Apple HomePod: The missing manual
TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO WHAT APPLE’S FIRST SMART SPEAKER CAN DO FOR YOU.
AS WITH MOST products from Apple, the HomePod is delightfully easy to set up and use. But there are still various tips, tricks and tactics you can employ to maximise the HomePod’s capabilities. Here’s how you can get the most out of this premium smart speaker and its excellebt audio.
POSITIONING
The first thing you’ll need to think about is placement. The HomePod has been purposely designed to sound amazing no matter where you put it, with a unique ‘spatial awareness’ technology that automatically adjusts and balances the audio according to the size and shape of the room it’s in, as well as whatever is close to the speaker.
This adjustment happens every time you move it, too, by employing a built-in accelerometer to detect a change in its location.
That said, you’re better off placing the HomePod with one side of it about 15-30cm away from a wall or corner. That enables certain parts of each song — namely, the backup vocals and ambient reverb — to be bounced off the wall for even dispersion throughout the room, while the vocals and lead instruments are beamed out directly. This leads to a much more dynamic and immersive audio experience.
SETUP
Setting up the HomePod couldn’t be simpler. Once you take it out of the box, plug it into the power socket and wait for a chime. When you see a pulsing white light appear at the top of the HomePod, unlock your iPhone or iPad and bring it close to the speaker. Within a few seconds, you’ll see a white pop-up screen appear that will take you through the HomePod’s setup process.
Note that the HomePod will inherit the user details from whichever iPhone or iPad you use for the setup. This includes that user’s Apple Music subscription, any personal information such as text messages, tasks, notes, and details for your home Wi-Fi network. If you’re in a household with multiple people potentially using the HomePod, this may not be ideal, particularly when any song requests they make will affect your Apple Music recommendations. But there are workarounds for both.
One question the wizard will ask you is whether you want to enable ‘personal requests’ on the HomePod. This function enables you — or anyone else in the house — to use your voice commands to send and receive messages, add reminders, and creates notes on the iOS device that the HomePod is tied to. This can only happen when that device is on the same