HomePod

Bob24 · 30-05-2018 3:47pm

iniall wrote: »

Is there anything about AirPlay 2 that's good for those of us who only have one HomePod?

If you have other airplay 2 compatible speakers, there is multi room.

And I don’t know the answer but I’m wondering if AirPlay 2 significantly improves latency. I.e. can you comfortably play a video game on the Apple TV with the audio output sent to the AirPod?

iniall · 30-05-2018 3:54pm

I've been using the HomePod as the audio output from my Apple TV (3rd generation) for a few months now and haven't noticed any latency issues with it.

Bob24 · 30-05-2018 4:52pm

iniall wrote: »

I've been using the HomePod as the audio output from my Apple TV (3rd generation) for a few months now and haven't noticed any latency issues with it.

Including with interactive applications such as games?

(For videos, Apple has always been fairly good at offsetting the video and audio tracks so that latency is not perceived, but with something interactive you can't offset - maybe the HomePod has improved airplay but with my B&W airplay speaker latency is clearly noticeable with games)

peteeeed · 09-07-2018 6:22pm

HomePod update 11.4.1 is out

Manach · 15-07-2018 11:21am

The device looks a nice piece of kit, but the price is a stretch at least compared to Googlehome and Amazon Alexa. Hopefuly a price drop soon.

Manach · 15-07-2018 12:23pm

The device looks a nice piece of kit, but the price is a stretch at least compared to Googlehome and Amazon Alexa. Hopefuly a price drop soon.

Bob24 · 15-07-2018 1:05pm

Manach wrote: »

The device looks a nice piece of kit, but the price is a stretch at least compared to Googlehome and Amazon Alexa. Hopefuly a price drop soon.

Audio quality seems quite significantly better though (including compared to larger products from competitors).

Price might drop a bit (not sure), but I doubt it will be a massive drop and I think Apple might release a cheaper version which doesn’t sound as good in the future for people who are mostly after a virtual assistant and don’t care as much for audio quality.

Jomazuma · 15-07-2018 3:43pm

i have apple music so i will probably get one at some stage

Creamy Goodness · 15-07-2018 4:18pm

Manach wrote: »

The device looks a nice piece of kit, but the price is a stretch at least compared to Googlehome and Amazon Alexa. Hopefuly a price drop soon.

In fairness you’d need to be comparing the price of the HomePod with Google Home Max as the sound quality (HomePod’s main feature) is more comparable to the Max and amazon aren’t in the high end speaker market.

OU812 · 15-07-2018 4:48pm

Have mine about a fortnight now and to be honest, I use it more than I thought I would.

I’m a bit pissed off I can’t tell it to play somehing from iTunes though. I’m of the age where I’m not really into new music, even from some of my favourites. I don’t want an Apple Music subscription.

As a workaround I found out if you use Apple match for €25 a year instead of Apple Music for €10 a month, it will use all your iTunes library.

Manach · 15-07-2018 11:06pm

OU812 wrote: »

Have mine about a fortnight now and to be honest, I use it more than I thought I would.

I’m a bit pissed off I can’t tell it to play somehing from iTunes though. I’m of the age where I’m not really into new music, even from some of my favourites. I don’t want an Apple Music subscription.

Thanks, I did not know that. I've already an Amazon product and use it to access Audible books. But my music is on Itunes and so if it cannot be called from Homepod, that is not ideal.

Sad Professor · 16-07-2018 12:46pm

You can Airplay from your iTunes library to the Homepod. And if the library is on a computer in another room you can use the Remote app on your iPhone to control it - it cannot select Apple Music tracks but since you don't have or want Apple Music it won't make any difference.

peteeeed · 31-07-2018 8:32am

IOS 12 beta 5 features phone calls through homepod

https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/30/homepod-phone-call-support/

AidenL · 31-07-2018 7:00pm

peteeeed wrote: »

IOS 12 beta 5 features phone calls through homepod

https://9to5mac.com/2018/07/30/homepod-phone-call-support/

That would be quite handy actually.

jpt1980 · 04-08-2018 11:24pm

Got mine a couple of weeks ago, found Siri to be way more accurate than on the phone. The sound is magic out of it, a friend has an amazon Echo and they’re not playing the same sport. I have a few HomeKit devices and they seem to respond way quicker then using the phone.

turfthrower · 08-08-2018 5:45pm

I picked one up in Belfast three or four months ago and have been using it constantly. It's a fantastic piece of kit. Possibly the only drawback is that it can be fiddly to voice control specific tracks if there are multiple versions of the same track on the Apple catalogue.

Sound quality is fantastic though.

AidenL · 08-08-2018 6:43pm

If they get multiple named alarms, and Irish radio stations, I'd buy back one or two for my house.

I had it out, but returned it as I found it limited on those regards.

Question96 · 22-08-2018 11:04am

can this be ordered from the apple.ie site ?

flexcon · 22-08-2018 11:32am

Question96 wrote: »

can this be ordered from the apple.ie site ?

Unfortunately not, it hasn't launched in Ireland yet.

AidenL · 22-08-2018 7:54pm

flexcon wrote: »

Unfortunately not, it hasn't launched in Ireland yet.

Its slow - wonder should we tell Apple we don't need translations as Gaelige for Siri !

Question96 · 22-08-2018 9:05pm

thanks for the replys , does the uk site accept shipments to ireland ?

jack presley · 22-08-2018 9:12pm

Question96 wrote: »

thanks for the replys , does the uk site accept shipments to ireland ?

Don't think so. You could use Parcel Motel or take a trip to Belfast yourself.

Google lists a couple of sites that ship to Ireland but I have no idea about them and the prices seems to vary a lot on them.

OU812 · 22-08-2018 10:11pm

Question96 wrote: »

thanks for the replys , does the uk site accept shipments to ireland ?

I used parcel motel. Took a day extra. Make sure you take out extra insurance.

colmkirk · 01-09-2018 3:44pm

Guys was looking to buy a homepod, just have a question, will it work over 3g connection?

5uspect · 01-09-2018 3:53pm

colmkirk wrote: »

Guys was looking to buy a homepod, just have a question, will it work over 3g connection?

It needs to connect to a WiFi access point. So once your dongle exposes a WiFi network that your iPhone can use you should be fine.

peteeeed · 17-09-2018 7:14pm

Big update
Phone calls , multiple timers
https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/17/homepod-timers-find-iphone-calling-more/

AidenL · 18-09-2018 10:01pm

Is Tunein and Irish radio stations available on the HomePod yet?

Bob24 · 18-09-2018 10:23pm

AidenL wrote: »

Is Tunein and Irish radio stations available on the HomePod yet?

Any app which supports airplay on your iOS device can be sent to the HomePod. That is most if not all audio apps, and tunein definitly does.

AidenL · 19-09-2018 6:01am

Bob24 wrote: »

Any app which supports airplay on your iOS device can be set to the HomePod. That is most if not all audio apps, and tunein definitly does.

But is that just Airplaying to it, selections the station on a phone or IPad?

I wasn’t able to use Siri to control radio station selection when I had a HomePod, I presume that still not changed?

AidenL · 19-09-2018 6:02am

Bob24 wrote: »

Any app which supports airplay on your iOS device can be set to the HomePod. That is most if not all audio apps, and tunein definitly does.

But is that just Airplaying to it, selecting the station on a phone or IPad?

I wasn’t able to use Siri to control radio station selection when I had a HomePod, I presume that still not changed?

Bob24 · 19-09-2018 8:34am

AidenL wrote: »

But is that just Airplaying to it, selecting the station on a phone or IPad?

I wasn’t able to use Siri to control radio station selection when I had a HomePod, I presume that still not changed?

Yes that’s just AirPlay, no direct access from the HomePod.

Creamy Goodness · 19-09-2018 9:33am

TuneIn doing Siri Shortcuts is the best you'll get. Apple - and rightly so - believe traditional radio is dead.

Bob24 · 19-09-2018 9:48am

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

TuneIn doing Siri Shortcuts is the best you'll get. Apple - and rightly so - believe traditional radio is dead.

Depending on what you mean by traditional radio I’d disagree with that.

If you’re saying it’s all going online and FM radio transmission is dead as a technology to broadcast the programmes, yes.

If you’re saying the idea of live audio broadcast is dead (which is what TuneIn is), I couldn’t disagree more.

OU812 · 20-09-2018 9:20am

Finding Siri less responsive since the update. Anyone else?

To be honest, it’s pretty useless as is. Much as I dislike google, I’m considering getting one for the home automation side of it & just keep Siri as a speaker

peteeeed · 20-09-2018 9:37am

OU812 wrote: »

Finding Siri less responsive since the update. Anyone else?

To be honest, it’s pretty useless as is. Much as I dislike google, I’m considering getting one for the home automation side of it & just keep Siri as a speaker

nope mine is working fine

Franz Von Peppercorn · 20-09-2018 9:42am

Bob24 wrote: »

Depending on what you mean by traditional radio I’d disagree with that.

If you’re saying it’s all going online and FM radio transmission is dead as a technology to broadcast the programmes, yes.

If you’re saying the idea of live audio broadcast is dead (which is what TuneIn is), I couldn’t disagree more.

She probably means via a FM receiver. Apple run their own live radio shows on t’internet.

Bob24 · 20-09-2018 9:46am

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

She probably means via a FM receiver. Apple run their own live radio shows on t’internet.

If that was the message I would agreee with it, but then I don’t see how TuneIn would be part of that old world as they are precisely in the business of live internet streaming.

Darwin · 28-09-2018 7:59pm

Just picked up another homepod from currys uk, got a nice discount as it was listed as package damaged but unused. They sound great in stereo but it was an awful faff to get the new one recognised and updated to ios 12. I already have a stereo pair of Beolit 15's, the homepods have just as much bass but definitely sound better on the high end. Haven't turned them up yet, but I get the impression they will be pretty loud.

prionnsias · 10-10-2018 10:11pm

If anyone's looking for a way to play radio through the homepod using siri an app called Radio shorties seems to do the job. You can create siri shortcuts for your stations. Your phone or iPad have to be on the same network for it to work and it still works over airplay but it seems decent enough.

Vudgie · 05-01-2019 2:08pm

I got a HomePod and I notice that you have to have the language on your iPhone set to UK for it to be able to access the calendar etc.

Are there any downsides to this apart from maybe Siri not recognising some Irish references etc?

jpt1980 · 05-01-2019 7:16pm

None that I’ve noticed

Vudgie · 07-01-2019 10:22am

When I ask the homepod to access my calendar it says that the language must match my iPhone.....both are set to English (UK)....am I missing something?

jpt1980 · 07-01-2019 10:44am

Vudgie wrote: »

When I ask the homepod to access my calendar it says that the language must match my iPhone.....both are set to English (UK)....am I missing something?

Siri has to be set to the English male or female voice on your iPhone first

flashf1 · 17-01-2019 4:18pm

Selling one of these (white) over on adverts.ie if anyone interested, bought two, but find I'm just using the one. Bargain!!

04-04-2019 5:43pm

they've just dropped the price where they sell it.
In UK its from £319 to £279,
still not available here however... at the moment :rolleyes:

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-homepod/homepod
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/04/apple-cuts-homepod-price-worldwide/

sean72 · 27-11-2019 9:37am

Hi all, I know the HomePod can connect to the Apple TV as an airplay device. I’m sure that’s fine for music but what’s it’s like for the audio from video sources like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video etc. Are there any lip sync issues??

Also would you say it’s a decent replacement for TV speaker?

lynchd24 · 21-12-2019 7:13pm

So the support for asking Siri to play radio stations is live. Can ask to play newstalk and a few other Irish stations (from TuneIn) but it can’t understand “Play radio station RTÉ .......”. If you say r, t, a to Siri in your phone it does sometimes work but the HomePod does not like fadá’s

Anyone figured it out yet or a work around?

5uspect · 21-12-2019 9:28pm

lynchd24 wrote: »

So the support for asking Siri to play radio stations is live. Can ask to play newstalk and a few other Irish stations (from TuneIn) but it can’t understand “Play radio station RTÉ .......”. If you say r, t, a to Siri in your phone it does sometimes work but the HomePod does not like fadá’s

Anyone figured it out yet or a work around?

You can search for radio stations from the Apple Music HomePod interface on your iPhone/iPad.

prionnsias · 23-12-2019 3:35pm

lynchd24 wrote: »

So the support for asking Siri to play radio stations is live. Can ask to play newstalk and a few other Irish stations (from TuneIn) but it can’t understand “Play radio station RTÉ .......”. If you say r, t, a to Siri in your phone it does sometimes work but the HomePod does not like fadá’s

Anyone figured it out yet or a work around?

I can get most Irish stations working okay. You have to be quite specific when asking for the station. Like with Newstalk I ask for newstalk 106-108fm and for RTÉ radio 1 I ask for the full station name.

whippet · 24-12-2019 11:12am

sean72 wrote: »

Hi all, I know the HomePod can connect to the Apple TV as an airplay device. I’m sure that’s fine for music but what’s it’s like for the audio from video sources like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video etc. Are there any lip sync issues??

Also would you say it’s a decent replacement for TV speaker?

A single unit wouldn't be a game changer - decent enough but i've a stereo pair in my living room with an AppleTV and for PrimeVideo and Netflix it is great - the two HomePods are at either end of the room behind the couch

HomePod

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