HomePod HomePod question

[V_Man]

I just got my first HomePod. Took advantage of Best Buy sale. Love this little speaker. Sounds great. Can’t wait to get another. Kinda hoping another arrives for Christmas.

I updated it and handoff works great. Hold phone over home and it will pass audio back and forth from phone to HomePod.

My question is. When I pass it off to the HomePod is it using AirPlay or is the actual HomePod taking over playback.

Thanks

 

[cynics]

The source of the media is handed off to the HomePod which then takes over playback from Apple Music or wherever. Your iPhone is not actively being used for the media playback at that point.

 

[V_Man]

The source of the media is handed off to the HomePod which then takes over playback from Apple Music or wherever. Your iPhone is not actively being used for the media playback at that point.

Thanks that’s what I thought.
Is it possible to have my iPhone act as another HomePod so that if I leave my bedroom I can continue to listen on my phone? I plan on another HomePod soon

 

[cynics]

Yes, but it will be difficult for me to explain.

With the HomePod playing swipe up on control center on your iPhone. You should see a music player and in the players upper right corner is a AirPlay icon. Click on that...

Now you should see the AirPlay 2 list of devices. Scroll to the HomePod that is playing and click on it.

You should see a list of speakers and your iPhone. Click on your iPhone.

Good luck with that...harder to explain then do...

 

[V_Man]

Thanks. I was thinking more along the lines of both playing at the same time. What you Explained switches between HomePod and phone. Unless I’m missing something.

thanks

 

[waw74]

for that you'll have to music playing on your phone,

you can airplay to multiple targets in addition to playing locally.
but the phone can't be an airplay target

the phone can send to one (or more) homepods
the HomePod can send to one (or more) other home pods.

*you can also use any of the multiple other airplay2 compatible speakers as targets, so for example HomePod can send to one of the newer sonos speakers.

 

[Itinj24]

I just discovered that you can use Siri to transfer audio from one HomePod to another. Pretty awesome. Can do some pretty cool things with Shortcuts too (and combined with an Apple TV, it gets even better). Love these little guys. Just upped my collection to four with the Best Buy sale.

 

[cynics]

I just discovered that you can use Siri to transfer audio from one HomePod to another. Pretty awesome. Can do some pretty cool things with Shortcuts too (and combined with an Apple TV, it gets even better). Love these little guys. Just upped my collection to four with the Best Buy sale.

Yep. You can also use the 'and' conjunction fairly well too. Ex. Hey Siri play this in the living room AND the kitchen. They are trying to make Siri (all these smart assistants for that matter) more contextual in speech (ex "hey siri what is 2x2", she answers 4, "Hey Siri was is that x 2", she answers 8. Obviously "that x 2" need context). The problem now we need to unlearn what used to work.

 

[Itinj24]

Yep. You can also use the 'and' conjunction fairly well too. Ex. Hey Siri play this in the living room AND the kitchen. They are trying to make Siri (all these smart assistants for that matter) more contextual in speech (ex "hey siri what is 2x2", she answers 4, "Hey Siri was is that x 2", she answers 8. Obviously "that x 2" need context). The problem now we need to unlearn what used to work.

No kidding?... I tried that with my Hue lights and Siri usually responds that she can only take one request at time. Maybe HomeKit isn’t quite there yet but I gotta try this with audio. Wish you could transfer a call from one HomePod to another but Siri says she can’t do that while on a call. Works in the call screen device list though.

 

[cynics]

No kidding?... I tried that with my Hue lights and Siri usually responds that she can only take one request at time. Maybe HomeKit isn’t quite there yet but I gotta try this with audio. Wish you could transfer a call from one HomePod to another but Siri says she can’t do that while on a call. Works in the call screen device list though.

You can only control one type of device at a time. So lights, fans, etc. Ex. "Hey Siri turn on the dining room and bedroom lights" she responds with "You got it" and they come on. For the best success make sure the lights are just called "Light(s)" and the room name is the variable.



Make sure its using the light icon as well. Switches can be particularly troublesome if you venture too far away from what it actually is. Siri doesn't have the capability to fill in the gaps like a person can but "Hey Siri living room lights" will turn them on and off so the key words Siri is listening for is room and device. That way saying "Hey Siri grab the living room lights" which actually makes no sense what so ever but is used in real life on occasion will actually work for you.

Saying, "hey siri turn on the foyer lights and unlock the front door" won't work because they are different types of devices. The door lock doesn't work from the HomePod regardless but that was an example.

Admittedly this isn't always perfect when I just tried it to verify I wasn't losing my mind she said "Just a moment"...."Hmmm"...."You got it". Still worked on the first attempt however it was iffy for a second or two.

The 'Except' preposition works as well, so if I say "Hey Siri turn on all the lights except for the dining room" she will do just that.

I have a "I'm leaving" scene however 'except' works pretty well when you want everything to turn off except porch lights and/or xmas lights ex.

I can not get both to work "Hey Siri turn off all the lights except for the dining room and foyer". Things get weird and you are better off setting a scene until her AI gets even better.

 

[Itinj24]

You can only control one type of device at a time. So lights, fans, etc. Ex. "Hey Siri turn on the dining room and bedroom lights" she responds with "You got it" and they come on. For the best success make sure the lights are just called "Light(s)" and the room name is the variable.

View attachment 881209

Make sure its using the light icon as well. Switches can be particularly troublesome if you venture too far away from what it actually is. Siri doesn't have the capability to fill in the gaps like a person can but "Hey Siri living room lights" will turn them on and off so the key words Siri is listening for is room and device. That way saying "Hey Siri grab the living room lights" which actually makes no sense what so ever but is used in real life on occasion will actually work for you.

Saying, "hey siri turn on the foyer lights and unlock the front door" won't work because they are different types of devices. The door lock doesn't work from the HomePod regardless but that was an example.

Admittedly this isn't always perfect when I just tried it to verify I wasn't losing my mind she said "Just a moment"...."Hmmm"...."You got it". Still worked on the first attempt however it was iffy for a second or two.

The 'Except' preposition works as well, so if I say "Hey Siri turn on all the lights except for the dining room" she will do just that.

I have a "I'm leaving" scene however 'except' works pretty well when you want everything to turn off except porch lights and/or xmas lights ex.

I can not get both to work "Hey Siri turn off all the lights except for the dining room and foyer". Things get weird and you are better off setting a scene until her AI gets even better.

Hmm, I gotta try this again but not tonight, kids are sleeping lol. Coulda sworn I tried that though. I create a lot of scenes to workaround this but if it works as you say, I’d be able to delete a lot of them.

Since you mention locks, would’ve been nice if Siri voice recognition would be able to unlock using The HomePod. I mean, there’s a lot of people having trouble getting Siri to recognize them for non sensitive info like the weather lol. I have a smart lock for my master bedroom closet and found myself needing to unlock it hands free at times.

 

[cynics]

Hmm, I gotta try this again but not tonight, kids are sleeping lol. Coulda sworn I tried that though. I create a lot of scenes to workaround this but if it works as you say, I’d be able to delete a lot of them.

Since you mention locks, would’ve been nice if Siri voice recognition would be able to unlock using The HomePod. I mean, there’s a lot of people having trouble getting Siri to recognize them for non sensitive info like the weather lol. I have a smart lock for my master bedroom closet and found myself needing to unlock it hands free at times.

Contextual homekit functionality is more of a recent addition, I would say last 3-4 months maybe? I just found out accidentally when wondering why it couldn't do it to find out it could.

Siri on the HomePod can lock the door, only Siri on the admins (or invited users) device can unlock the door. This is clearly a security feature, if setup incorrectly a shout could unlock the door which puts Apple in a very bad place when it comes to PR especially if something terrible happens.

A good night scene that locks the door is fine. You can use the iPhone to unlock if you just want to let someone in while you aren't available to answer the door. Not a huge deal what it is though is probably the biggest first world problem I've talked about in a while...lol