TheHomePodhas shore , and reviews are not exactly shining . In our review , we find that the wakeless quality , and the ability for Siri to hear you in challenging precondition , is a cut above the rival . But the excessively confine Apple ignition lock - in and Siri ’s capabilities for non - music map , among other things , make it pretty hard to urge .
We ’re not alone . Most of theother reviewerslauded HomePod for its telling level-headed quality and observe that , in most every other meaningful agency , vie premium smart loudspeaker system are superior .
This is just the beginning of HomePod ’s journeying . With an A8 processor hunt the show , there ’s muckle of way for significant package raise . Over time , HomePod will get better as Apple ’s developer heighten its capabilities . Here ’s our list of the six item that should be on top of thier listing .
Multi-user support
Number one , with a bullet .
HomePod will happily respond to multiple voice . countless voices , even ! This is because , unfortunately , it do by them all exactly the same . Once you set up HomePod with your iPhone or iPad , everyone who talks to it is usingyourApple Music news report , and everything they play influencesyoursong recommendations .
bad , the nonremittal pick during apparatus is to enable Personal Requests , which lets you ( or any other person ! ) talk to HomePod to send messages , set reminder , or make musical note . Yeah , those characteristic stop work once your phone is no longer on the same Wi - Fi web as your HomePod , and you may disable Personal Requests in the Home app . But you should n’t have to plow off useful feature article for protect your identity .
Sure , you’re able to disable Personal Requests , but you should n’t have to . And the setting is sort of buried .
Google Assistant and Alexa both recognize multiple users and support multiple accounts .
Here ’s how I would like it to sour on HomePod : If I determine up HomePod , it should only allow those “ Personal Requests ” features and only influence my music recommendations when it recognizesmyvoice , but take into account anyone else to act euphony , listen to podcasts , set timer , get the weather , and so on . If my wife want to add her account , she can do so with thesame unlined setup cognitive process . Then , when she speaks , it should recognize her voice and expend her notes / reminders / music bill .
In other dustup , I want multiple voice profile tied to different Apple account , with any unrecognized part lock away out of get at personal data or influencing accounting - holders ’ Apple Music passport .
Other music services
wait , Apple has almost always been “ Apple first , ” but it does n’t usually keep out out everyone else so seriously . AirPods work best with Io equipment , but still work just all right as a stereoscopic photograph Bluetooth headset on Android speech sound . The iPhone does neat stuff with your Mac , but Windows users are n’t prevent from doing anything important . When Apple dropped Google Maps in favor of its own mapping service , it did n’t stop over Google from releasing its own Google Maps app on the app store . Apple television is the serious means to catch iTunes moving-picture show or television set , but it ’s still a perfectly near Netflix , Hulu , or Amazon Prime Video player and you may apply Siri to seek YouTube .
But HomePod doesn’treallywork with any music service outside of Apple ’s . iTunes purchases , iTunes friction match tracks , and Apple Music work great . Nothing else influence at all .
The solution is dim-witted : SiriKit should add a medicine domain so that other euphony Service can be controlled with Siri . Yes , it would still workbestwith Apple Music . All the smart recommendations and music intelligence stuff and nonsense could remain exclusive to Apple ’s service . But I should be able to do the staple on other service : act caterpillar track , albums , creative person , genres , and play list .
Of course , HomePod is an AirPlay twist , and thus you may just employ your iPhone or iPad to queue up Spotify or Pandora and shine it to the speaker . But that ’s not the point of these smart verbaliser , is it ? If you ’re move to do that , you might as well just get a Bluetooth verbalizer .
Bluetooth support
verbalise of Bluetooth , it ’s kind of ridiculous that HomePod has Bluetooth 5.0 hardware but no material Bluetooth support at all . That Bluetooth radio is used during frame-up and then , for all we jazz , it shuts off completely . HomePod does n’t show up as a Bluetooth gimmick , no matter what gadget you ’re trying to sync with it .
Why not ? HomePod would be a orca Bluetooth speaker ! When booster come over with their Android phones , what expert means to sell them on HomePod and the Apple ecosystem than to let them see how cracking it sound with their own euphony ? Let me output the phone from a Windows laptop , or practice HomePod as a Bluetooth speakerphone !
It could even respond to wide-eyed commands to enable or disable Bluetooth : “ Hey Siri , wrench on Bluetooth . ”
Better Apple ecosystem integration
With all the heavy handed Apple - only lock - in , you would think HomePod would domorewithin the Apple ecosystem .
Take Apple television receiver consolidation , for instance . Yes , you’re able to choose HomePod as an audio end product source for your Apple TV ( for which we ’ve had motley consequence ) , but that ’s about it . Why ca n’t it recognize I have an Apple TV 4 K on my home internet and incorporate with it ? I should be able to say , “ hey Siri , show the weather condition report on my tv set , ” or “ hey Siri , assailable Netflix on my boob tube . ” It should be able to do everything the Siri remote can do , only hands - complimentary .
How about answering telephone set shout ? When my iPhone rings , why ca n’t I say “ Hey Siri , serve on my HomePod ” to have the call go right there ? Why ca n’t I handoff audio to my other Apple machine ? “ Hey Siri , play this on my iPhone ” should keep the euphony going , with my current waiting line , as I get ready to leave the house . I should be able to use Handoff to institutionalise calls between my HomePod , Mac , or iPhone .
Why ca n’t I manipulate my HomePod from my Apple Watch ?
When my Apple Watch is on the same internet as my HomePod , I should be capable to rapidly bestow up music controls to skip tracks or adjust mass . Sometimes you just don’twantto do things with voice command .
Multi-speaker support
When HomePod was announced , Apple said we would be able to pair up two of them for lawful two-channel sound , or dispel them throughout the house and satisfy our homes with perfectly - synchronize audio . Both characteristic got swerve before release , and Apple promises they ’ll come back in a software update this yr .
When Apple rolls out multi - HomePod support , the two - speaker frame-up needs to deport clear stereo separation .
They need to workflawlessly . We require to be able to keep in line any HomePod from any other HomePod , and use natural spoken language to run dissimilar things in unlike locations or the same thing in multiple speakers . I should n’t have to choose between run music on one HomePod and playing it everywhere . If I say “ play chill euphony in the living elbow room and kitchen ” it should aggroup up those speaker , allow my married woman to represent something different in her office at the same metre .
I have to listen to an other demonstration of the two - HomePod - stereo feature recently , and it sounded good , but did n’t cater a really clear-cut sense of stereo separation . When this feature ship , we should very understandably try left and veracious communication channel sound coming solely from their respective HomePods .
Smarter Siri
Sometimes Siri just plain suck . We can wish for SiriKit to open up to more type of apps and services , or for HomeKit to be affirm by a muckle more smart household gismo . And both of those will be necessary of Siri need to keep up with Google and Amazon in the AI backwash . ( It defeat me that my Nest and Harmony stuff and nonsense are useless with Siri . )
This is an embarassing failure in the heart of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics .
But more than that , Siri just need to provide good answers to our interrogation . The Winter Olympics are presently under way in PyeongChang , South Korea . I call for , “ Hey Siri , what sentence is it in PyeongChang ? ” and Siri told me , “ I ’m deplorable , I do n’t know where that is . ” Trying it again on my telephone , I noticed that Siri got “ PyeongChang ” right , even thrust in the mid - cap “ C ” , but Siri still did n’t know how to answer . So I made it well-off , “ Siri , what time is it in PyeongChang , South Korea ? ” and Siri cheerfully tell me , “ In Seoul , South Korea , it ’s 4:51am ! ”
Seoul is not in PyeongChang county , or even the same province ( Gangwon - do ) .
Google Assistant is smart enough to make separate inclination items when I say “ add milk , ball , tall mallow , and bread to my shopping list . ” Siri makes one list point call up “ Milk River eggs high mallow and boodle . ”
The same three requests that gave me the mess on the left with Siri produce the ordain list on the right with Google Assistant .
Multiple named timers is a huge blessing for those who cook . With Google Assistant or Alexa , I can have an “ ballock ” timekeeper set for 6 minutes , a “ vegetable ” timekeeper for 12 minutes , and a “ pasta ” timekeeper for 7 hour . Siri still only supports a single timekeeper with no name .
Siri is sometimes head teacher - scratchingly limited on HomePod , but it need to get much bettereverywhere .
