On February 9, 2018, Apple finally released the highly anticipated HomePod
<https://www.apple.com/homepod> to the general public. I was lucky enough
to receive one as a gift from Cupid for Valentine's Day and I thought that I
would share my first impressions of Apple's latest gadget.
Product Description
The HomePod is Apple's smart speaker which, according to Apple, takes the
listening experience to a whole new level. It comes equipped with Apple's
virtual assistant SIRI and a subwoofer and 7 tweeters to enhance the
listening experience. It also has technology built into the speaker that
allows for it to adapt to any room to customize the listening experience.
The retail price for the HomePod is currently US$349.
Physically the best way that I can describe the shape and feel of the
HomePod is a warehouse sized pickle jar. It is quite heavy and surrounded by
mesh fabric. The top of the HomePod has a touch screen that has volume
up/down buttons and a play/pause button that appear when content is playing,
and yes the touch screen is totally accessible with Voice Over.
Setting up the HomePod
The HomePod, in true Apple form, arrives in a beautiful box wrapped in
cellophane. There is an easy tab that can be used to easily remove the
plastic wrap and the top of the box lifts completely off of the inner shell
that holds the device. When opening your HomePod for the first time, you
will want to be very careful as it is very easy to drop it since the top
slides right off of the bottom shell.
Once your HomePod is plugged in, after approximately 10 seconds you will
hear a start-up sound. Once you hear this sound it's time to grab your iOS
device and get everything set-up. Once you unlock your device, a message
will immediately pop up asking if you want to set up the HomePod. You'll
just have to answer a few simple questions and settings and within less than
2 minutes your settings are transferred to the HomePod, including all of
your accessibility settings.
When the transfer is complete, SIRI will greet you and welcome you to the
HomePod. She will walk you through a few basic commands including asking her
what she can do and playing a song.
Using VoiceOver with the HomePod
If you are a VoiceOver user, the touch screen interface will have similar
gestures that you are familiar with on your iOS device. On the touch screen
you will find three virtual buttons. From left to right, with the power cord
facing away from you, you will find a volume down button, a play/pause
button and a volume up button. Unlike your iOS device it does not appear
that swiping will work when attempting to navigate the buttons, you will
have to rely upon touch methods.
Using the touch screen on the HomePod, you are able to perform the following
gestures:
* Decrease volume - double tap the decrease volume button
* Increase volume - double tap the increase volume button
* Pause content - double tap the play/pause button
* Skip forward to a new track - triple tap the play/pause button
* Skip backward to a previous track - quadruple tap the play/pause
button
* Summon SIRI - double tap and hold the play/pause button
Playing Music & Podcasts
In order to have the full experience and benefits of the HomePod, you will
either need an Apple Music subscription, music purchased on iTunes or an
iTunes Match subscription. Having one of these options allows for you to
play content simply by saying "Hey SIRI play my Faves Playlist." Or "Hey
SIRI play top songs from 1992."
If you do not have any music in the Apple or iTunes ecosystem, you are still
able to airplay content from any provider, including Pandora and Spotify and
you will then still be able to use the SIRI commands to control playback and
find out information about what song is playing. Additionally, an added
benefit of airplay is that you will continue to have local VoiceOver control
and output on your iOS device while the audio content is played through the
HomePod.
Sound Quality
As soon as your very first song from your Apple Music Library plays you will
be blown away with the clarity and richness of the sound. Without a doubt
the HomePod has the best sound quality I've ever heard in such a small
device. Some individuals have said that the sound is a little too bassy for
their liking, however I personally like to have bass in my music and think
it sounds amazing.
Using SIRI to Control Music Playback
Even while music is playing, you can control music playback simply by saying
"Hey SIRI stop" or "Hey SIRI next track". SIRI was even able to understand
me from 30 feet away and when the music was playing at a high volume. There
are so many commands <https://support.apple.com/en-us/ht208279> that SIRI
will respond to for music control and many of the commands will sound
familiar as they are the same commands that work on your iOS devices.
You can also use SIRI to play your Podcasts or find podcasts that you are
not subscribed to. When testing this feature, I had some trouble getting
SIRI to play specific podcasts, especially ones that I was not subscribed
to. In order to have the HomePod play a specific podcast, I have found that
you need the exact name of the podcast, which may be difficult to remember
at times. SIRI also did not totally understand me much of the time when I
asked for specific podcasts not in my subscriptions.
Using SIRI to Get Things Done
SIRI is a bit underwhelming on the HomePod. If you are expecting amazing
Alexa skills like identifying a song based on lyrics that you repeat or
finding out obscure trivia facts about Mark Twain then you will be sorely
disappointed.
SIRI is able to do basic things like control your HomeKit enabled
accessories, set a reminder, set an alarm, check traffic conditions from
your location to another location and check the weather, however she is far
from intelligent in my opinion. Throughout my testing, there were several
commands that elicited the response "I'm sorry, I can't do that on HomePod."
including requests for specific news stories about current events or
trending topics on Twitter.
The nice thing about the Apple HomePod and SIRI's abilities is that
historically, through software updates we know that her abilities will only
get better in the future.
The Bottom Line
If you are in the market for a speaker with top quality sound and already
have many products in the Apple ecosystem then the HomePod may be a logical
choice for you. Its' seamless integration with all of your iOS devices and
familiar interface will without a doubt come naturally to you and make for a
low learning curve.
If you are an Android user then let's be honest, the HomePod is pretty much
useless to you. Presently it does not allow connections via bluetooth,
although it does have the components necessary for this type of connection
and an iOS device is required to set up the speaker. Secondly if you prefer
other streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and I Heart Radio, you will
not be able to enjoy the convenience of using SIRI to control the playback
of your music.
And finally, let's not ignore the huge elephant in the room...the HomePod is
one of the most expensive smart speakers on the market right now. For US$349
I honestly expected more from the HomePod in the SIRI department, however I
will say that the sound quality is absolutely fantastic.
Submitted by Serina Gilbert - Member of the AppleVis Blog Team at:
www.applevis.com
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