There’s a chance I might be buying an Apple HomePod from a neighbour who’s emigrating. While I’d never pay Apple’s exorbitant full price, he’s quite keen to shift it, so there’s a real bargain to be had.
I’m possibly more excited than I should be. It’s a glorified speaker, after all. Right?
Actually, from the research I’ve done online, it looks like it could be a very useful household addition.
Despite a lot of earlier frustrations, I’m using Siri more than ever, and she’s working better than ever. She understands my requests for reminders (which go directly into TickTick), sets timers without fail, answers questions about weather, calculations, conversions and calendar requests. I regularly dictate instructions and ideas via my AirPods while I’m walking to work and I rarely have a problem with the accuracy.
I’m not sure what they’re putting in her feed in Cupertino, but it’s working. Keep it up, guys!
Our apartment is already connected as can be. Alexa controls our heating, our lights and our music. Having recently moved to Apple Music, now on a money-saving family plan, the HomePod could pick that up. Our Hive devices aren’t HomeKit enabled yet, but I understand it’s on the way.
At which point, Siri will make Alexa redundant.
So let’s see what happens. Maybe I’ll just consider it a birthday gift to myself.
It’s interesting, though, that my debate is about replacing one voice assistant with another. Not removing them altogether. I suppose that means I find them useful…
(Photo by Nicolas Lafargue on Unsplash)
MacPsych on the move 
I’ve used two in a stereo pair for a year now. Sounds amazing, and Siri on HomePod is one up from Siri on AirPods Pro. The speaker’s ability to hear you even with loud music playing is quite something.
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Well, the new HomePod is in situ and I’m already a big fan. A few things yet to figure out, but so far the sound quality knocks the Amazon Echo into touch. It’s phenomenal!
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Excellent! There’s so much in there; I actually think Apple don’t do a great job at touting its abilities. You can have multiple timers for instance, and each one labelled. “Siri, set my carrots timer for 10 minutes.” “Siri, timer check” (to give you a rundown on all your current timers. “Siri – play me something I’d like.” Way more capable than Siri on other devices.
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Thank you! I’ll have to do more research – as with many Apple devices!
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That said, my brother got an Echo Dot at Christmas, and I have to admit the Echo is really good, considering the price difference between the two. However the HomePods are also my point for home automation, including the ability to control and monitor my home when away.
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