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HomePod So does HomePod Mini do what you were expecting/hoping
- Thread starter Corsig
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some things with Apple i just end up losing interest bc i get tired of the long waiting. HomePod mini was one of them. sold all 9 of my homePods recently and switched to sonos. seems like others have the same thoughts....not much excitement going on for this product as you thought there would be.
I though they discussed HomeKit and the U1 chip pretty well. I’m really looking forward to the intercom system which is what I really wanted to see put into HomeKit and the HomePods. I have 7 regular HomePods so I’m hoping the intercom comes to those too. Can’t see why not since it’s getting integrated into iPhone, CarPlay, AirPods, etc... Other than that , I was hoping for a cheaper smaller version to sprinkle into rooms that don’t need a full size which is also what this does. My HomeKit hobby is getting expensive lol.
How about you?
that'll be classic apple tho when intercom doesn't work with big homepod lol
Bit strange only including 802.11n in 2020. I guess that's the watches for you.
Looks fine for putting in less important rooms. I just wish they would hurry up with the update to allow us to change the default music option.
Looks fine for putting in less important rooms. I just wish they would hurry up with the update to allow us to change the default music option.
The Forum Topic: Does the HomePod do what I want? I really don't know.
My #1 feature request is the ability to talk to HomePod and have it launch a movie on AppleTV (all from my voice - without the use of any remote). Can it do that?
For example, assume I have an AppleTV and a HomePod and I already own the movie Batman on iTunes.
Can I walk into the room, say Hey Siri play Batman. Will that launch the movie on my AppleTV? I don't know.
I know Google can play movies like that. But Apple, not sure.
Anyone know????
My #1 feature request is the ability to talk to HomePod and have it launch a movie on AppleTV (all from my voice - without the use of any remote). Can it do that?
For example, assume I have an AppleTV and a HomePod and I already own the movie Batman on iTunes.
Can I walk into the room, say Hey Siri play Batman. Will that launch the movie on my AppleTV? I don't know.
I know Google can play movies like that. But Apple, not sure.
Anyone know????
I can't honestly tell yet. I don't use any streaming music services, and have no plans to start. I've got about 40GB of music in iTunes on an aging Mac Mini, which I currently play throughout the house on Sonos One speakers. I can't tell if the HomePod will allow me to play directly from iTunes to the speaker, or to control iTunes with the speaker.
I'm still trying to figure out the best option for managing my music library once my ancient Mac Mini finally gives up the ghost. I'm not sure whether the HomePod will figure into that solution or not.
I'm still trying to figure out the best option for managing my music library once my ancient Mac Mini finally gives up the ghost. I'm not sure whether the HomePod will figure into that solution or not.
Yes, it will do those things. At least, the big one does. I’m assuming the mini will also.
Why would you want to use bluetooth for that? Shouldn't AirPlay just work for that?
im thinking bluetooth auto connects each time I turn on my MacBook vs. airplay I would have to set it or manually turn on? My apologies, new to this.
Actually it's a good question. I read some reports that it does not connect purely by bluetooth, so you need to have an AirPlay enabled device. I also dont have a HomePod yet, but others might be able to comment on that.
You might be able to do some automation (i.e. auto-connect to homepod, play certain music etc. with Shortcuts, location based) but this only works for iPhone. Unsure if you could do such automation on a mac.
Use Siri Shortcuts to automatically connect your HomePod to your iPhone using AirPlay
If you've been playing around with the Siri Suggestions and Shortcuts app, you might be wondering how to make your shortcuts work with the HomePod.
www.imore.com
thanks, if anyone knows or have details please let us know. I'm trying to decide if I should go with a pair of HomePod mini or the Bose companion pc speakers.
Actually it's a good question. I read some reports that it does not connect purely by bluetooth, so you need to have an AirPlay enabled device. I also dont have a HomePod yet, but others might be able to comment on that.
You might be able to do some automation (i.e. auto-connect to homepod, play certain music etc. with Shortcuts, location based) but this only works for iPhone. Unsure if you could do such automation on a mac.
Use Siri Shortcuts to automatically connect your HomePod to your iPhone using AirPlay
If you've been playing around with the Siri Suggestions and Shortcuts app, you might be wondering how to make your shortcuts work with the HomePod.
Interesting. Would you share why the change from HomePods to Sonos? and which Sonos you acquired? I haven’t gotten on the HomePod bandwagon yet but liked a bit of what I saw with the mini. But I had assumed the big ones were pretty high quality for their price, and getting 9 of them was not an insubstantial investment to throw out. Would appreciate your insights here.
sure, i'd be glad to help out!
Just being upfront here, but the money part of it is a very small picture for me. As you can see, i went all in and bought 9 of them lol. With that said, the more HomePods you get in my experience, the harder it is to control them all at once. So if you want sound all over the house at once, i had a heckuva time making sure the volume was the same through out the house etc. You can manually adjust the sound through apple music app, but if you didn't constantly have it open, it would disconnect and you'd have to manually connect when that happens. Voice controls weren't very consistent either and it just became annoying trying to deal with it all. When it did worked, it worked well, but one little thing can throw it off and it was annoying to deal with. Plus, with Apple, you can only use Apple Music only if you wanna use voice. I also have youtube music, amazon prime music, pandora and siriusXM, so it just made sense to me to go the sonos route. Sonos is also airplay 2, so if i change my mind in the future, it all works with homepod anyways. In the beginning of using Sonos, I did keep 3 Homepods to test and they worked well with all my Sonos speakers. The other thing with Apple, there's nothing to really use for outdoor speakers. So i had an airport express connected to a Sony receiver and had 2 speakers outside. Being in that was not a homepod but was airplay 2, i would sometimes have a delay on the airport express by a second or so and it would echo a lot and i'd have to restart everything to get it going again and in sync.
So here's what I ended up with Sonos wise....
-Sonos amp that is airplay 2 that is hooked up in sunroom to control the 2 outside speakers
-Sonos move - to take with us and also use in the backyard for parties to control music by voice outside
-Sonos Five in the sunroom for the main sound in that room
-Sonos one's - 6 throughout the house in bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, bar, living room etc.
-Sonos beam soundbar with 2 sonos one's as surround sounds and a Sonos sub in the tv room.
i luckily bought at a time that the Sonos stuff was on sale for a majority of it. The sonos one's were only $150/each. So after fees and shipping on ebay for my homepods, the sonos ones were completely paid for. I've been really impressed with Sonos as i can tie in pandora, amazon prime music, siriusXM and youtube music and control all of it right within the app. I can still control things by voice with alexa if i want, but a lot of the time i just control it all through the app as the app works extremely well. Super impressed with Sonos and honestly wish i would have switched sooner.
The one thing i'd say on apple, is sometimes they just make things difficult and force you to do it their way, they aren't very accommodating. With that said, IMO, the homepods do sound better than a Sonos one does, but overall the Sonos one's operate better and are easier to manage. The thing that i love about Sonos, is they are welcoming to most all services and they all work well together.
Hope this helps!
I don't use mine with a Mac, but for a TV speaker late at night. It almost always remembers the last use with the ATV and connects automatically. I'm not sure if it would work the same.
Honestly, I don't understand the point of these things, other than to make an Amazon competitor in the $99 range. But who's going to buy them? These things make sense for Amazon, because stationary devices are literally the only way they have to access Alexa. But what buyer of a HomePod mini doesn't already have an iPhone in his pocket? Or maybe wouldn't be better served with an Apple Watch? A dedicated smart speaker for me would be completely superfluous, and much more limiting than what I already have with me. It's incredibly rare for my phone to not be in the same room as me, and even then, my watch is on my wrist. I can access Siri any time and place I want - so, why do I need this?
The larger HomePod - sure, I get it. I think Sonos is better, for a number of reasons, but generally I get why someone would want a good sounding speaker that happens to also be a digital assistant. But the Mini is the opposite - instead of a good speaker that happens to have a digital assistant, it's a digital assistant that happens to also play music. It's 180° from Apple's original HomePod pitch. I'm sure it will be better than average, for a speaker it's size; but that's faint praise. It might be a nice tiny speaker, but it's still a tiny speaker.
The larger HomePod - sure, I get it. I think Sonos is better, for a number of reasons, but generally I get why someone would want a good sounding speaker that happens to also be a digital assistant. But the Mini is the opposite - instead of a good speaker that happens to have a digital assistant, it's a digital assistant that happens to also play music. It's 180° from Apple's original HomePod pitch. I'm sure it will be better than average, for a speaker it's size; but that's faint praise. It might be a nice tiny speaker, but it's still a tiny speaker.