Have you seen Stu’s Reviews and Paul Hibbert’s reviews of the cube?
They mentioned some functionality limitations/workarounds for automations.
I don’t recall the details or know if they’d be applicable to that particular issue.
It’s just easier to do them in HomeKit. There is literally no delay on them either way.
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Why you should still be ignoring Matter for the time being, and buying stuff that works in your chosen smart ecosystem.
It’s going to take a long time for all the OEMs to iron out the bugs.
There is a reason that all voice activated AI on phones/laptops/tablets is turned off and locked/blocked by all governments and most corporations. The sensitivity of the hardware to pick up voice-based information (what you say, who you say it to, the tone in which you said it, what you watch and listen to etc…) is incredible. The digital analytics processing capabilities of that information is greater still. The breadth of what/who is listening is even greater still. And, I am not talking about the government. I am talking about commercial interests. Legit and illegitimate.
Apple says that all the voice processing is done on device and not in the cloud. I trust them about as far as I can throw them, but I have declined all the options to allow my commands to be sent to the listening center to “help with product development.”
It’s better than most (all?) other voice assistants where the processing is all done in the cloud. I’m sure they’re still listening but, unlike the others, they don’t have an excuse to if caught.
I find it very hard to believe that you can pack enough processing power in those devices to do the job, but maybe I’m wrong. For one thing, updating them so that they get better at their job would seem to be problematic.
I am 99% certain that if you have the Facebook app, the microphone is always on. Way too many targeted ads based on conversations to not be so.
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Apple actually doesn’t claim all voice processing is done on device. You can opt out of sharing recordings to improve Siri, but your data is often going to Apple one way or another.
When you use Siri, your device will indicate in Siri Settings if the things you say are processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers. Otherwise, your voice inputs are sent to and processed on Siri servers. In all cases, transcripts of your interactions will be sent to Apple to process your requests.
You can actually enable “offline Siri” on some iPhones and iPads starting with iOS 15, but I don’t think that covers all use cases. This article covers what you can do:
And now the moment for which I have all been waiting…
The big boy HomePod is back!
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I like Apple products well enough. And that looks cool.
But my god it’s as though their marketing department says “we’re giving it all the douchebaggery we can!” and Tim Cook just screams “MOOOOORRRRRRRE!!!”
(you know the accent to use for the first part)
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Yeah, the hype is so over the top. My joy is because I have wanted to have two of these as a stereo pair in my living room for TV sound, but they were discontinued a few years ago. It’s surround sound-ish without all the craziness of 5 or 7 speakers, and they’ll be great for just playing music.
The minis can be a stereo pair too, but their sound is just not robust enough for home theatery sound.
And no need for a giant receiver I assume.
Exactly.
I wonder if you can pair a subwoofer too.
Not needing a giant stereo receiver is a character flaw.
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You can only pair HomePods (or Minis) with other HomePods (or Minis).
So you’re saying that Apple created a product that can only be used with other Apple products?
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I don’t believe so. The HomePods are designed to be all-in-one solutions.
The reviews on the 1st Gen big Pod were quite positive about the bass response. I am interested to hear what people have to say about the new one, but I can’t imagine that it will ever come close to what you get with a sub-woofer, so it’s not really a solution for a true home theater experience.
I live in a townhouse, so a pair of these are something I’ve wanted for TV sound for a while. If I had a subwoofer, I think they’d know about it 5 doors down. Also, my living room is too open to have rear speakers that aren’t in the way or in the wrong place.
I will say that at $600 a HomePod Prime stereo pair isn’t a great value proposition when you can get a pretty solid 2.1 sound bar with wireless sub for less than half that. I’m disappointed they couldn’t/wouldn’t get the price down to at least $250.
However, a $200 HomePod Mini stereo pair is a pretty good value for a bedroom TV setup: an instant upgrade over the TV’s speakers, and Siri, HomeKit, and AirPlay give it some great value-adds over a comparably priced sound bar.
Of course, these prices don’t factor in the price of an Apple TV 4K.
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Good point about the soundbar. I would have to mount my big TV in order to have one, but it is an option.
Also, good to know about the mini pair for the bedroom. I have been thinking about this so I might now pull the trigger. I already have the Apple TVs…