod Hifi was awesome and I'd say it's still more capable than the Homepod. It works without wifi, it can work off battery power, it sounds awesome throughout the entire range (not just highs and lows like the HP), and it works equally well from Apple Music as it does from Spotify or plain old MP3s.

Indeed, if OP had an iPod Hifi, this thread wouldn't have existed because he would be jamming to tunes in his hotel room without issue.

 

[Hitch08]

This issue has been resolved.

Hidden very well in the home app is an option that allows WiFi-less playblack. So no WiFi required. But open WiFi is required for initial pairing. After changing the setting I can see my HomePod in airplay menu without using WiFi.

I can't find this option and would love to give it a try. My iPhone keeps disconnecting from my HomePod via the Wifi - and I'm hoping this might help (I started a different thread in this sub-forum, called "Help with HomePod..." if others have ideas for me).

EDIT:
Found this in an Apple Discussions thread:

__________
there is a partial workaround in similar situation; you can use the HomePod just as speaker with the iPhone used for setting up. From Home app in the main setting "Allow Speaker Access" flag Everyone, then wherever you are with your HomePod and your iPhone, you can use HomePod as any other speaker, even without internet connection or wi-fi, but unfortunately no other features are available from HomePod.

I hope they will allow to setting the HomePod either from Home App or form any other ad hoc app, in order to manage the HomePod even outside from home!

Maybe you already know it, in this case sorry, never mind.
_____________
Maybe that's it?

 

[A MacBook lover]

Interesting. Care to share instructions ?