If you are hesitating to buy a HomePod, it is surely because you do not know exactly what use you can give it in your day. In this article we are going to try to compile the most remarkable functions of the HomePod, with the audio quality being one of the most remarkable.
Use it as a classic speaker
If we are talking about a smart speaker, obviously one of its main functions is undoubtedly that of listening to music or any other type of audio. For the size it is, 18 centimeters tall , it has incredibly good sound quality. At the top we find a speaker dedicated exclusively to the bass with a set of six microphones to be able to have an equalization system to analyze the room. This is tremendously interesting because it lets the HomePod know your location. With this information, the speaker will interpret where the audio must be transmitted in order to offer the most satisfactory quality possible.
In the central part we find six microphones that will allow us to invoke Siri from anywhere in the house. Something tremendously interesting is that we can invoke Siri even if the music is very loud or you are almost at the other end of the house. In this way you can control everything that is being played by the speaker through the assistant without having to previously download the music manually with the controls on the top. Finally at the bottom are seven tweeters with beamforming technology, each with its amplifier. The location of these speakers make it offer a completely immersive 360º sound .
It is for all this that the HomePod has become one of the best speakers that we find in the market for its audio quality. This is why if you are looking to enjoy your favorite songs, this is the ideal speaker to do it.
What can be transmitted on the HomePod
There are many applications that are compatible with the HomePod to play content. One of them is FaceTime with which we can make a call from the HomePod and also answer it easily thanks to its microphones. With a simple voice command we can call our family or friends with an incredibly good quality.
Apple Music also becomes an essential application to be able to play music on the HomePod thanks to its integration with the ecosystem. Although this is not the only compatible music app, since Spotify is also compatible and Siri can be asked to play content in this type of applications.
Integration with the TuneIn application also allows you to play content from national or international radios . The only negative is that sometimes we must have the application installed on our iPhone so that it responds in a correct way. In addition to TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Radio.com applications are also supported.
Another of the most important aspects of the HomePod, along with music playback, are Podcasts . We have seen how podcasts have been gaining more and more strength in recent months and that is why playing them on the HomePod is something that can be done perfectly, from the iPhone itself or invoking Siri as we will see later.
Ambient sounds are also one of the great points of this HomePod and it came later with a software update. With this function we can ask Siri to reproduce relaxing sounds of sea, rain, birdsong to be able to sleep perfectly.
Use HomePod as your TV speaker
If you have a TV that supports AirPlay technology, you can connect it to the HomePod to enjoy incredibly good sound. But here there is not everything because thanks to AirPlay 2 we can connect up to two different speakers to have a totally surround sound. This is not a function that is left only to televisions since it is also compatible with the iPhone or iPad itself. With a simple touch we can play an audio content on two HomePods at the same time regardless of their location. In addition to an extremely intelligent way, these two HomePods communicate to have an always coordinated reproduction.
Stream your songs from iPhone to HomePod
One of the most interesting functions that the HomePod can have and that will help you in your day-to-day life is the ease with which you can transfer content from the iPhone to the HomePod. If you come from the street listening to a song or making a phone call with the iPhone, you can transfer it to the HomePod simply by bringing the iPhone closer to it. Automatically, through the NFC chip, confirmation will be asked to transfer this audio content to the HomePod and we can continue with the call or with that song without problem. All this can be done from the control center of the iPhone or iPad or from the settings of the TV or Apple TV.
Siri, the smart side of the HomePod
Most of the HomePod’s functions lie in Siri. Although it is undoubtedly a great speaker to be able to play our music or make phone calls, it will also help us on a daily basis. From planning the next day to staying up-to-date with current events, you can do it with Siri.
Listen to music
We have previously discussed that music playback is vital in the daily life of a speaker with these characteristics. With Siri we can carry out an exhaustive control of the reproduction through Apple Music, and if we include ‘Spotify’ at the end it will be reproduced through this application. Some of the commands that we can use to reproduce this type of content include:
- Play ’24K Magic’ in random order
- Plays David Guetta’s latest album
- Play my music
- Play the song that says’ Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
- Play music for dinner
- Plays the 10 best songs in the world
- Plays song number 1 from April 1, 1976
- Plays hits from the 90s
- Plays the latest hit from Twenty One Pilots
- Add this song to my library
- Add this album to my library
- Add this song to the playlist ‘My Amazing Playlist
Another important aspect that we can do is to play a radio station through Siri and some of the external apps. The commands that can be used are:
- Plays Beats 1
- Plays Elton John’s Rocket Hour
- Create a radio station for Gorillaz
- Plays the station Forty major
Plan the day to day
With Siri you can have all your planned agenda with the best possible information since it supports a series of questions that we can all ask ourselves every morning. One of the great tasks that Siri has in the HomePod is the weather information to know if we need to carry an umbrella or not. Among the questions we can ask him followed by the command ‘Hey Siri’ are:
- What will the weather be like tomorrow?
- What is the temperature at my location?
- Do I need an umbrella for today?
Sometimes we have questions about whether the supermarket has already closed or we want you to discover something new. This is why we can ask the following questions about it:
- Where is a good Mexican restaurant?
- What time does the Apple Store close?
- Where is the nearest gas station?
When we leave home we also have questions about the traffic in our area. This is vital to know how long it will take us to reach our destination, and thanks to Apple Maps and Siri we can have knowledge of this. Among the questions we can ask highlights:
- How is the traffic on the way to work?
- How is the traffic in my area?
- How long will it take to get to work?
- What is the fastest way to get to the airport from here)
Cooking with Siri
We always miss a little help in the kitchen, and Siri can make us a kitchen pinch. There are many queries that we can make, such as measuring ingredients, setting timers, or even obtaining nutritional information on the foods that we are going to eat. Among the commands that stand out we find:
- How many milliliters are in a cup?
- Convert 2 cups to ounces
- How many teaspoons are there in a tablespoon?
- How many grams are in a pound?
- Set a 45-minute timer for the rice
- Set another timer for 15 minutes
- How much time is left on the rice timer?
- Pause the rice timer
- How many calories are in an ounce of cheddar cheese?
- How much caffeine is in the coffee?
- How much fiber is in broccoli?
Check the news
It is always important to stay informed to start the day. We can change the source of the news that we are consulting through the medium to which we are more related. Among the commands that stand out for the HomePod we collect the following:
- What is the news today?
- Give me the latest sports news
- What basketball games are there?
- Who is the leader of the Bundesliga at the moment?
- How is the stock market today?
- What is Apple’s market capitalization?
- How is the London Stock Exchange today?
- Compare AAPL and NASDAQ
Translate with Siri
If you are reading something in another language and have a question about a translation, you can ask Siri. Through a series of commands we can use the bilingual side of Siri:
- “How do you say ‘nice to meet you’ in Mandarin?”
- “How do you say ‘thank you’ in Italian?”
- “How do you say ‘Good morning’ in German?”